MSU hockey (11-12-2, 5-4-2-2 Big Ten) defeated No. 19 Penn State (15-8-2, 7-2-1 Big Ten) 3-0 Friday night behind junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand’s 28-save shutout. Sophomore forwards Mackenzie MacEachern and JT Stenglein scored a pair of second period goals, and junior forward Matt DeBlouw scored in the third period.
The Spartans controlled the early part of the first period, outshooting PSU 9-1 through the first seven minutes of the game. Nittany Lion goaltender PJ Musico answered the bell to keep the game scoreless.
Sporting the top two penalty kill units in the Big Ten entering the game, MSU (.867) and PSU (.830) both killed off one penalty each in the opening frame.
After killing off two more penalties in the second period, the Spartans finally got on board with MacEachern’s 7th goal of the year. Senior defenseman Ron Boyd – the guilty party of two previous MSU penalties – made a nice play to carry deep into the zone. The carry-in led to a shot on net by Berry, and after an initial save by Musico, MacEachern was sitting just outside the crease to put home the rebound on his backhand.
The goal came just past the midway point of the game (10:04 into the second period), and the Spartans wouldn’t need much more time to add to their lead.
Stenglein would take advantage of a PSU turnover by netting his second goal of the year 12:52 into the second period. Sophomore forwards Villiam Haag and Tomas Ebbing picked up the assists on the play.
DeBlouw kept on rolling in this game, highlighted by his slap shot goal 4:16 into the third period. The goal was his seventh of the season and extended his goal-scoring streak to three games.
The Nittany Lions pulled their goaltender with an unprecedented 5:25 remaining in the game, but neither team scored for the remainder of the game.
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