Gophers hockey beats Penn St. 3-2 to earn sweep

The Gopher men’s hockey team earned a sweep of Penn State with a 3-2 win Friday afternoon at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Brannon McManus, Sammy Walker and Scott Reedy found the net for Minnesota.

The Gophers opened the game with its first power-play tally of the season at 4:34 when Reedy found the back of the net for the second-straight game after being set up by McManus and McLaughlin. Penn State briefly picked up the equalizer at 17:31 from Christian Sarlo but the stalemate was short lived.

Walker sent the Gophers into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead after scoring on an open wrist shot with 0.8 seconds left in the period for his first of the year. Matt Staudacher set up the late goal for his third assist of the weekend.

The Maroon & Gold extended the lead at 13:28 of the second period with a power-play goal from McManus for the junior’s first tally of the 2020-21 campaign. Walker and McLaughlin were credited with assists on the power-play goal for the Maroon & Gold.

The visitors brought it back within one 4:41 into the third period with an unassisted goal from Kevin Wall, but Penn State failed to find the equalizer in the game’s final minutes.

In goal, Jack LaFontaine (2-0-0) extended his win streak to four games after making 34 saves on 36 shots.

The Gophers continue the 2020-21 season with a two-game Big Ten series against Ohio State next week – playing Monday, Oct. 23 and Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 3M Arena at Mariucci.