Penn State edged by Michigan State; Travel to Ann Arbor this weekend; My thoughts on Cornell’s Lynah Rink

PSU's Mike McDonagh slides into the goal past MSU's Jake Hildebrand on Feb.14th. (Photo by Abby Drey-CDT)

Michael Ferrantino tied the game at two with just about four minutes to go in regulation. Goalie Matt Skoff turned aside Matt Berry's initial shot, but Ferrantino potted home the rebound. After a scoreless overtime, the game went to a shootout with MSU’s Brett Darnell scoring the only goal. The Spartans picked up the extra league point with the seventh-round victory and it was the seventh time they appeared in the shootout this season.

Ricky DeRosa and Dylan Richard each scored for Penn State, while Skoff turned aside 32 shots. Lee Reimer scored the only other goal for MSU. Jake Hildebrand made 25 saves and continues to make his case for being drafted this year.

It seemed to me that Penn State played to lose in the third period.

They got away from their game of attacking offensively. Instead, they sat back and MSU took it to them. The Spartans outshot the Nittany Lions 12-5 in the final stanza. Anytime a team has a lead on their home ice going into the third period, they must find a way to win that game.

Hopefully, Penn State can learn from that.

Saturday’s game was strange to say the least. Defenseman Patrick Koudys scored on the first of the game to give Penn State a 1-0 lead. Koudys’ shot from the left point somehow snaked its way through traffic and into the net behind Hildebrand.

Michigan State would tie the game at one 10 minutes into the second period. Michael Ferrantino’s centering feed found Joe Cox, whose shot bounced off a PSU defender and into the net. It was a tough break for Penn State who was playing real well up to that point.

Matt Berry would tally the game winner with 5:04 left in the game. Skoff turned aside Cox’s initial shot, but Berry pounced on the rebound and sent Penn State home licking their wounds. Penn State (5-19-2, 1-10-1-0 Big Ten), outshot Michigan State 29-13 for the game. The 13 shots against marked the fewest attempts allowed by PSU in their NCAA history.

Penn State hits the road this weekend as they begin a two-game series against No. 10/11 Michigan at Yost Ice Arena. If you recall, these two teams played in Happy Valley just two weekends ago with Michigan crushing Penn State in Game 1, and Penn State responding in Game 2 with a 4-0 resounding win.

The Wolverines (14-9-3, 6-5-1 Big Ten) were swept last weekend by the No. 2 Minnesota Golden Gophers. Michigan will be down a pair of defenseman this Friday. The Big Ten announced yesterday that both Michael Downing (FLA, 197^th overall, ‘13) and Andrew Sinelli have been suspended for one game for separate incidents during the Wolverines’ 4-1 loss to Minnesota Saturday.

Too bad for Penn State it wasn’t one of Michigan’s top forwards.

The Wolverines are loaded up front. Buffalo Sabres prospect JT Compher leads the team in points with 26. Winnipeg Jets prospect Andrew Copp is second in points with 22. Overall, Michigan has 10 players in double-digit scoring.

I would think Eamon McAdam will see playing time this weekend since he didn’t see any against Michigan State. He needs to prove to Guy Gadowsky that he can handle the pressure of being the number one guy. He shows flashes of brilliance at times and other instances he’s subpar at best. For a third round draft pick, I expected much more from McAdam.  

It’s going to extremely tough for Penn State to beat Michigan. I know they did it two weeks ago, but playing in Yost Arena is a whole different animal.

Yost is one the loudest arenas in all of college hockey. Their fans are as passionate as it gets, and Michigan ramps it up for home games. The maize and blue will come out motivated no doubt. They didn’t look good last weekend against the Gophers and I believe they will seek revenge on Penn State. They have to be licking their chops seeing Penn State on the schedule.

The Wolverines take both games.

A visit to Lynah Rink

I had the pleasure this past weekend to take in a Cornell hockey game with two college buddies of mine at the famous Lynah Rink in Ithaca, NY.  Even though RPI played the perfect road game and defeated the Big Red, the character and charm of Lynah was spectacular. 

If you have never been to Lynah it’s been described as the Fenway Park or Wrigley Field of college hockey. If you’re claustrophobic this is not the place for you.  

The wooden beam roof is low, the old-school wooden bench seats are tightly-packed, the aisles are full of people, you’re right on top of the gameplay, there is no center ice scoreboard and there is barely any standing room. We didn’t get the chance to see the raucous student section known as the “Lynah Faithful” in full force because Cornell was on their February break. Although, I imagine that place rocks when the full student section is around.

Nevertheless, walking in and seeing Ken Dryden’s No. 1 jersey and Joe Nieuwendyk’s No. 25 jersey hanging from the rafters gave me chills. Not to mention, the numerous Ivy League and ECAC championship banners as well.  

Lynah is a special barn and every college hockey fan must witness her beauty and mystique. It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing venue there is, but the preservation of Lynah in its old-school form, in my opinion, is what Cornell is all about: tradition.

Lynah seems to connect Cornell fans to the past. To the days of Ken Dryden manning the pipes against their former ECAC rival BU, to the legendary Ned Harkness behind the bench, to 1970 when Cornell went undefeated and untied (still the only team ever to do that), and Lynah is where the Cornell-Harvard rivalry all started.

Seeing a game at this legendary venue with two close buddies of mine made the experience even more special. I surely hope Cornell never abandons Lynah like BU did with Brown Arena when the Terriers moved to Agganis in 2005. It would be just wrong.

From the shores of the Cayuga Lake to Dunbar's on Eddy Street, long live Lynah and hail, all hail Cornell!