For a second consecutive night, No. 14 Arizona State dominated the second period, putting them 20 minutes away from potentially upsetting No. 5 Penn State.
It was another four goal scoring barrage by the Nittany Lions that led them to a 4-2 victory over the Sun Devils at Mullet Arena in Tempe, Arizona.
It was a quiet first period for both sides, the Nittany Lions were able to successfully kill a minor cross-checking penalty by forward Shea Van Olm.
It was the first experience on the penalty kill for forward Gavin McKenna whose shot when wide on a shorthanded opportunity.
Forward Nicholas Chin-DeGraves had a highlight block on Sun Devil forward Cullen Potter’s shot midway through the power play where the Sun Devils failed to register a shot on goal.
After a quiet opening period, Arizona State seized momentum when co-captain Bennett Schimek scored his first goal of the season just two minutes into the second period to give the Sun Devils an 1-0 lead.
Toward the end of the second period, forward Cruz Lucious extended the Sun Devil lead to 2-0 after being set up by Schimek and Sean McGurn.
Much like the previous night, the Nittany Lions shined in the final stanza.
When McKenna got called for cross checking, Chin-DeGraves who has been an exceptional penalty killer, got set up by captain Dane Dowiak to get the Nittany Lions first shorthanded tally of the season to cut the deficit 2-1.
Last season Penn State was fourth nationally with eight shorthanded goals.
Just over three minutes later, forward JJ Wiebusch would even the game after forward Charlie Cerrato earned his team leading fourth assist during this campaign. The primary assist on the Wiebusch goal was from forward Matt DiMarsico.
The Nittany Lions seemed to have another rash of penalties, as Arizona State had four power play opportunities each turned away by the elite Penn State penalty kill.
With under two-minutes to go, after an Arizona State elbowing penalty, McKenna would notch his first goal on the power play that proved to be the game-winner.
Dowiak would add the empty netter to give Penn State the 4-2 win.
Penn State now improves to 9-1 all-time against Arizona State.
The next game for the Nittany Lions will be their home opener against Clarkson on Thursday October 9 at 6:30 PM (Eastern), televised by the Big Ten Network.
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Nittany Sports Now’s Three-Stars
Third Star: Kevin Reidler – Goalie
Arizona State had many opportunities to blow this game open, as the Nittany Lions were missing defenseman Jackson Smith once again. It was Reidler who kept Penn State in it throughout stopping 45 of 47 shots (.957 save percentage).
Second Star: Gavin McKenna – Forward
Typically top star goes to the player who gets the game winner. While McKenna did get the game-winner on the power play, I felt his was the second player on the ice. It was a pleasure seeing his role evolve.
First Star: Nicholas Chin-DeGraves – Forward
In all facets, Chin-DeGraves excelled for the Nittany Lions, but it was the penalty kill where he shined the brightest.
Chin-DeGraves had a key blocked shot in the first period and opened up the scoring in the third period on a shorthanded goal.
What was even more invaluable was how dominant he was on the faceoffs winning 10 of 14, second most by any Penn State skater finishing with a +2.
