UNIVERSITY PARK, Penn. — Denis Smirnov broke a 2-2 tie with his 15th goal of the year at 18:42 of the second period and Andrew Sturtz scored the game winner just 56 seconds later to lift fourth-seeded Penn State to a 5-3 win over fifth-seeded Minnesota.
Cole Hults and Nate Sucese answered a first period Casey Mittelstadt marker to put Penn State up, 2-1, at 3:25 of the second, but Scott Reedy scored his fifth of the year on an assist from Rem Pitlick at 15:13 of the second to tie things up.
Mittelstadt added his tenth of the year on the power play for the Golden Gophers at 15:00 of the third, but the Nittany Lions’ Evan Barratt potted the empty netter at 19:30 on Andrew Sturtz’s 25th assist of the year.
Minnesota’s Pitlick, Reedy, and Mittelstadt turned in multiple point games, but the balanced effort from Penn State made the difference as Smirnov and Sturtz were the only players with two points.
Peyton Jones won his 16th of the year for Penn State, making 32 saves in goal. Mat Robson took the loss for Minnesota, making 25 stops.
