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Notre Dame tops Penn State in OT

UNIVERSITY PARK — The Penn State Nittany Lions got a taste of their own medicine on Friday night inside Pegula Ice Arena as Notre Dame erased a late third period deficit eventually winning the game 3-2 in overtime to secure the extra Big Ten Conference point just like Penn State had done the night before.

Penn State falls back to .500 at 9-9-0 on the year and is now 7-9-0-2-1-0 in conference action after its first overtime loss this season. The Irish improve to 8-9-1 overall and 6-7-1-1-2-1 in the Big Ten securing their first overtime victory this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

¯ Penn State opened the scoring with a gritty goal by sophomore Tyler Gratton as he pickpocketed a Notre Dame defenseman with a strong forecheck just outside the crease before spinning around a lifting the loose puck over the glove of Irish goaltender Dylan St. Cry. For the 1-0 edge at 14:28 of the first period.

¯ Notre Dame evened the score early in the second period as Alex Steeves knocked his own rebound out of the air and into the back of the net after junior Oskar Autio made an incredible save on his initial shot for the 1-1 score at 4:06 of the frame.

¯ The Nittany Lions regained the lead early in the third period as senior Sam Sternschein was left all alone by the near post and he ripped a pass from freshman Tyler Paquette under the glove of St. Cyr for the 2-1 advantage at 1:42 of the stanza.

¯ The Irish pulled even again as Colin Theisen collected the puck behind his own net and skated coast-to-coast beating Autio past the far pad for the 2-2 score at 11:34 of the third period.

¯ After a Penn State shot sailed off the end glass with under a minute to play in the extra session, Spencer Stasney won the race to the loose puck up the far boards and skated in all alone beating Autio over the blocker for the 3-2 overtime victory at 4:06 of the frame.

GOALTENDING

Autio was solid in net once again turning aside 24 shots as he falls to 8-6-0 on the year while St. Cyr picked up the victory after making 33 saves to move to 5-6-0.

NOTES

¯ Penn State held the 35-27 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-1 on the penalty kill, however, Notre Dame did not commit a penalty in the game never giving the Nittany Lions a chace at a power-play.

¯ The Nittany Lions remain one point behind Notre Dame in the conference standings as they sit in fifth with 20 points, but are just three points behind second-place Michigan as the teams 2-7 are separated by just eight points.

¯ Penn State falls to 7-2-0 on the year when scoring first as this marks the first loss for the Nittany Lions this season when trailing or tied entering the third period (8-1-0).

¯ Gratton’s goal is his first in 363 days, which also came against Notre Dame as half of his goals have now come against the Irish.

¯ Paquette’s assist on Sternschein’s goal marked his first collegiate point.

¯ The Nittany Lions fall for the first time this season in overtime moving to 4-1-0 in the extra session and it marks their first overtime loss since a game at UMass-Lowell on November 30, 2019 snapping a five-game overtime winning-streak.

¯ This was also the first overtime loss for Penn State at home since November 3, 2018 against Arizona State.

NEXT UP

Penn State has next week off with the University of Michigan being on a two-week pause due to raising COVID-19 concerns. The Nittany Lions next contest will be against Ohio State at 5 p.m. Feb. 12 at Pegula Ice Arena.

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