Cardiac Cats battle from three-goal deficit, gain extra point in shootout

EAST LANSING, Mich -- For the second consecutive game, No. 17 Penn State overcame a multi-goal deficit in the third period to force overtime and gain the extra Big Ten point in a shootout.

Going on the road against a feisty No. 11 Michigan State Spartans team, the Nittany Lions found themselves in a hole early, thanks to a short-handed goal from Patrick Geary.

The hole would become a crater as Michigan State took advantage of defensive zone miscues in the middle frame to take a 3-0 lead off of goals from Daniel Russell and Isaac Howard.

Guy Gadowsky’s squad took a positive going into the final period as Tyler Paquette found a loose puck in the slot and scorched one past the shoulder of goaltender Trey Augustine to bring the blue and white within two.

Xander Lamppa continued his hot hand from the Notre Dame series, redirecting a Jimmy Dowd Jr. shot just over seven minutes into the third period.

Thanks to the assist, Dowd Jr. now has 51 career points and is one point shy of tying Vince Pedrie for seventh all-time in points by a Penn State defenseman. The helper marks his 42nd, one behind Trevor Hamilton and Kris Myllari for fifth all-time in assists for a Nittany Lion defenseman.

The blue and white would continue to pressure the Spartans over the next several minutes, but could not seemingly penetrate the defensive stronghold of the green and white or the former USA World Junior Championship goalie Augustine.

That was, until the nicknamed “Kid Line”, did it again for Gadowsky.

The line of Aiden Fink, Reese Laubach and Matt DiMarsico hemmed the Spartans in their own zone, leading to a defensive zone turnover that DiMarsico made no mistake on, potting his second goal of the season to tie the game with under two and a half minutes.

Overtime would not decide a victor and for the third straight contest, Penn State found itself in a shootout battling for the extra point.

After Xander Lamppa kept the Nittany Lions’ hopes alive with a eerily similar move to his game winner last Sunday against Notre Dame, Ryan Kirwan sealed the extra point with a wicked wrister under the glove of Augustine.

In his third start of the season, sophomore netminder Noah Grannon stopped 32 of 35 shots, including the final 16 he faced as the Nittany Lions mounted their comeback.

The three consecutive shootouts are the most consecutive shootouts in program history and the second-most shootouts in a single season behind the five the team faced in the 2017-2018 season.

The two teams will battle again on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Munn Ice Arena, as Penn State looks to secure its first official Big Ten win of the season.

Joshua Bartosik is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu.