In 2014, when Penn State men’s hockey beat Michigan 4-0 just 59 games into the program’s Division I existence, it sent a message to the rest of the college hockey world that the Nittany Lions should not be ignored. It was just one win, but a promising sign that Penn State had the potential to be more than just the flashy new thing the sport had to offer. Not only did the rink look great, so too did the hockey played on it.
“For the coaching staff its makes us feel good about the players buying in to do what we do,” Penn State coach Guy Gadowksy said after the game in 2014. “That what we do is going to pay off and yield a result like this. It’s the buy-in to play like this that gives a lot of confidence in what we’re doing in that the personnel we have is able to play that way.”
All these years later as Penn State upset No. 1 Michigan 3-0 on Friday at Pegula Ice Arena it was once again validation – this time of an early season start – a now 9-0 record that had been disregarded by some as soft. Wait until Penn State gets to Big Ten play, and then we shall all see what the Nittany Lions truly have to offer.
What Penn State had to offer was domination, a 49-17 shot total, a second-straight shutout effort by a now suddenly defensive minded program and the sort of win that turns cautious optimism into full blown belief.
Like all good things, this one did not come easy at first for the Nittany Lions. Penn State and Michigan were scoreless through the first period as the Nittany Lions shelled Michigan’s net to the tune of a 16-4 shot differential. It was quintessential Penn State hockey, shoot the puck, worry about the rest later. But it worked, the Wolverines never winning battles to the puck, never quite there when they needed to be. Everything Michigan did Penn State did just a bit better.
And the Nittany Lions were rewarded for that in the second period with two separate tick-tac-toe goals. The first as Ture Linden slammed home a pass from Jimmy Dowd Jr. only for Ashton Calder to do the same just minutes later to put Penn State ahead 2-0 on the backs of beautiful passes and well timed finishes. By the time the second period ended Michigan found itself having managed just 14 shots on goal, and with little momentum in its corner.
That would continue in the final 20 minutes, a defensive effort by Penn State resulting in just three total shots by the visiting Wolverines in the final period of regulation which included a Michigan power play. It was in every sense of the word a dominating effort. The sort of play that makes one question not so much if Penn State was overlooked as much as if Michigan might have been overrated. An empty net goal by Christian Berger only added an exclamation point to an already statement filled game.
Of course the nature of college hockey is that last night’s win only lasts so long. The two teams will take the ice again on Saturday and Penn State will have to prove itself yet again. Anyone can beat a team from time to time, but do it twice, that takes a whole different kind of effort.
But as the Nittany Lions left the ice behind a 17-save effort from Liam Souliere and one of the most complete performances in program history, it was hard to deny the promising signs this team showed against Michigan once again, albeit nearly a decade after that first time the Wolverines came out on the wrong side of a defining effort by Penn State.
