No. 19 Penn State Defeats Canisius 4-1

Scoring Summary

Shots On Goal

Penn State fans have gotten used to watching their team pepper opposing goalies with shots. The Nittany Lions led the nation averaging 38.6 shots per game heading into their series against Canisius and have ranked near the top in that category for the past couple of seasons.

By the ten minute mark of the second period, that average had long been surpassed.

The Lions recorded 65 shots, two short of the program record, en route to a 4-1 win over the Golden Griffins on Friday in the first game of the weekend series.

The offensive explosion, while impressive, was aided by seven power plays. The Lions recorded 20 shots with the man advantage. Five of those power plays came in the opening period.

“The power plays to start really got us momentum,” coach Guy Gadowsky said after the game. The Lions took 18 of their 31 first period shots with the man advantage.

Brandon Biro opened the scoring for the Lions with a power play tally midway through the opening frame. Biro received a pass from Nate Sucese near the goal line before pushing the puck forward and tucking it past Griffins’ goalie Daniel Urbani.

Biro’s goal was his first in a Penn State uniform, and he became the fifth freshman to record a goal this season, joining Sucese, Blake Gober, Denis Smirnov and Nikita Pavlychev.

Despite racking up 30 shots in the first period, the Lions’ only managed one goal as the frame was winding down. That was, until Smirnov hit defenseman Vince Pedrie with a cross-ice pass that Pedrie wired over Urbani’s glove with 3.6 seconds left in the period.

Check out the second goal for Penn State, which turned out to be the game-winner. With 45 seconds remaining in the first period the Lions brought the puck into their offensive zone with a man advantage. With 18 seconds on the clock Dylan Richard got tangled up with Canisius goalie Daniel Urbani and defenseman Alex Jaeckle came to Urbani’s aid. In the process Urbani lost his goalie stick, so Jaeckle gave him his stick. As a result, the puck found its way back to the right side of the net and Jaeckle was left without a stick to defend on the Vince Pedrie shot.

“It was a ridiculous pass. I think [Peyton] Jones probably could have scored on it if he wanted to,” Pedrie said following the game. “He found the seam and then I had all the time in the world. Denis’ hockey IQ is off the charts, so it’s fun to play with a guy like that.”

The Lions extended their lead to 3-0 early in the second period. David Goodwin carried the puck along the boards down the left side of the ice before swinging a pass in front of the goal to Chase Berger, who buried the puck past Urbani.

The Griffins responded late in the middle frame, as Dylan McLaughlin fired a shot over Jones’s shoulder while the Lions’ goalie was screened.

Smirnov added an empty-net goal in the final minute of the game to close out the scoring.

Gadowsky wanted to make sure his squad did not suffer an “upset letdown” after defeating then-No. 3 Notre Dame last weekend. He chose not to give a personal message to his players, however. Instead, he left it to the captains to get their teammates ready to go.

“We absolutely transferred [the responsibility] to the captains,” Gadowsky said. “I think what really helped [was] the lesson against St. Lawrence last game we played here because we didn’t come out well at all. I’m pretty sure that was mentioned in the locker room by the leaders.”