Michigan
14-11-2, 8-8-1
Penn State
12-10-3, 3-9-3
Third-Period Comeback Falls Short for Michigan in Loss to Penn State
1/31/2025 10:20:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Will Felicio extended his point streak to three games with one goal and one assist.
» T.J. Hughes chipped in a pair of assists.
» Michigan finished the contest with a 35-31 lead in draws against the nation's No. 1 faceoff team.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 13-ranked University of rallied in the third period to tie the game, but dropped a chaotic 5-4 decision to Penn State on Friday (Jan. 31) to kick off their weekend series at Yost Ice Arena.
The Wolverines (14-11-2, 8-8-1 Big Ten) opened the scoring 4:57 into the contest when Jackson Hallum slid a pass across the crease for Evan Werner to deposit into a yawning cage from the right flank to finish off an odd-man rush. Freshman blueliner Will Felicio earned the secondary assist to extend his point streak to three games.
U-M doubled its lead with 2:37 left in the first period after a strong shift's worth of pressure resulted in a netfront scrum. When the puck popped out to the left of the goalie, Felicio crashed the net to bury the rebound goal and make it 2-0 Michigan. T.J. Hughes and Josh Eernisse notched the assists on Felicio's second goal of the year.
The insurance was short-lived, as the Nittany Lions (12-10-3, 3-9-3 Big Ten) took advantage of an odd-man rush in the other direction to bury a backdoor feed in transition and make it 2-1 with 1:08 left in the first period.
After one period, Michigan carried a 2-1 lead, led 13-10 in shots on goal and held a 13-2 lead in draws against a Penn State team that entered the evening as the nation's top faceoff team.
The first power play of the night for Michigan was awarded at 3:29 when a Wolverine was dragged down by a holding infraction while racing for the puck. However, the puck ended up in the wrong net as the Nittany Lions broke down the ice to score a shorthanded goal and tie it up 2-2 at 4:05 and the U-M advantage ended shortly after without a goal.
PSU embarked on its second power play of the night at 9:20 after Philippe Lapointe was nabbed for interference immediately following a U-M faceoff win. Twenty-seven seconds later, a shot from the right circle pinballed into the back of the net to give Penn State a 3-2 lead.
Michigan successfully killed off a PSU power play late in the period, but the visitors tallied their fourth straight goal with 37 seconds left in the frame to make it 4-2.
With one period left, the Wolverines trailed by two. Each team had 24 shots on goal, while the Nittany Lions used a stronger second period in the dot to trim the deficit in faceoffs to 24-17.
Freshman Cameron Korpi took over in goal for the final 20 minutes, replacing Logan Stein who finished his night with 19 saves.
Draper made it a one-goal game for Michigan at 8:34 while the Wolverines were attacking with an extra skater due to a delayed penalty call. Hughes and Luca Fantilli assisted on Draper's sixth marker of the season as Michigan inched within one.
Michigan continued to buzz around the PSU zone with a reclaimed sense of momentum. The U-M power-play unit was reactivated at 11:11 following a hooking penalty on a Penn State forward. After working the puck around the offensive zone for more than 90 seconds, the Wolverines notched a fourth goal to tie things up with 7:07 left in regulation. Whitelaw netted the goal and quickly transitioned into a celebration in front of the student section. Hallum and captain Jacob Truscott recorded the assists on Whitelaw's goal.
With Yost still buzzing from the game-tying goal, Lapointe picked up a second penalty for a hard check along the wall in the offensive zone and the visitors started a fourth power play. As the advantage was winding down, Korpi lost his stick and a Nittany Lion took advantage by flipping a backhand shot into the top of the net from close quarters with 5:08 left to regain a 5-4 lead.
The Wolverines pressed for a game-tying goal with the net empty in favor of an extra attacker, but they failed to deliver for the home crowd. The game went into the books as a one-goal loss, with Michigan's 39-32 lead in shots on goal failing to translate into a win. U-M also finished the evening with a 35-31 edge in the faceoff department.
Saturday night (Feb. 1), Michigan and Penn State will link up at Yost for the final regular-season matchup between the conference foes. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
