For the second straight game, Penn State was humiliated up and down the ice. The Nittany Lions were blown out 6-1 in their Big Ten home opener against No. 2 Michigan. What was once a promising season after
the Frozen Four run last year is quickly unraveling as conference play continues. Penn State has been outscored 14-2 in its last three games.
First Period
Penn State drew an early power play, but the issues on the man advantage from last week continued. The Nittany Lions lost control of the puck early on and continued to enter the zone right into Michigan’s forecheck. Gavin McKenna eventually turned it over to Josh Eernisse, who skated in shorthanded and put home a shorthanded goal past Kevin Reidler. Michigan took an early 1-0 lead.
Will Horcoff doubled the Wolverines’ lead with five minutes left in the period when Michigan’s forecheck forced another turnover in the defensive zone. Horcoff easily wristed home a goal past Reidler for a 2-0 lead. Soon after, Penn State took a too many men on the ice penalty to give the Wolverines’ dangerous power play an opportunity to bury the Lions early. Penn State managed to kill the penalty, but Nick Moldenhauer deflected home a shot from the point to give Michigan a 3-0 lead going into the first intermission.
Second Period
Michigan continued to pour on the offensive pressure early in the second period. Cole McKinney made a perfect centering pass that found an open Garrett Schifsky in the slot. Schifsky fired home the puck to extend the Wolverines’ lead to 4-0.
Matching minor penalties and a trip on Charlie Cerrato gave Michigan a 4-on-3 power play, but again the penalty kill managed to hold the Wolverines in check. The game started to open up after the penalty kill, with both teams trading glorious chances in transition, but bad passes and a lack of support on the rush extinguished scoring opportunities for Penn State.
Shea Van Olm got the Nittany Lions on the board late in the period when Charlie Cerrato forced a turnover behind the net and fed the puck to him in the low slot:
Michigan led 4-1 going into the second intermission.
Third Period
Dane Dowiak took an interference penalty less than a minute into the third. Adam Valentini capitalized on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Michael Hage and Matthew Mania when Penn State’s penalty kill left him wide open in the low slot.
A few minutes later, TJ Hughes controlled the puck near the wall and found a gaping hole in the Penn State defense with Braedon Ford and Lev Katzin flat-footed in the slot. Hughes moved in and powered home the puck past Kevin Reidler while falling to the ice. Michigan led 6-1 with 15 minutes left.
Shea Van Olm took a holding penalty late in the third period, and while Penn State was able to kill it off, Michigan’s power play pressure set up a Cole McKinney goal four seconds after the power play expired to extend the lead to 7-1 and send any lingering fans to the exits.
Scoring Summary
First Period
- MICH: Josh Eernisse (6)- Unassisted- SH- 7:15
- MICH: Will Horcoff (12)- Unassisted- 5v5- 14:43
- MICH: Nick Moldenhauer (3)- Kienan Draper (3), Garrett Schifsky (2)- 5v5- 17:53
Second Period
- MICH: Garrett Schifsky (6)- Cole McKinney (5)- 5v5- 4:20
- PSU: Shea Van Olm (2)- Charlie Cerrato (15)- 5v5- 19:36
Third Period
- MICH: Adam Valentini (4)- Matthew Mania (1), Matthew Hage (11)- PP- 0:51
- MICH: TJ Hughes (6)- Jayden Perron (8)- 5v5- 4:29
- MICH: Cole McKinney (4)- Ben Robertson (12), Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen (8)- 5v5- 17:35
Shots By Period
- MICH: 9-16-12-37
- PSU: 8-12-7-27
Takeaways
- Defense- The defense has been a liability all season, but it was no more apparent than it was tonight. Michigan easily sustained pressure in the offensive zone, and Penn State’s defense left attackers wide open over and over again.
- Goaltending- Kevin Reidler was bad tonight. Really bad. His defense did not do him any favors, but 7 goals allowed is poor no matter how you slice it and dice it. Josh Fleming will likely get the nod tomorrow night.
- Power Play- The power play may have had lofty numbers early in the season, but against better teams, it is a weakness. A turnover on a zone entry led to a Michigan shorthanded goal that started tonight’s avalanche. If they can’t win the opening faceoff and set up right away, the power play is not much of a threat at this time.
- Line Shuffling- Guy has shuffled the lines all season but kept the top line intact. Tonight, he broke up the top line hoping that Cerrato could get McKenna going. Breaking up the top line leaves this forward group with zero lines that are working with any consistency.
- Overrated- Given the body of work through the first 13 games of the season, it is pretty clear this team is overrated. Maybe they flip a switch in the second half of the season like last year, but I don’t see the same fire and determination that last year’s team had.
What’s Next
The two teams will meet again tomorrow evening. Puck drop is scheduled for 6pm on Big Ten Plus.
