Men's hockey dominates Alaska in Series Finals, 5-0 – Penn State

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Sophomore Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) matched his career-high with four points on one goal and three assists to help Penn State to a 5-0 win and series sweep in non-conference action at Big Dipper Ice Arena on Sunday night.

Fink scored all four points in the second period, tying the single-period program record for points set by Nate Sucese '20 against Union during the NCAA Tournament in 2017. His three-second assists also tied the Penn State record for assists for one period, while becoming the fourth Nittany Lion to accomplish the feat and the first since Connor McMenamin '23 against Wisconsin in 2021.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a scoreless first frame, Penn State (2-0-0) opened the scoring early in the second period when sophomore Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) redirected a Fink point offer through Nanook goalie Lassi Lehti for the 1- 0 edge only 44 ticks in the stanza.

The Nittany Lions extended the lead less than two minutes later with their first power play goal of the season when sophomore Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) blasted a one-time cross-ice feed from senior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) past the outstretched blocker from Lehti for the 2-0 margin at 2:41 of the middle frame.

Penn State pushed the lead even further midway through the period as it was Laubach who reconnected on an odd rush following a perfect pass from Fink for the 3-0 lead at the 9:45 mark.

Laubach then returned the favor by slipping a pass-up ice to a streaking Fink and he went on a breakaway, cleanly beating Lehti for the 4-0 lead at 16:10 of the second period.

The visitors continued to buzz early in the third period and recorded their second shorthanded score of the weekend, as senior Simon Mack (Brockville, Ontario) outpaced sophomore Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) on an odd-man rush to make it 5-0 on the 4:12 mark.

OBJECTIVE

Junior Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) moves to 2-0-0 on the year after stopping all 32 shots he faced to secure his second career shutout and first as a Nittany Lion, while his counterpart, Lehti, drops to 0-1-0 after making 27 saves in the loss.

NOTES

Each team had 32 shots on goal, while Penn State went 1-for-2 on the power play and 9-for-9 perfect on the penalty kill. The Nittany Lions were a perfect 13-for-13 on the PK this weekend.

The shutout for the Nittany Lions was the first in more than a year dating back to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, an 8-0 victory over Michigan Tech. It is also the first road shutout for Penn State since a 4-0 win at Wisconsin on Oct. 29, 2022.

With his two assists in the second period, Dzhaniyev extends his career point streak to seven games, dating back to the last five games of 2023-2024 and the first two of this season, while recording his first multi-point effort of the season and the 17th of his career.

By tying his career-high with four points and setting a new career high with three assists, Fink secured his first multi-point game of the season and the 10th of his career.

With his two goals in the second period, Laubach scored his first multi-goal game this season and the second of his career, while also securing the sixth multi-point game of his career. His three points on the night are a new career high.

With a pair of assists, Mack secured his second multi-point effort of the season and sixth of his career.

This weekend marks the first time the Nittany Lions have scored shorthanded goals in back-to-back games since December 28-29, 2015.

Penn State improves to 5-2-0 all-time against Alaska, including four straight wins, and is now 3-2-1 all-time in the State of Alaska.

The Nittany Lions improve to 2-0-0 on the young season as they scored first.

NEXT

Penn State travels to 2023 National Champion Quinnipiac next Saturday for a single game, with puck drop at 7 p.m.

For more information about the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.