"You don't have to be a draft pick to be a good hockey player," head coach Adam Nightingale said. "(Shoudy) and (Männistö), you know how many games they've helped us win since we've been here? I mean, they play winning hockey. You know exactly what you're going to get, and it's repeatable."

That reliability became especially important in a matchup where offensive rhythm was hard to find from the opening faceoff. 

Though the game was by no means slow it looked like neither team could maintain possessions from the puck drop. The first shot on goal was fired about three minutes in off forward Matt Dimarsico after the Spartans gave up a two-on-one. 

The Spartans saw their most electric scoring opportunities shorthanded after a minor penalty led to breakaways from Männistö and freshman forward Eric Nilson, although neither could capitalize. 

After killing the penalty there was a weird scuffle and it looked like MSU might have earned a goal — but the shot was stopped by Reidler. 

Freshman forward Anthony Romani finished the job shortly after off a dish from behind the net, skating to give himself space before slotting the puck through the left side, taking a 1-0 lead and earning his second goal of the season.  

Immediately after the goal, the Nittany Lions took a penalty at the center-ice faceoff, giving the Spartans a two-minute power play. Despite the man advantage, it looked as if MSU might give up a goal when forward Charlie Cerrato stole the puck for a one-on-one chance against junior goaltender Trey Augustine — but Cerrato lost control, and the Spartans regained possession.

The Green and White could not convert on the powerplay, but were assessed a minor penalty, of which one minute rolled into the second period. 

Despite a shorthanded start, the Spartans killed the penalty at the top of the second and the line of freshman forwards looked like it had crafted room to score, but shots did not fall.

Freshman forward Cayden Lindstrom showed sparks in the fifth minute, firing off a shot and then winning a faceoff before firing another – all snuffed by Reidler. 

Chants of "Augustine" rang out with about five minutes left in the second after the netminder recorded multiple saves — stopping an unexpected shot after sophomore defenseman Colin Ralph passed the puck right onto the stick of Penn State forward Gavin McKenna. 

Penn State continued to control the puck and despite a glove save from Augustine, Mckenna evened the score on a play that looked like a pass to forward Reese Laubach, but snuck past the goal line. Augustine recorded three more saves to keep the game knotted 1-1 entering intermission. 

Less than a minute into the third MSU had a scoring opportunity off with the puck sitting near the net, but Lindstrom couldn’t get it to go in time. 

It felt like the momentum favored the Spartans all throughout the third, with multiple slapshots from senior defenseman Matt Basgall, breakaways and second chance opportunities that did not fall. 

Augustine made a huge save with six minutes left in regulation when forward JJ Wiebusch skated in alone on a breakaway. Augustine lost his stick but still turned aside the shot. While MSU controlled the puck in the final minute, it couldn’t convert, sending the game to overtime.

Basgall and senior forwards Daniel Russell and Charlie Stramel started overtime for the Spartans, and Stramel fired an early shot that was stopped. The line couldn’t convert, and a shift change brought Shoudy, Männistö and junior defenseman Maxim Štrbák onto the ice.

Shoudy and Männistö had a two-on-one, and Männistö shot a one-timer that was snuffed. The duo retained the puck and Shoudy thought he had an open net but missed the goal on the back end. 

("Männistö) had great poise, came around the net," Shoudy said. "I thought it was open right away, but he had great poise."

Although it looked like Männistö could have shot the puck, he sent it back door to Shoudy who banked the shot into the back of the net, defeating the Nittany Lions 2-1. 

"I kind of figured he was passing," Shoudy said. "He was staring at me the whole time. I think he was just looking for a lane, especially like two guys came to him too. So, he made, he made an unbelievable play, great poise. And then I was just fortunate to be there."

The Spartans outshot the Nittany Lions 32-25, with Augustine recording 24 saves between the pipes. MSU demonstrated success on the penalty kill yet again, stopping all four of Penn State’s powerplays, while even finding opportunities to create offense. 

"I thought the kill did a good job right there," Nightingale said. "We got some guys that have some speed and, you know, we never go into the kill saying, 'Hey, we want to try to create offense.' I think that's just the way it went tonight."

With this victory MSU moves to 6-1-0, snapping Penn State’s seven-game win streak. The Spartans will return to home ice, closing out the series Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST.