Michigan State 6, Penn State 3: Whelp

Michigan State 6, Penn State 3: WhelpStory byEAST LANSING, MI - NOVEMBER 7: Penn State forward Gavin McKenna #72 concentrates on the puck during pregame warmups before a game between Penn State University and Michigan State University at Munn Ice Arena on November 7, 2025 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Michael Miller/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images) | ISI Photos via Getty ImagesColin MurphySat, January 31, 2026 at 1:56 AM UTC·7 min read

After a week of anticipation, Michigan State pounced on Penn State early and did not look back in the Spartans’ 6-3 win on Friday night. The Nittany Lions started slow again and paid dearly for it, falling behind 3-0 in the first period and taking another bevy of penalties. Michigan State has won all three games of the regular season series so far with one more game tomorrow afternoon at Beaver Stadium.

First Period

After a Jackson Smith shot got blocked in front, Michigan State’s Anthony Romani took an outlet pass, raced past the Penn State defense, and tucked home the puck past Josh Fleming to give the Spartans an early 1-0 lead.

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Jackson Smith took an interference penalty Josh Fleming needed to make a bevy of saves on Michigan State’s first power play of the game to stop the Spartans from extending their lead. Shea Van Olm had a glorious chance in front shortly after the game went back to 5-on-5, but Trey Augustine made a huge blocker save to keep Penn State off the scoreboard.

The game got chippy later in the period, and Michigan State ended up with a power play chance with Nic Chin-DeGraves taking a game misconduct. Owen West fired a shot from the blue line that Josh Fleming never saw, and the puck found the back of the net to extend Michigan State’s lead to 2-0.

Jarod Crespo drew a tripping penalty near Penn State’s blue line to give the Nittany Lions their first power play opportunity of the night, but Jackson Smith got called for interference on a zone entry to wipe out the man advantage. The ice opened up at 4-on-4 play, and Reese Laubach had a breakaway that hit the post. Anthony Romani put home the puck with the Nittany Lions’ defense horribly out of position. Penn State challenged for a potential major penalty, but the challenge failed, and Michigan State took a commanding 3-0 lead after the first period.

Second Period

After a relatively calm start to the second, a dirty elbow by Cayden Lindstrom on Aiden Fink led to a brawl near the bench and an eventual five-minute power play for Penn State. Cayden Lindstrom and Gavin McKenna each got ejected from the game. Michigan State did a good job keeping the Nittany Lions to the outside for most of the power play, and when Matt DiMarsico had a wide open chance in front, Trey Augustine was there to make the save.

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Matthew Lahey was called for cross-checking Lev Katzin near the net midway through the period, and this time, Penn State made the Spartans pay with Jackson Smith’s eighth goal of the season:

The momentum was short-lived, as Michigan State’s Porter Martone jammed at the puck in a net mouth scramble, and the puck trickled over the goal line past Fleming to restore the Spartans’ three-goal lead at 4-1.

Third Period

Trailing by three goals entering the period, Penn State tried to claw back into the game. Carter Schade fired an innocent shot from the point that was deflected by Reese Laubach in front and into the back of the net to cut the lead to 4-2:

A penalty on Shea Van Olm stopped Penn State’s momentum, and Carter Schade joined him in the box just over a minute later to hand Michigan State a 5-on-3. Penn State killed off the 5-on-3, and Charlie Stramel evened things out with a cross-checking penalty to send the game to 4-on-4.

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Toward the end of Penn State’s abbreviated power play, the Nittany Lions generated some traffic in front of the net after a Jackson Smith blast from the point, and Matt DiMarsico finished it off with his 15th goal of the season to pull the home team within 1 with 11:18 to play:

Michigan State took a tripping penalty with 8:25 left after Josh Fleming made a point-blank save on Gavin O’Connell. The Spartans cleared the zone immediately and stifled Penn State’s breakout to kill time on the power play, and eventually the power play fizzled out.

Penn State pulled Josh Fleming, but before the Lions could set up any 6-on-5 attack time, Anthony Romani potted an empty net goal for the hat trick to ice the game. Daniel Russell added a second empty net goal to seal a 6-3 win for Michigan State.

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Scoring Summary

1

2

3

Final

Michigan State

3

1

2

6

Penn State

0

1

2

3

First Period

• MSU: Anthony Romani (10)- Maxim Strbak (10), Trey Augustine (1)- 5v5- 4:02

• MSU: Owen West (2)- Anthony Romani (10), Gavin O’Connell (6)- PP- 14:59

• MSU: Anthony Romani (11)- Cayden Lindstrom (5), Porter Martone (15)- PP- 18:26

Second Period

• PSU: Jackson Smith (8)- Matt DiMarsico (16), Luke Misa (8)- PP- 11:28

• MSU: Porter Martone (15)- Matthew Lahey (3), Daniel Russell (17)- 5v5- 15:14

Third Period

• PSU: Reese Laubach (6)- Carter Schade (4), Nick Fascia (4)- 5v5- 3:27

• PSU: Matt DiMarsico (15)- JJ Wiebusch (14), Jackson Smith (9)- 5v5- 8:42

• MSU: Anthony Romani (12)- Unassisted- EN- 17:59

• MSU: Daniel Russell (9)- Porter Martone (16), Charlie Stramel (18)- EN-

Shots By Period

• MSU: 16-8-12-36

• PSU: 12-15-9-36

Takeaways

• Undisciplined- I have gotten tired of watching nearly every game this team plays turning into an undisciplined slopfest. Including game misconducts, this game had 79 penalty minutes. It has gotten out of control.

• Slow Starts- Penn State has won eight games this season in which they gave up the first goal, but the pattern of not getting to their game until they are behind 1-0 has caught up with them. Michigan State smelled blood in the water and took full advantage.

• Back to Earth- Josh Fleming’s gaudy numbers took a bit of a tumble, as he gave up four goals in the first two periods. He was due for a regression, but he needed to be at his best for Penn State to win this game.

• Valiant Effort- Trailing 4-1 in the third and down two forwards, Penn State made a nice effort to climb back into the game and cut the deficit to 4-3. Glad to see them fight back and not let the Spartans run them out of the building.

• Win Tomorrow- If Penn State can bounce back and win in regulation tomorrow, they can reclaim their second place spot in the conference standings. It remains to be seen if they can do so against a Michigan State team that has their number this year, but that is the scenario.

Standings & Such

Penn State has dropped back to third place in the Big Ten with tonight’s loss, but they can get back to second place with a regulation win tomorrow.

At the time of posting, Penn State dropped back to No. 5 in the NPI.

What’s Next

The two teams will meet again tomorrow afternoon at Beaver Stadium. Puck drop is scheduled for 1pm on Big Ten Network.

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