The No. 15 Penn State men's hockey team generated another thrilling win Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena, topping second-ranked Minnesota 4-3 in overtime to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive. The Nittany Lions extended their points streak to seven consecutive games and delivered coach Guy Gadowsky his 400th career victory.
Penn State closes the regular season Saturday night at Pegula Ice Arena with the series finale against Minnesota. The Nittany Lions then will face Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Penn State is 10-1-3 in its last 14 games and improved to 12th in the latest PairWise Ratings. The Nittany Lions entered the weekend ranked 15th in the USCHO.com poll.
Penn State's Simon Mack, after missing two choice overtime chances, scored the game-winner with less than 2 minutes remaining in the period. Mack took a feed from Aiden Fink, tied for the nation's points lead with 47, and sniped a shot past Minnesota goalkeeper Liam Souliere, off the left pipe and into the net. The goal touched off a wild celebration at Pegula Ice Arena, which hosted the fifth-largest crowd (6,577) in Pegula Ice Arena.
HYSTERIA IN HOCKEY VALLEY 🗣️ https://t.co/B4N7ejQ68h pic.twitter.com/JFwUhbZipJ
Penn State, which began the season 0-8 in Big Ten play, has turned on the jets during the 2025 calendar year. The Nittany Lions have won 10 of their last 14 games and have taken seven points in three games from Michigan State and Minnesota, the Big Ten's top two teams. Penn State went from out of NCAA Tournament contention to the hottest team in college hockey.
“Our mentality is just not listening to noise, to focus on the game we have. We always are extremely grateful to be home, specifically because of the awesome atmosphere,” Gadowsky said before the game. “We certainly aren't going to look past the first period Friday night. That's really what we're focused on right now.”
Trailing 1-0 in the second period, Penn State scored twice in a 46-second span to take a 2-1 lead on goals from Matthew DiMarsico and JJ Wiebusch. After Minnesota tied the game on a power-play goal, Penn State regained the lead on its own man-advantage goal from Danny Dzhaniyev. Minnesota tied the game in the third period, leading to Mack's game-winner in overtime.
Gadowsky, in his 25th season as a Division I hockey coach, became the 30th head coach to reach 300 career wins. Gadowsky is in his 13th season as Penn State's head coach.
The Nittany Lions will host Minnesota at 8 p.m. ET Saturday night at Pegula Ice Arena for the regular-season finale. Big Ten Network will televise. Can't watch? Listen to Brian Tripp on the Penn State Sports Network.
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Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.
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