After falling in overtime in Game 1, No. 3 Penn State was flat out embarrassed by No. 1 Michigan State 5-0 in Game 2. The Spartans jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. It was a wake-up call
for a team that has been skating by (pun intended) on the efforts from the top line for most of the season. There are serious deficiencies with this team that need to be fixed soon to have any chance of competing for the Big Ten title.
First Period
Charlie Stramel put Michigan State on top 2:31 into the game with his fourth goal of the season. Stramel found room to skate around Penn State’s defense in the neutral zone and got open for a wrist shot in the high slot.
Penn State quickly went to the power play hoping to improve from last night’s calamitous performance on the man advantage. Gavin McKenna hit the post with a shot, but the power play again struggled to pressure Michigan State’s aggressive penalty kill. Penn State somehow survived a Spartans power play minutes later, with Josh Fleming making several great saves to prevent the deficit from growing.
The Nittany Lions went back to the power play midway through the period after a check to the head by Patrick Geary on Matt DiMarsico, but again the power play went flat. Josh Fleming held down the fort as much as he could, but Porter Martone made it 2-0 late in the period when he fired the puck into the yawning net on a 2-on-1 rush with Charlie Stramel. Michigan State took a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
Second Period
Michigan State dominated the second period, recording 11 of the first 12 shots of the period and keeping Josh Fleming under siege. The Spartans eventually struck when a point shot by Colin Ralph deflected past Fleming to give the Spartans a 3-0 lead. Penn State started to push back a little bit later in the period but could not crack Trey Augustine. Lev Katzin took a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct in the closing seconds of the period, and Penn State went to the intermission trailing 3-0.
Third Period
Penn State came out with energy in the third period needing a goal to get back in the game, but the Lions could not get past Augustine. Charlie Stramel added an empty net goal, and Anthony Romani scored his second goal of the series with Michigan State on a 5-on-3 late in the game.
Scoring Summary
First Period
- MSU: Charlie Stramel (4)- Porter Martone (7), Matt Basgall (4)- 5v5- 2:32
- MSU: Porter Martone (4)- Charlie Stramel (4), Ryker Lee (3)- 5v5- 18:37
Second Period
- MSU: Colin Ralph (1)- Charlie Stramel (5), Daniel Russell (4)- 5v5- 11:56
Third Period
- MSU: Charlie Stramel (5)- Daniel Russell (5), Sean Barnhill (2)- EN- 15:40
- MSU: Anthony Romani (3)- Daniel Russell (6), Matt Basgall (5)- PP- 16:56
Shots By Period
- PSU: 12-12-12-36
- MSU: 15-17-16-48
Takeaways
- All Systems Failure- Except for Josh Fleming, every other part of this game for Penn State was a complete disaster. Right now, this team is a long way from competing for a Big Ten championship, and it’s not getting any easier with Michigan coming to State College next weekend.
- Goaltending- Josh Fleming may have allowed four goals, but he prevented several others with some great saves. Hard to blame the goaltending when the rest of the team was poor.
- Scoring Depth Gone- This weekend is what the offense looks like when the top line isn’t scoring multiple goals a game. There are too many passengers on the team right now.
- Regroup Next Weekend- This was an embarrassment, but it still only counts as one loss. Penn State will have a chance to reset next weekend at home.
What’s Next
Penn State will host Michigan next Friday and Saturday in another critical early-season conference series. Puck drop on Friday is scheduled for 7pm on Big Ten Plus.
