No. 1 Michigan State's Road Series Against Penn State Ends With Tie, Shootout Loss in Augustine's Return
For the first time in almost a month, No. 1 Michigan State hockey didn't win a game on Saturday, as the Spartans' second game of their road series with Penn State finished with a 2-2 tie. The Nittany Lions would win the shootout.
Junior forward Isaac Howard continued his goal-scoring streak, scoring his 18th goal of the season.
Meanwhile, Spartan sophomore goaltender Trey Augustine was back in net, finishing the contest with 32 saves.
For the second game in a row, Penn State's star sophomore forward Aiden Fink drew first blood, scoring the first goal of the game less than 4 minutes into the contest.
The score remained 1-0 in the Nittany Lions' favor for more than 20 minutes before Howard finally sent one between the pipes with less than 5 minutes gone in the second half. He was assisted by sophomore defenseman Patrick Geary.
The game would be all knotted up at 1-1 for more than 10 minutes before Geary assisted again, along with sophomore defenseman Maxim Štrbák, setting up the go-ahead goal for junior forward Joey Larson, giving the Spartans the 2-1 edge with just over 6 minutes to go before the second intermission.
It seemed Michigan State was on its way to sealing its sixth-straight win and 19th of the season. That was until Spartan freshman forward Nathan Mackie was hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty with less than 2 minutes left in the final period of regulation.
It was the 11th penalty of a game riddled with power plays, and usurpingly, would lead to the only power-play goal of the game.
Penn State senior forward Ben Schoen scored the game-tying goal, which would force overtime.
Neither team scored in the extra period, which would lead to a shootout. The Nittany Lions ultimately won the shootout in four rounds.
Michigan State leaves the road trip with a win and a tie.
Now, the real test begins.
Michigan State will play a home and away series with its biggest rival, Michigan. The Spartans swept the Wolverines last season but were ultimately bested by their in-state foe in the NCAA Tournament.
The series begins Friday in Ann Arbor before the teams come to Munn Ice Arena for Game 2 on Saturday.
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