Penn State avoided an 0-5 start with a largely dominant 5-1 win over Canisius on Friday night. The Nittany Lions simplified their game against an overmatched Golden Griffins squad and were rewarded for their efforts with their first win of the season.
First Period
Penn State drew first blood just over two minutes into the game. Justin Larose controlled the puck behind the Canisius net and managed to get his centering pass through traffic to Dane Dowiak. The captain was uncontested in front of the net, and he wristed
home his first goal of the season to put the Lions up 1-0:
Jackson Smith was called for interference shortly after the goal, but Penn State killed the penalty. Beyond that, it was a relatively eventless period of hockey, which is honestly not the worst thing in the world for a team that desperately needs to simplify its game. Penn State led 11-5 in shots on goal and carried a 1-0 lead to the first intermission.
Second Period
Canisius tied the game just over a minute into the second period when Ben Brunelle picked the upper right corner from a tough angle and beat Josh Fleming.
Jackson Smith had a shot blocked in front off a faceoff, but Andrew Kuzma fired home his first career goal on a great pass from Kale Dach to give Penn State the lead back:
Penn State’s power play struggled on its first chance, but a cross-checking penalty gave the Nittany Lions another chance to pad the lead. Dane Dowiak threw the puck to the net from near the goal line, and it bounced off a Canisius player and into the net:
Josh Fleming had to make a couple of big saves later in the period, but the Nittany Lions had a strong territorial advantage in the second. After two periods, Penn State led 3-1 and outshot the Golden Griffins 29-15.
Third Period
Penn State was penalized twice early in the third period, but again the penalty kill leaned on a strong advantage in the faceoff circle to neutralize Canisius’ power play. A scary moment came early in the period when Canisius defenseman Matt Campbell lost his edge and got a skate to the head. A gurney came on the ice but he was able to skate off the ice under his own power.
Andrew Kuzma iced the game with an empty-net goal with just over two minutes left in regulation:
Jackson Smith piled it on in the dying seconds with a soft wrist shot in transition off a great feed from Reese Laubach:
Scoring Summary
First Period
- PSU: Dane Dowiak (1)- Justin Larose (3), Justin Poirier (4)- 5v5- 2:12
Second Period
- CU: Ben Brunelle (1)- Carter Patterson (2)- 5v5- 2:19
- PSU: Andrew Kuzma (1)- Kale Dach (3), Jackson Smith (4)- 5v5- 3:02
- PSU: Dane Dowiak (2)- Lev Katzin (2), Jackson Smith (5)- PP- 12:53
Third Period
- PSU: Andrew Kuzma (2)- Casey Aman (1), Kale Dach (4)- EN- 17:43
- PSU: Jackson Smith (1)- Reese Laubach (2), Justin Larose (4)- 5v5- 19:55
Shots By Period
- CU: 5-10-9-24
- PSU: 11-18-15-44
Random Observations
- Faceoffs- Penn State was nearly 63% in the faceoff circle tonight. Kaden Pitre (67%) and Kale Dach (82%) were the most dominant centers in the dot for the Lions. Consistently being able to win faceoffs at both ends of the ice allowed Penn State to control the flow of the game and build a massive advantage on special teams.
- Andrew Kuzma- Hats off to Kuzma, who scored the first two goals of his college career. After all he missed all of last season and had to undergo open-heart surgery, this was a cathartic night for him.
- Weight Off Their Shoulders- No one is going to pop the champagne for beating Canisius, but stopping this losing skid and turning in the cleanest effort of the season has to be a relief for the team.
What’s Next
The two teams will meet again tomorrow evening. Puck drop is slated for 5pm on Big Ten Plus.
