STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Long-time Minnesota coach Don Lucia used to say that the first team to score three goals in any given game is likely to win. At Penn State’s shooting gallery known as Pegula Ice Arena, that number is more like five goals. And on Saturday, the Nittany Lions got there first.

Penn State scored twice in less than a minute early, and cashed in on a pair of Gophers turnovers late, holding off any Minnesota opportunities to rally in a 6-3 win.

Ryan Kirwan was the hottest of the hot hands for the Lions (9-5-3, 2-3-3 Big Ten), with a goal and two assists as Penn State beat Minnesota at home for the first time in nearly four years. Lions goalie Noah Grannan got his third win of the season with 23 saves.

Known as one of the more intimidating places to visit in college hockey, the Penn State coach said his team fed off the crowd’s energy to get an important win.

“You lose a tough game last night and the crowd was unbelievable. We come out tonight and look to the Roar Zone, and it’s jam-packed and light and awesome, and I’ve got to tell you, that plays a big part in it,” Guy Gadowsky said. “We stuck to our game. …We didn’t have a lag. We stayed committed to what we do.”

Minnesota fell to 8-5-3 overall and 4-4-2 in the conference despite junior forward Rhett Pitlick scoring a goal for the sixth consecutive game. They also got goals from Bryce Brodzinski – his team-leading 10th – and Jimmy Snuggerud but lost for just the second time since before Halloween. Gophers goalie Justen Close had 37 saves in the loss.

In Friday’s dominating 4-1 Gophers win, the scoreboard was the only place things looked good for the Gophers in the first period, when they improbably held a 2-1 lead after being outshot 13-3 in the first 20 minutes. Because sometimes hockey doesn’t make sense, Minnesota had a notably better start on Saturday, outshooting the Lions 10-9 in the first, and emerged with a two-goal deficit.

“We’re disappointed, because we’ve seen this before. When you win a game on Friday night, especially on the road, the next night you’re going to get a whole different focus from them,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. “We weren’t bad. But it’s just an edge you have to have, and then we made mistakes. That’s one of the concerning things in a couple of our losses, and we haven’t had many in a while.”

Shortly after the first period media timeout, a Jimmy Dowd Jr. shot from the blue line was tipped by Laubach and fooled Close low. Less than a minute later, a puck bounced off a few skates and ended up on the stick of Kirwan, who popped it into the Minnesota net to double the home team’s lead.

The Lions scored coming out of the second period media timeout as well, making it 3-0. After Minnesota’s Aaron Huglen was ejected from the game for checking from behind later in the middle frame, the Gophers were able to kill a five-minute Penn State power play, and finally got on the board when Pitlick scored his team’s first shorthanded goal of the season.

Minnesota made a push early in the third, but instead found themselves down by three goals again when a turnover at the offensive blue line sprung Jacques Bouquot on a breakaway. The Lions had an answer every time the Gophers scored late in the third, and hit an empty net goal in the final second of the game.

“We had a lot of heart and character trying to get back in that game,” Motzko said. “Big shorthanded goal and guys were fighting their tails off in the third period, but we were kind of fighting an uphill battle with the mistakes we made.”

Minnesota had won five consecutive games at Penn State since the Lions clinched their only Big Ten title with a come-from-behind win over the Gophers at Pegula in February 2020.

Briefly

Pitlick’s short-handed goal was the first scored by the Gophers since Matthew Knies netted a goal with a teammate in the penalty box in a game at Notre Dame in January last season.

The six goals by Penn State were the most that Minnesota has surrendered this season.

The Gophers close out the unofficial first half of the season with a road series at Ohio State next weekend.

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