Special Teams Key as Men's Hockey Defeats Ohio State, 4-3

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Freshman Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) scored a pair of goals and Penn State went a perfect 4-for-4 on specialty teams in a 4-3 victory over Ohio State in Big Ten Conference action on Friday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.

The Nittany Lions snap a six-game Big Ten losing streak and improve to 11-11-3 on the year and 3-9-3-0-0-2 in conference action with the victory while the Buckeyes drop to 9-12-4 overall and 1-12-2-0-0-2 in league play with the loss.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Buckeyes opened the scoring as Dalton Messina finished off a centering pass from Sam Deckhut in the low slot beating PSU senior net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) past the glove for the 1-0 edge at 5:45 of the first period.
• Penn State evened the score off the rush as junior Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) sent a shot off the right pad of OSU goaltender Kristoffer Eberly that bounced right on the stick of senior Xander Lamppa (Rochester, Minn.) and he deposited the rebound into the back of the net for the 1-1 score at 14:40 of the first frame.
• The Nittany Lions took the 2-1 lead near the midpoint of the second period with a powerplay tally as Fink deposited a rebound at the near post after graduate transfer Jacques Bouquot's (South Windsor, Conn.) initial chance was turned aside at the 8:11 mark.
• Fink added his second man-advantage tally of the frame with just 7.7 ticks remaining as he finished a great feed from sophomore Jarod Crespo (Seven Lakes, N.C.) at the doorstep for the 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
• Ohio State cut the deficit to a single-goal early in the third period as Michael Gildon finished past an out-stretched pad of Souliere on an odd-man rush for the 3-2 score at the 4:11 mark.
• Penn State regained the two-goal margin midway through the final stanza as Crespo used his vision and precise passing once again to find junior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) at the backdoor and he roofed the puck over the blocker of Eberly for the 4-2 score at the 10:15 mark.
• The Buckeyes responded just over a minute later as Thomas Weis deposited a rebound off an odd-man rush after Max Montes' initial wraparound shot was stopped for the 4-3 score at the 11:03 mark.

GOALTENDINGSouliere moves to 8-7-1 on the year following a 18-save victory while Eberly falls to 2-3-1 after making 40 stops in the defeat.

NOTES

• Penn State held the commanding 44-21 edge in shots on goal including the 34-16 mark over the final two periods.
• The Nittany Lions were also perfect on special teams going 2-for-2 on both the penalty kill and powerplay.
• The Nittany Lions improve to 3-6-3 when the opponent draws first blood this season.
• Friday night's attendance of 6,533 is the largest of the season and the fourth largest in Pegula Ice Arena history.
• Fink secured his third multi-goal effort of the season and his eight multi-point game with his two goals.
• Lamppa had one goal and one assist on the night giving him four multi-point games this season and eight for his career while Crespo's two assists give him his first multi-point effort of the year and the third of his career.
• Fink's 14 goals on the season are now tied with Casey Bailey for the fifth-most all-time by a Nittany Lion freshman as he becomes just the third Penn State rookie to hit the 30-point mark and the first since the 2016-17 season when both Denis Smirnov (47 points) and Nate Sucese (36 points) reached that mark.

NEXT UPBoth teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow night to close out the weekend series with the annual Wear White game at 6 p.m.

For more information on the 2023-24 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.