Penn State hockey did it’s comeback routine once again, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 victory on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
This time the victims were the No. 14 ranked Vermont Catamounts. Penn State is now 13-7-4 on the year.
Both teams handled back and forth action in a scoreless first period. PJ Musico got the start in goal for the Nittany Lions after back-to-back relief efforts at the Pegula Ice Arena. Penn State nearly scored on several occasions in the opening stanza but neither team could find the back of the net. Both team registered 12 shots on goal and both missed on a chance to capitalize on the man advantage.
Penalties hurt the Nittany Lions. Penn State fell behind 2-0 as two quick goals put Vermont ahead midway through the second period.
Just 14 seconds after Vermont took the two goal advantage, and with 5:10 remaining in the second period, Casey Bailey netted his 18th goal of the year from the right wing off Luke Juha’s 12th assist of the year.
It wasn’t easy to complete the comeback. The Nittany Lions had to kill off the final 1:17 of a 5-on-3 power play to open the third period.
Only three minutes later, freshman Scott Conway notched the game tying goal and his sixth of the season after pouncing on his own rebound in front of net. The goal came on the man advantage. Entering the game, Vermont was ranked second-best in the nation on shorthanded goals, having given up only seven all season.
David Thompson blasted home a winner with 3:09 remaining in the game for a 3-2 lead and to give the Wells Fargo Center crowd of over 11,000 reason to cheer in the game’s final minutes.
David Goodwin’s empty-netter two minutes later capped Penn State’s four unanswered goals and victory on the day.
Senior goaltender PJ Musico earned the win in his first start of the season by making 33 saves, including 12 in each the first and second periods.
The Nittany Lions improved to 2-1-0 against Vermont and 2-0-2 over the past four games when entering the third period with a deficit. The Nittany Lions have produced five multi-goal comebacks in the past four weeks.
Penn State scored four or more goals for the sixth time in the past seven games, improving to 4-1-2 in those contest. Overall, Penn State is 9-1-1 when scoring at least four times.
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