Penn State 4, Notre Dame 1: Survival Mode

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No. 7 Penn State beat Notre Dame 4-1 on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena in the first game of the season series. The Fighting Irish were brutally physical against a Penn State team that is already shorthanded with several injuries, but the Nittany Lions prevailed with three power play goals and an outstanding performance by Josh Fleming.

First Period

Desperate for a win, Notre Dame started out with some solid zone time and got a couple of wraparound chances that Josh Fleming needed to save to keep the game scoreless. Eight minutes in, Jarod Crespo fired a shot from the point that hit the right post, and Nicholas Kempf dove back just in time to keep the puck out of the net. Danny Nelson hit a post moments later as the game began to open up, and the Nittany Lions’ defense struggled against the Irish forecheck.

Jayden Smith took a goaltender interference penalty to give the Nittany Lions their first power play chance of the night. Gavin McKenna, Luke Misa, and Matt DiMarsico went tic-tac-toe on a beautiful passing play, and DiMarsico finished it off with a one-timer in the slot to put Penn State up 1-0:

Jarod Crespo took a penalty late in the first period with Notre Dame’s offense humming, but Penn State managed to kill the penalty. Cade Christenson drew a penalty late in the period to give the Nittany Lions’ power play another chance late in the period. The man advantage got some pressure before the period expired but could not score, and Penn State took a 1-0 lead to the locker room.

Second Period

Mac Gadowsky and Dane Dowiak took ugly hits early in the second period, and the latter resulted in a five-minute power play for Penn State. Late in the man advantage, Matt DiMarsico fired a puck from the wall, and the puck bounced into the net to give the Lions a 2-0 lead:

Evan Werner cut Penn State’s lead to 2-1 midway through the period with the Irish on a 4-on-3 power play. Werner took a slashing penalty minutes later to hand Penn State another power play opportunity. The Nittany Lions failed to convert, and Werner got a breakaway as he exited the penalty box, but Josh Fleming made a huge save to preserve the lead.

Luke Misa extended the lead back to 3-1 on the power play off a great feed by Ben Schoen to restore the two-goal advantage:

A roughing penalty against Nolan Collins gave Notre Dame a late power play, but Fleming made a big save on a cross-ice pass as the period expired to keep Penn State’s lead at 3-1 entering the final period.

Third Period

After a penalty kill, Reese Laubach had a glorious chance with Kempf out of position, but Kempf made a huge save to keep the Lions from ballooning the lead further.

Penn State reverted to the undisciplined play we saw in the first half of the season, and Notre Dame set up a shooting gallery in front of Josh Fleming. Fortunately, Fleming came up with some huge saves to keep the Irish from cutting into the deficit, and Matt DiMarsico finished off his second hat trick of the season with an empty netter to seal a 4-1 win over Notre Dame in the series opener.

Scoring Summary

Team	1	2	3	Final
Notre Dame		1		1
Penn State	1	2	1	4

First Period

PSU: Matt DiMarsico (11)- Luke Misa (5), Gavin McKenna (16)- PP- 12:42

Second Period

PSU: Matt DiMarsico (12)- Gavin McKenna (17), Luke Misa (6)- PP- 6:53
ND: Evan Werner (9)- Danny Nelson (6)- PP- 10:19
PSU: Luke Misa (4)- Ben Schoen (6), JJ Wiebusch (11)- PP- 17:35

Third Period

PSU: Matt DiMarsico (13)- JJ Wiebusch (12), Reese Laubach (9)- EN- 18:14

Shots By Period

ND: 14-8-20-42
PSU: 14-16-13-43

Takeaways

Slopfest- The word I want to use for this game is probably not appropriate for our family-friendly site. Notre Dame seemed more interested in head hunting Penn State’s players than actually playing hockey at several points in this game. Penalties were out of control all night. Fortunately, Penn State won this game, but this was not a particularly fun game to watch.
Josh Fleming- It’s pretty easy to see why Fleming is on the Richter Award watchlist. He made 41 saves on 42 Notre Dame shots in this one in his best performance of the season.
Dane Dowiak- Can someone wrap Dowiak in bubble wrap for tomorrow’s game? He took a beating all night, including two questionable checks to the head, and still gave 100% effort all game long. Love having him as the captain of this team.
Matt DiMarsico- DiMarsico has been such a consistent force for the offense in his three years in Hockey Valley. He recorded his second hat trick of the season and put up seven shots on goal. The offense has needed his scoring to come back to life, and he has delivered in the last three games.
Luke Misa- Misa has flipped the switch in the second half of the season. He’s not only scoring more (one goal + two assists tonight), but he plays hard on the forecheck and his speed is noticeable when he does not have the puck.

Standings & Such

Penn State will finish the night third in the Big Ten standings. The Nittany Lions will have an opportunity to move into second place with a regulation win tomorrow night.

At the time of posting, Penn State is still No. 7 in the NPI.