Jan. 17, 2015

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Donning new third jerseys, the Nittany Lion men's hockey team rolled by Michigan State, 5-2, Saturday at Pegula Ice Arena behind a dominant top line that scored four times in front of 6,163 fans. Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) scored twice, while linemates David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.) and Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) each tallied a goal.

"I know we were down early, but I thought we played well." Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky said. "And I actually thought for what was our Achilles heel yesterday I thought we had a poor second, (today) I thought we had a very good second. We didn't necessarily look at it exactly statistically but...I certainly thought we put into another gear in the second period and I think that carried over."

Down 2-1 after the opening 20 minutes for the second straight night, Penn State (11-7-3, 5-2-1-0 Big Ten) pulled even on Nate Jensen's (Shorewood, Minn.) first goal of the season with five minutes remaining in the second period. Michigan State (7-11-2, 1-3-2-2 Big Ten) fell to the Lions for the first time since Jan. 26, 2013 in East Lansing.

Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, British Columbia) wrapped around the net to the right post and was stopped by Jake Hildebrand (35 saves) as was James Robinson (Cochrane, Alberta), but it was Jensen that swooped in to ignite the Penn State comeback. Jensen last scored on March 15, 2014 against Ohio State.

A little more than two minutes later another defenseman, Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.), would generate offense for the Nittany Lions. His blocked shot was scooped out by Bailey who fired a perfect pass to Goodwin on the left post as he put away the open shot for his 10th goal of the season with 2:38 remaining in the period.

The assist solidified Bailey's 16th multi-point goal of his career and eight of 2014-15, while Varley notched his first point since a two-point game at Alaska (Oct. 18, 2014).

Carrying a 3-2 lead into the third period, Penn State wasted little time in stamping its dominance. After 93 seconds, Holstrom put away a Luke Juha (Mississauga, Ontario) feed for a 4-2 lead, touching off another round of celebrations. Goodwin collected his first assist of the night in setting up Juha, who collected his 10th helper of the season. Juha has assists in four of the last five games.

The final tally of the night would be scored 59 seconds later as Bailey struck for a second time from Holstrom and Goodwin with 17:27 to go. A pretty combination play by the top line capped a night that saw the trio go a collective plus-12 with eight points.

Bailey opened the scoring early, only 71 seconds into the game, picking off an MSU defenseman at the blue line and going on a breakaway and beating Hildebrand stick side. Bailey's two goals moved him into the nation's lead with 16 for the season, setting a new personal season record for in the process.

Holstrom upped his ante to 18 assists this season, maintaining his one assist per game pace, which leads the Big Ten and puts him in second nationally to Boston University freshman phenom Jack Eichel (1.16 apg).

Michigan State pulled ahead with goals at 4:13 and 19:37 in the first period from Villiam Haag and Michael Ferrantino. Haag's tally came on the power play, his second of the weekend, while Ferrantino notched his ninth of the year 23 seconds shy of the first-period horn.

Junior goaltender Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) took home the victory with 28 saves. He made 10 in the second period and 11 in the third, shutting down the Michigan State offense for the final 40 minutes of the game. Skoff won his first decision since Dec. 6, 2014 at Wisconsin.

Penn State held a 40-30 edge in shots. The game saw a combined 36 blocks, with 22 by Michigan State and 14 by Penn State led by Tommy Olczyk (Long Grove, Ill.), David Thompson (Glen Mills, Pa.) and Robinson with three each.

Holstrom paced the faceoff dot with a game-best 15-5 record. PSU won the faceoff battle, 35-31.

GAME NOTES
• The Nittany Lions are now 7-1-2 at Pegula Ice Arena this season and 1-1-2 against the Spartans all-time.

• The Nittany Lions are 2-4-2 all-time against the Spartans and took four of six points from the weekend.

• Taylor Holstrom is on a four-game point streak, tallying a goal and four assists during that stretch.

• Penn State moved to 11-0-2 when allowing two goals or less.

• Bailey scored two goals or more for the third time this season.

• Goodwin is now on a four-game scoring streak. During his stretch, he has four goals and three assists.

NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State wraps up its six-game homestand with a non-conference battle against Northern Michigan beginning Friday, Jan. 23 (7 p.m.) and concluding Saturday, Jan. 24 (4:30 p.m.). Saturday's game is starting later than originally scheduled so it can air on Big Ten Network.