Gophers can't quite snag victory, fall one point behind Penn State

STATE COLLEGE, PA. – Jack LaFontaine's season-high 54 saves through 65 minutes weren't enough to keep the Gophers men's hockey team in first place in the Big Ten.

Alex Limoges scored with 23.2 seconds left in the second, 3-on-3 overtime, and Penn State got the extra point in what officially goes down as a 3-3 tie with the Gophers on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena.

"You have to give Minnesota a lot of credit for playing a great game and hanging in it," Nittany Lions coach Guy Gadowsky said. "I think it was it was just two really good hockey teams. It was a great game."

On the overtime goal, Cole Hults' initial shot was stopped by LaFontaine, but he couldn't control the rebound. Limoges corralled it and scored to put the Nittany Lions one point ahead of the Gophers (14-11-6, 9-6-6-4 Big Ten) in the conference (38 to 37). Penn State plays its final conference game Saturday against the Gophers, who still have a home series with Michigan next weekend.

Penn State (19-10-4, 11-8-3-1) took a 1-0 lead in the opening period when Aarne Talvitie scored at 14:29. He skated down the slot on LaFontaine, put a move on him to get him to lean one way, then tucked the puck into the lower left corner.

Gophers defenseman Tyler Nanne tied the score at 11:21 of the second with his fourth goal of the season.

As they approached the Penn State net, Sampo Ranta slid the puck back to Nanne on his right side he beat goalie Peyton Jones with a quick shot.

Nate Sucese put Penn State, which averages 3.6 goals per game — sixth most in the nation — ahead 2-1 at 7:03 of the third. Brandon Biro made a backhanded pass from behind the net to a charging Sucese, who poked the puck past LaFontaine.

Penn State nearly scored again seconds later, but Limoges' backhanded shot hit the crossbar and Tyler Gratton jammed the rebound into the post. The Gophers capitalized on their good fortune, tying the score at 9:04 when Ben Meyers skated in and scored on a wrister from the slot.