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.
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 Michigans 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 Michigans 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.
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.
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 States 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, Michigans 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.
First Period
Second Period
Third Period
Shots By Period
The two teams will meet again tomorrow evening. Puck drop is scheduled for 6pm on Big Ten Plus.