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Gophers men's hockey falls to No. 15 Penn State in OT heartbreaker

Simon Mack delivered the game-winner for the Nittany Lions Friday night.

Nolan O'Hara

Former St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko faces off with the Huskies for the first time as head coach of Minnesota Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis.
Former St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko faces off with the Huskies for the first time as head coach of Minnesota Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis. / Zach Dwyer / St. Cloud Times via Imagn Content Services

Simon Mack delivered the game-winner for No. 15 Penn State, which stunned the second-ranked Gophers men's hockey team 4-3 in overtime in the first game of the final regular-season series Friday at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pa.

The Gophers (23-8-4) and Nittany Lions (18-11-4) found themselves in overtime after trading third-period goals. Danny Dzhaniyev scored on the power play with 10 minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the period to put Penn State on top, but Jimmy Snuggerud knotted it up for the Gophers just 2 minutes, 54 seconds later. The third was scoreless from there.

That wasn't by chance. With just over 2:30 remaining, Luke Mittelstadt made a diving play to stop a Penn State breakaway.

Mason Nevers got the Gophers on the scoreboard first, scoring just 2 minutes, 40 seconds into the first period. The Nittany Lions scored the next two, with Matt DiMarsico and JJ Wiebusch scoring 46 seconds apart in the second frame.

With just 2 minutes, 4 seconds remaining in the second period, Connor Kurth's power-play goal tied it at 2-2.

The Gophers outshot the Nittany Lions 34-32. Arsenii Sergeev made 31 saves on the 34 Gophers shots.

Liam Souliere made 28 saves on the 32 shots from the Nittany Lions.

The two teams meet again Saturday for the finale of their two-game series for a 7 p.m. puck drop in University Park.

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Nolan O'Hara
NOLAN O'HARA

Nolan O'Hara covers all things Minnesota sports, primarily the Timberwolves, for Bring Me The News and Sports Illustrated's On SI network. He previously worked as a copy editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota's Hubbard School of Journalism. His work has appeared in the Pioneer Press, Ratchet & Wrench magazine, the Minnesota Daily and a number of local newspapers in Minnesota, among other publications.

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