Penn State Men’s Hockey Falls To Michigan 6-2 In Game Two
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa — When it rains, it pours.
Led by two goals from Luke Hughes and contributions from several other marquee prospects, the No. 2 Wolverines (10-2) defeated No. 19 Penn State (6-5) 6-2 on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena.
“We’re not good enough right now,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said.
The first period saw the two sides come out of the gate with speed, tenacity, power and emotion, but not a whole lot to show for it early on.
After feeling each other out for a solid chunk of the period, the Nittany Lions caught a couple of breaks courtesy of an Erik Portillo slashing penalty and Keaton Pehrson getting the boot early on a head-contact game misconduct penalty.
Michigan’s penalty kill rose to the occasion, killing off both of those penalties and smothering any chance of momentum Penn State tried to acquire.
However, before the game misconduct, the Wolverines cashed in on a bad turnover behind the Penn State net, resulting in Brendan Brisson finding the back of the net at 7:02 of the first giving Michigan a 1-0 lead.
Neither side cracked the scoreboard for the remainder of the period after the Brisson goal and Michigan went into the first intermission up 1-0.
Just a mere :36 into the second, Connor McMenamin picked up a juicy rebound on the welcome mat on a shot from Ann Arbor native Kenny Johnson and just like that, the game was tied 1-1.
The good feelings did not last very long, just 2:08 to be exact, as 2021 No. 4 overall pick, Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, knifed his way through the Penn State defense and deposited the puck past Liam Soulière at 2:44 of the second period and Michigan regained its lead at 2-1.
Tyler Paquette diced his way through the Michigan defense on a breakaway at 9:16, was taken down by Kent Johnson, then Paquette tripped Johnson, resulting in Michigan gaining a man-advantage.
At 10:03 of the second, Seattle Kraken No. 2 overall pick, Matty Beniers, went to work and found the back of the net, which gave Michigan a two-goal lead at 3-1.
Michigan nearly made it 4-1 with four-minutes to go in the period, but Soulière robbed Dylan Duke blind with the glove, keeping the deficit at two.
But once again, the Wolverines flexed their muscles as Thomas Bordeleau snapped the biscuit past Soulière at 18:45 and that 4-1 score was the same tally going into the final intermission.
The third period was more of the same as Buffalo Sabres No. 1 overall pick, Owen Power, picked up the garbage in the net mouth at 1:49, increasing the lead to four at 5-1.
Penn State cut the Michigan lead to 5-2 with a Ben Copeland power-play goal at 12:06.
In typical Michigan fashion this season, they answered in the snap of a finger. Luke Hughes added his second tuck of the night :13 after Copeland’s goal, making it 6-2.
Michigan then finished off the contest by that same score of 6-2 and they looked like the No. 2 in the nation all weekend long, tallying a total of 11 goals.
Penn State will travel to 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis to take on Minnesota Nov. 19 and Nov. 20
Christopher Hess is a fifth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email christopherhess22@gmail.com.
