The Spartans had a chance midway through the first to tie it up on a powerplay, but the struggles of scoring on the powerplay continued and MSU did not register a shot on goal.

As the first period wound down, Michigan State was able to even things up on a goal from MSU’s leading scorer Charlie Combs. Dennis Cesana did a nice job carrying the puck into the zone and back behind the net. He found Tommy Apap out in center, whose shot was blocked, but the puck found itself in front of Combs who backhanded it into the net.

The second period was a poor one by Michigan State, and it ended up being the difference maker.

Four minutes in, Christian Krygier took a holding penalty. For the most part, the Spartans’ penalty kill did a nice job, but every second of a penalty kill is important. In the last few ticks of the man advantage, MSU cleared the defensive zone and attempted a line change. Penn State saw it coming though and quickly countered with a four on two rush. PSU capitalized with a tic-tac-toe goal by Aarne Talvitie, giving Penn State what served to be the eventual game winning goal with one second left on the powerplay.

Seven minutes later, Penn State’s Kevin Wall tapped in a rebound on a tipped shot by Talvitie, giving them a two-goal lead that MSU searched for in Game 1.

The Spartans registered just four shots on goal in the second period. At the end of the period, it looked like MSU had cut the lead in half on a powerplay goal by Jagger Joshua. To the Spartans' disappointment, the goal was reviewed and reversed, and the score remained 3-1.

In the final period, Michigan State had its chances to make things interesting, including one powerplay. One of their best chances came on a breakaway from A.J. Hodges, but Oskar Autio was locked in finishing the game with 21 saves.

“We played real well in the first, got some things done," Head Coach Danton Cole said after the game. "And then I thought in the second we were not very good. In the third, guys really worked very hard. We just could not get one to go."

The Spartan’s 2020-21 powerplay woes continued Saturday as they went 0-3 on the day with zero shots on goal. They have now scored just three powerplay goals on the year on 39 attempts, which is third worst in the country ahead of Lake Superior State and Long Island University.

Hodges returned to the lineup for Michigan State for the first time since Dec. 20 against Notre Dame. He slotted in as the left wing on the third line with Nicolas Müller at center and Joshua at right wing. Hodges recorded three shots on goal, tied with three other players for most on the team.

Wall and Talvitie led the offense for Penn State, with each of them putting up a goal, an assist and five shots on goal.

The Spartans will return home next weekend for a series against Ohio State at Munn Ice Arena.