SB Nation • 12 min read

Penn State 4, Arizona State 2: McKenna Has Arrived

Trailing entering the third period for the second straight night, No. 5 Penn State rode an avalanche of momentum in the final frame to steal a 4-2 win over No. 14 Arizona State. The Nittany Lions earned

a critical road sweep in its toughest non-conference games of the season. Gavin McKenna, who threatened to score all night but could not finish, finally found the back of the net on a late power play to give the Lions the lead for good.

First Period

Shortly before the game, Penn State’s defense received some welcome news, as Jarod Crespo made his way back into the lineup after an ugly collision into the boards last night. Penn State started pressuring the Sun Devils early, and Mac Gadowsky hit the post just under two minutes in. Arizona State drew the game’s first power play midway through the period when Shea Van Olm was called for a cross check. After a frenetic start to the penalty kill, Penn State settled in. Gavin McKenna and Reese Laubach each had good chances shorthanded but could not convert. For the remainder of the period, the teams traded chances on the rush, but Kevin Reidler and Connor Hasley kept the game scoreless.

Second Period

Arizona State took the lead two minutes into the third period when Bennett Schimet scored his first goal of the season on the rush. A Nittany Lion blew a tire in the neutral zone to spring a 3-on-1 rush and gave Schimek plenty of room to fire a wrist shot past Reidler. Ben Schoen had a point-blank chance a few minutes later when he forced a turnover in the offensive zone, but his shot went just wide of the cage. The second line went to work with suffocating pressure in the offensive zone after the ensuing faceoff, and the Nittany Lions’ work eventually drew a hooking penalty on the Sun Devils. The power play started strong but struggled to maintain possession after a couple of shots went wide of the net.

The Sun Devils doubled the lead on another rush. Kevin Reidler gave up a rebound in front, and Cruz Lucius was there to bury a backhand shot with Reidler out of position. Penn State’s attack began to fade toward the end of the second period, with the best chance coming shorthanded when a shot by Dane Dowiak was narrowly saved by Connor Hasley. The Nittany Lions escaped the period without any further damage, and the visitors trailed 2-0 entering the final frame.

Third Period

JJ Wiebusch had a glorious chance from the left faceoff circle on a cross-ice pass from Charlie Cerrato, but his one-timer hit the post. With Penn State on a penalty kill, Nic Chin-DeGraves moved in on the rush and fired home a wrist shot to cut the deficit to 2-1:

With the momentum shifting, JJ Wiebusch avenged his point-blank miss earlier in the period. Charlie Cerrato won an offensive zone faceoff, Matt DiMarsico nudged the puck into the slot, and Wiebusch deflected it past Hasley to tie the game:

Charlie Cerrato took a hooking penalty at center ice shortly after Wiebusch’s goal to hand Arizona State a power play chance. With the Sun Devils sustaining zone time, Casey Aman was called for tripping to force the Lions to play 3-on-5 for 1:09. A critical clear by Ben Schoen after Jarod Crespo broke his stick helped Penn State kill the two-man advantage. After a pair of chaotic scrambles in front of Kevin Reidler, the Nittany Lions got back to full strength unscathed.

Undisciplined play continued for Penn State, as Ben Schoen was called for boarding. The penalty kill again came up clutch, but the momentum the Lions had gained throughout the period was fading away.

With under three minutes left in regulation, Anthony Dowd elbowed Ben Schoen in the head to open the door for the Nittany Lions to take the lead on the man advantage. Gavin McKenna made the Sun Devils pay for their mistake with a rocket one-timer from the right faceoff circle. With just under two minutes left in regulation, Penn State held its first lead of the night at 3-2:

With Connor Hasley pulled in the waning moments, Dane Dowiak iced the game on an empty net goal with 8 seconds left to seal a crucial season-opening road sweep for the Nittany Lions.

Scoring Summary

Second Period

ASU- Bennett Schimek (1)- Justin Kipkie (1), Cullen Potter (2)- 5v5- 2:08
ASU- Cruz Lucius (1)- Sean McGurn (1), Bennett Schimek (1)- 5v5- 14:19

Third Period

PSU- Nic Chin-DeGraves (1)- Dane Dowiak (1)- SH- 5:29
PSU- JJ Wiebusch (1)- Matt DiMarsico (1), Charlie Cerrato (4)- 5v5- 8:30
PSU- Gavin McKenna (1)- Mac Gadowsky (1), Aiden Fink (3)- PP- 18:07
PSU- Dane Dowiak (1)- Unassisted- EN- 19:52

Shots By Period

PSU: 13-14-19-46
ASU: 11-18-18-47

Takeaways

Penalties- Penn State’s penalty kill was a perfect 6 for 6 on the night and scored a shorthanded goal that spurred the comeback, but too many undisciplined errors put the Nittany Lions in those situations. We can anticipate that these mistakes will be cleaned up as the season goes on.
Goaltending- Kevin Reidler picked up right where Arsenii Sergeev left off, making 45 saves on 47 Sun Devils shots. The Nittany Lions needed Reidler to step up with the defense struggling, and he rose to the challenge. The defense will need to help him out in the future, as a .957 save percentage is unsustainable long-term.
Bottom Six- After a quiet Friday night, the bottom six changed the swing of the game when Nic Chin-DeGraves scored a shorthanded goal. Dane Dowiak iced the game with an empty netter. When the bottom six starts to find its footing, watch out.
Second Line- The line that had Gavin McKenna was not Penn State’s best line at 5-on-5. The DiMarsico-Cerrato-Wiebusch line dominated Arizona State all weekend, combining for six goals, including the game-tying goal in tonight’s contest. Charlie Cerrato has looked particularly impressive facilitating play on the second line.