GREEN & WHITE HOCKEY

Michigan State hockey edged by No. 16 Penn State in home finale, 3-2

Lansing State Journal
John Lethemon #31 of the Michigan State Spartans blocks a shot against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the second period during their game at Madison Square Garden on January 20, 2018 in New York City.

EAST LANSING -- The Michigan State hockey team put together an energetic third-period rally but could not come back to top No. 16 Penn State as the Nittany Lions hung on for a 3-2 win on Saturday at a sold-out Munn Ice Arena.

Patrick Khodorenko cut the deficit to 3-2 with a power-play goal early in the third as MSU outshot PSU, 19-8, in the final period, but wasn’t able to get another puck past goaltender Peyton Jones.

“It was an interesting game,” MSU coach Danton Cole said. “I thought for the first two periods Penn State played hard and they won a lot more battles than they did last night and you have to give them credit for that. I thought in the third the guys kind of opened it up and played a little more how we’ve been playing lately - with reckless abandon.

“We told them in the locker room we just ran out of time. Overall, on the weekend, I thought the guys did a lot of good things and we’ll keep moving forward.”

Penn State (14-13-5, 7-10-5-2) took a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal by Chase Berger at the 12:38 mark of the opening period.

But the Spartans (11-19-2, 5-15-2-1) responded less than a minute later as Brody Stevens got his second goal in as many games to make it 1-1. Stevens blocked a PSU shot from the point, got control of the puck and raced up ice. In the clear, Stevens beat goaltender Peyton Jones with a low shot.

MORE:Michigan State hockey starts final home weekend with 4-2 win over No. 16 Penn State

Unfortunately for MSU, Penn State’s Andrew Sturtz scored with 17.7 seconds to play in the period to regain the lead for the Nittany Lions. Sturtz took the puck from the defensive zone into the MSU end, shot, got his own rebound and then curled out to the right circle where his next shot bounced off two posts and got past goaltender Ed Minney.

The initial rush by Sturtz into the MSU zone appeared to be offside and the Spartans challenged the play, but the call was upheld.

The Spartans had a pair of power plays in the first and second periods, but the Nittany Lions neutralized all four opportunities to keep MSU from adding to its total.

Penn State outshot MSU 17-7 in the second period and made it 3-1 at the 4:58 mark when Alex Limoges tipped a shot from the point past Minney.

Minney prevented the PSU lead from getting any larger with a pair of breakaway saves in the second and then a stop from point-blank range on the edge of the crease later on in the third. He finished with a season-high 34 saves.

“Ed battled and there was a lot of pressure on him the first two periods,” Cole said. “He did a really nice job and that’s great for him, he deserved that and I wish we could have gotten him a win.”

MSU kept the puck in the Penn State zone for long stretches in the third and peppered Jones. Khodorenko made it a one-goal game on the power play at the 6:48 mark, taking a feed from Mitchell Lewandowski and then beating Jones with a rising shot from the slot.

A too-many-men on the ice penalty to MSU with 2:46 to go in the game complicated the Spartans’ comeback effort, but they pressured the Lions and got a 2-on-1 with Sam Saliba and Brennan Sanford with just over a minute to play. Saliba forced a turnover and got the puck to Sanford for a one-timer from the right circle, but Jones got a pad on the shot and turned it away.

PSU finished with a 37-33 shots on goal advantage. MSU went 1-for-5 on the power play while Penn State was 1-for-3.

The Spartans will close the regular season next weekend on Friday and Saturday at top-ranked Notre Dame.

- MSU Athletic Communications