Power Play Struggles Lead to Late Collapse in Overtime Loss vs. Spartans
No. 5 Penn State suffered its first loss in a conference series opener in East Lansing in a 3-2 overtime loss to the No. 17 Michigan State Spartans.
The Big Ten contest was a messy one, with nearly 50 minutes of penalty time being handed out throughout the night.
The Nittany Lions were the beneficiaries of several calls, leading to eight power play opportunities and a handful of two-man advantages.
Jarod Crespo capitalized on one of the five-on-three power plays around the six minute mark of the second period to open the scoring and secure his first career collegiate goal.
The two-man advantage struck again early in the third period, after Danny Dzhaniyev found a wide open Ture Linden to double the Penn State lead.
The blue and white saw their lead start to dwindle away a mere five minutes later, as Erik Middendorf cut the deficit in half for the Spartans.
Penn State struggled to score at even strength as well, leading to a game-tying goal by Jagger Joshua with around seven minutes left in the third period.
The Nittany Lions would get another power play opportunity with a chance to retake the lead, yet struggled mightily yet again. Their lack of success on the man advantage has been an issue all season long, but tonight it reared its ugly head.
The blue and white were an abysmal 2-for-8 on the man advantage tonight, dropping their season percentage to 16.7%. Even though the Spartans were held off the board on the man advantage, the inability of Penn State to capitalize continues to be a major issue.
The two Big Ten foes would see out the end of regulation and go into an extra frame, where the green and white would have the last laugh.
The Nittany Lions were caught with the same three players out on the ice for an extended period of time, leading to an opportunity for Cole Krygier to seal the deal, and that he did, ending the Spartans five-game losing streak.
The late third period collapse marked the first loss of the season for Penn State when leading after two periods, falling to 12-1-0 in those games.
Fifth-year netminder Dylan St. Cyr got the better of the blue and white in the final game of the previous series, and he did so again in tonight’s contest.
The Northville, Michigan native stopped 42 of 44 shots he faced and was one of the key reasons the Spartans were able to surmount their two-goal deficit.
These two teams will battle it out once more on Saturday night in East Lansing as the Nittany Lions look to come away with four points on the weekend.
Joshua Bartosik is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu
