Notre Dame Hockey: Irish Aim For Comeback, Nittany Lions Prevail 4-2

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish took on the Penn State Nittany Lions Friday in the pursuit of a snap of their four game losing streak. However, Penn State put a stop to these plans and doubled Notre Dame’s 2 goals to get the W.

First Period

Fans have watched the Irish play through mostly shaky first periods this season. However, Friday we saw the Irish regain some of the structure they had lost in the past month in particular as Notre Dame’s Cam Morrison netted the first goal of the game at about ten minutes in.

Second Period

The Nittany Lions found their rhythm as the action moved into the second period. Penn State’s Denis Smirnov scored to tie up the game.

Third Period

The third period began as a tug of war for the lead. Notre Dame’s Alex Steeves found the back of the net to get his team back into the lead. However, Penn State’s Paul DeNaples answered with a tying goal. Barely even two minutes later, Evan Barratt of the Nittany Lions scored to claim the 3-2 lead. As the period neared its end, Penn State’s Aarne Talvitie locked it all in for his team to end it 4-2.

Game Summary

Scoring

Notre Dame: Cam Morrison at 10:12 in the 1st with assists from Nick Leivermann and Matt Hellickson

Penn State: Denis Smirnov at 09:59 in the 2nd with assists from Brandon Biro and Nate Sucese

Notre Dame: Alex Steeves at 04:45 in the 3rd with assists from Matt Hellickson and Michael Graham

Penn State: Paul DeNaples at 08:20 in the 3rd with assists from Cole Hults and Brandon Biro

Penn State: Evan Barratt at 10:15 in the 3rd with assists from Aarne Talvitie and Liam Folkes

Penn State: Aarne Talvitie at 18:35 in the 3rd with assists from Cole Hults and Nikita Pavlychev

Penalties

Notre Dame: Cam Burke at 05:43 in the 1st for a faceoff violation

Penn State: Kevin Wall at 02:50 in the 2nd for checking from behind

Notre Dame: Matt Hellickson at 05:15 in the 2nd for hooking

Penn State: Clayton Phillips at 06:27 in the 2nd for interference

Notre Dame: Mike O’Leary at 17:45 in the 2nd for cross-checking

Notre Dame: Michael Graham at 08:20 in the 3rd for high sticking

Goalies

Notre Dame: Cale Morris, 36 saves

Penn State: Peyton Jones, 40 saves

Moving Forward

The two teams will reconvene at 6:00 p.m. ET Saturday in South Bend. Stream the game online with nbcsports.com or watch with the NBC Sports app.

Follow me on Twitter.