EAST LANSING — Top-ranked Michigan State was eager to get going after an early bye week, back at home Friday night for the first time in a month to face third-ranked Penn State in a highly anticipated matchup.
In front of a raucous Munn Ice Arena crowd, these two Big Ten heavyweights battled it out to a 1-1 tie over 60 minutes. Then, in the 3-on-3 overtime, MSU senior forward Tiernan Shoudy found the back of the net — after a patient pass from junior forward Tommi Mannistoto — giving the Spartans a 2-1 overtime win.
MSU (6-1-0 overall, 1-0-0 Big Ten) gets two points in the Big Ten standings (to Penn State’s one) and adds another win to an impressive early resume.
“It was just two really good teams, and we knew coming in that we both had a lot of skill and it would be the harder working team that got it done,” Shoudy said. “I think for us, coming off the bye, we were all chomping at the bit to get into a game. This week guys were getting chippy even in practice, so we knew it was going to happen in the game. We want to be physical and I think they’d say the same thing.”
MSU freshman forward Anthony Romani got MSU on the board first, using an aggressive forecheck to keep the play in MSU’s offensive zone. Romani won a battle for the puck in front of Penn State’s net and quickly snapped a shot past Nittany Lions goaltender Kevin Reidler near the end of the first period.
Heralded Penn State freshman forward Gavin McKenna leveled the score in the second period, firing a pass through the MSU crease that deflected off a Spartan skate and past goaltender Trey Augustine.
Augustine made 24 saves on the evening, while Reidler stopped 30 shots. MSU forward Eric Nilson and defenseman Colin Ralph assisted on Romani’s goal, giving Ralph his first point as a Spartan.
Some of MSU’s best chances came on breakaways on the penalty kill, during which the Spartans relinquished very little defensively.
“The kill did a great job,” MSU coach Adam Nightingale said, “(Penn State) is talented and has a lot of movement and guys who are patient, so first off we tried to not give them too many opportunities. But our guys earned those chances, they were stopping and starting and we have some guys with speed.”
This game delivered as two high-powered teams fought it out with some added chippiness and two great goaltending performances.
Augustine’s impressive stop just three minutes in on a 2-on-1 chance, and later on a McKenna first-period rush and quick shot, altered the game in a big way.
But in a game littered with NHL draft picks and potential superstars, fourth-line forwards Shoudy and Mannisto combined to net the game-winner, as they’ve done before.
“I think that sometimes gets lost — you don’t have to be a draft pick to be a good hockey player,” Nightingale said. “You think about (Shoudy) and Tommi, how many games they’ve helped us win since we’ve been here. They play winning hockey. You know exactly what you’re going to get. It’s repeatable. … Their energy never dips.”
MSU and Penn State meet again at 4 p.m. Saturday at Munn for the series finale.
“Our guys stayed with it. We were playing a really good team and they can tax you, but I think as the game went on we got better,” Nightingale said. “There were parts of the game where we played the way we need to play, and other parts, and credit to (Penn State), where they make it hard on you. We got an opportunity (Saturday) now to keep growing as a team.”
Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X @Nathaniel_Bott
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