Michigan Wins Shootout Over Penn State

Penn State and Michigan trade blows all night at Yost Ice Arena, finishing in a 4-4 draw before the Wolverines snagged the extra point in a shootout. The Nittany Lions stayed resilient, taking back the lead three times before the Wolverines took the first lead of the night. Jackson Smith had a huge night, scoring twice for PSU, including the game-tying goal late in the third period. Michael Huge scored the only goal in the shootout to seal it for the Wolverines. Both teams meet again on Saturday before the Nittany Lions head home to take on Ohio State next Friday, while the Wolverines head to Wisconsin.

Penn State Lineup:

McKenna – Dowiak – Fink
DiMarsico – Laubach – Wiebusch
Van Olm – Misa – Schoen
Katzin – Chin-Degraves – Aman

Smith – Crespo
Christenson – Gadowsky
Schade – Collins
Fascia

Fleming
Reidler

Michigan Lineup:

Moldenhauer – Hughes – Perron
Spence – Hage – Valentini
Horcoff – McKinney – Park
Muscutt – Draper – Eernisse
Schifsky

Duke – Fantilli
Robertson – Schock
Rheaume-Mullen – Barnett

Ivankovic
Peck
Molinaro

Just 59 seconds into the first period, Reese Laubach opened the scoring to give Penn State an early 1-0 lead when JJ Wiebusch took a pass from Matt DiMarsico as the three of them skated towards the Michigan net, and Wiebusch sent a cross-ice pass to Laubach for a redirect on a backhand for his sixth goal of the season. Garrett Schifsky knotted it up 1-1 at 10:43, scoring on the rebound of Drew Schock’s denied attempt. This was Schifsky’s 10th goal of the season. Not long after the first Michigan tally, Jackson Smith regained the lead for the Nittany Lions 2-1 when he picked up a loose puck in the slot, went far side before firing a sharp-angle shot, beating Jack Ivankovic far-side past the blocker at 8:26. T.J. Hughes picked up his 14th of the season to tie it back up 2-2 with 5:35 on the clock, ripping a one-timer from below the left dot on a 5-on-3 power play after Jayden Perron’s one-timer was blocked and bounced out to Michael Huge, who passed it to Hughes.

Nic Chin-DeGraves untied the knot, taking back the lead for Penn State 3-2, taking advantage of another offensive zone turnover when Shea Van Olm found him for a goal from the right circle, far-side past the glove. This was Chin-DeGraves’ second goal of the season. The Wolverines tied it once again, 3-3, with a goal by Asher Barnett, who took a pass from Huge, and scored on a slapshot that slid between the legs of Josh Fleming at 8:43 of the second.

Hughes netted his second of the night to give the Wolverines their first lead of the game, 4-3, just past the midway point of the third frame. He batted the rebound of Malcolm Spence’s shot that was turned aside by Fleming into an open net on an odd-man rush. Smith scored his second of the game late in the third with 3:15 to go, making it 4-4 with a power-play goal, firing it home from the slot.

Overtime wasn’t enough for the Nittany Lions and the Wolverines, leading to a shootout where Huge scored the only goal for Michigan to secure the extra point.

Game Notes:

– Josh Fleming made a total of 33 saves for Penn State, moving to 8-4-1.

– Jack Ivankovic made a total of 34 saves for Michigan and is now 18-5-1 overall.

– Netting two, Jackson Smith secured his first multi-point career game, marking his fifth multi-point effort of the season. He has now scored more goals in a single-season than any defenseman in Penn State history.

– With his first-period goal, Reese Laubach snapped a four-game streak where the opposing team had opened the scoring. …Laubach recorded both a goal and an assist, securing his second multi-point game of the season, as well as the 16th of his career.

– Penn State narrowly outshot Michigan 38-37 and went 1-for-3 on the man advantage, while Michigan finished 1-for-5 on the power play.

– This is the first tie for Penn State since last February, a 2-2 draw at No. 1 Michigan State, and it’s their first shootout loss since the Frozen Confines against Notre Dame.

– In their last seven games at Yost Ice Arena, Penn State is now 4-2-1.

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