Minneapolis — LJ Mooney scored 17 seconds into overtime, and No. 18 Minnesota beat Penn State men’s hockey 4-3 in a Big Ten game Saturday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
Penn State, playing its third straight overtime game, earned one point in the Big Ten standings. The Nittany Lions fell to 2-5-1 overall and 0-1-1 in the Big Ten. Minnesota improved to 3-3-2 and 1-0-1. Each team earned three conference points over the weekend series.
Sophomore defenseman Nolan Collins gave Penn State a 1-0 lead 1:21 into the game, one-timing a pass from classmate Jackson Smith on an odd-man rush past Gophers goaltender Melvin Strahl.
Minnesota tied it at 5:03. Tanner Ludtke came out of the penalty box into a 2-on-1 and finished a feed from Tate Pritchard, whose blocked shot in the defensive zone started the rush.
Penn State went back in front at 14:49 of the first period. Smith’s shot from the point was redirected by freshman Kaden Pitre to classmate Marco Mignosa at the back door, and Mignosa scored for a 2-1 lead.
Christian Humphreys tied it 2-2 at 16:35, taking a pass from Ludtke in the slot and beating Penn State sophomore goaltender Josh Fleming with a wrist shot.
Senior Dane Dowiak put the Nit...