Fink’s Hat-Trick Lifts Men's Hockey Past Canisius, 4-0Fink’s Hat-Trick Lifts Men's Hockey Past Canisius, 4-0

Fink’s Hat-Trick Lifts Men's Hockey Past Canisius, 4-0

Sophomore Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) notched the second hat-trick of his career to help lift Penn State past Canisius, 4-0, in non-conference action from Pegula Ice Arena on Friday evening.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Sophomore Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) notched the second hat-trick of his career to help lift Penn State past Canisius, 4-0, in non-conference action from Pegula Ice Arena on Friday evening.

Fink registers the 14th hat-trick in Penn State program history while becoming the first Nittany Lion all-time to register multiple hat-tricks in his career. Of the 14 hat-tricks, 12 have come on home ice with 11 being scored at Pegula Ice Arena. Fink’s hat-trick last year was on the road in Ann Arbor.

Fink is also now the only Nittany Lion to begin his career with back-to-back 30+-point seasons and becomes just the seventh all-time to have multiple such seasons joining David Goodwin, Nate Sucese, Brandon Biro, Alex Limoges, Evan Barratt and current assistant coach Andrew Sturtz.

Following his hat-trick Fink currently sits third in the Big Ten and tied for third in the nation with 31 points while his 14 goals are tied for third in the conference and fourth nationally.

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HOW IT HAPPENED

  • After a scoreless first frame, Penn State (9-10-2) connected on a crisp passing play to open the scoring early in the middle period as sophomore Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) sent a behind-the-back feed to freshman Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) who did the same thing connecting with Fink between the rings and he one-timed the puck into a yawning net for the 1-0 edge at the 4:37 mark.
  • Fink doubled the lead with a powerplay tally as he laced a wicked wrister from the high slot past the blocker of Golden Griffin (7-12-2) net-minder Ethan Robertson for the 2-0 edge at the 14:35 mark.
  • A strong forecheck by freshman Nicholas DeGraves (Edmonton, Alberta) and senior Carson Dyck (Lethbridge, Alberta) led to a third Nittany Lion goal as Dyck poked the puck to a streaking Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and he ripped one shortside and high for the 3-0 margin at 16:50 of the second period.
  • Fink tipped the hat as he hit the empty net at the 18:18 mark of the third period.

GOALTENDING

  • Junior Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) moves to 6-5-2 on the year after stopping all 18 shots he faced to secure his third shutout of the season while his counterpart, Robertson, drops to 6-8-1 on the year after making 34 saves in the loss.
  • With three shutouts on the season, Sergeev ties the single-season Nittany Lion shutout record and moves into a tie for the third-most all-time just one shy of the Penn State program record of four held by Peyton Jones ’20 and Oskar Autio ’22.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the commanding 38-18 advantage in shots on goal while going 1-for-8 on the man-advantage and a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
  • Fink extends his point streak to a now career-long seven games as he has now registered at least one point in 13 of his last 14 games. The multi-goal game is the second of the season for Fink and the fifth of his career while also marking his eighth multi-point effort of the season and the 17th of his career.
  • The powerplay tally is the fourth of the season for Fink and the 12th of his career moving him into a tie with Nikita Pavlychev ’20 for sixth on the all-time powerplay list, however, he is now just one shy of the program record held by five different Nittany Lions.
  • With one goal and one assist, Dzhaniyev secures his fourth multi-point effort of the season and the 20th of his career.
  • DeGraves secured the first point of his Nittany Lion career with the secondary helper on Dzhaniyev’s second period goal.
  • Penn State improves to 7-1-0 all-time against Canisius and are now 8-1-0 in non-conference action this season marking the ninth season Penn State has registered eight or more non-conference victories.
  • The Nittany Lions are now a perfect 8-0-0 when leading after two periods of play this season.
  • Penn State held the commanding edge in faceoffs winning 71.7 percent (38-for-53) with Cerrato leading the way at 82.4 percent (14-for-17) and senior Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) close behind at 80 percent (8-for-10). DeGraves was also strong at 70 percent (7-for-10) on the night.

NEXT UP

Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow to conclude the season series with a 5 p.m. puck drop followed by the Postgame Senior Celly. All fans are welcomed to stick around and here from the 2025 senior class.

For more information on the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.