Seawolves goaltender Olivier Mantha wasn't his sharpest Friday night, but he wasn't awful.
Defenseman Austin Sevalrud has played better, yet UAA's captain didn't seem to merit the indignity of the minus-4 that accompanied his name on the score sheet.
And while the Seawolves certainly didn't turn Penn State masked man Eamon McAdam's crease at Sullivan Arena into a shooting gallery – 21 shots on goal -- they generated enough scoring chances to prosper.
Penn State's 5-2 nonconference hockey win over UAA, spearheaded by Andrew Sturtz's two goals, McAdam's timely stops and ample bounce-back from the Nittany Lions, proved difficult to digest for the Seawolves.
"It was a strange game,'' Sevalrud said. "It was a frustrating game.''
He endured it as much as anyone in green and gold. Sturtz's first-period goal to open the scoring ricocheted off Sevalrud's hip and past Mantha (26 saves), and Kenny Brooks' third-period back-hander from just above the blue ice glanced into the net off Sevalrud's skate.
"We can be better,'' said UAA coach Matt Thomas, "but I don't think we were as bad as we feel right now.''
The one Seawolves shortcoming everyone could agree on was the power-play units – "horrendous,'' Thomas said – that mustered just one shot on goal in three chances that covered six minutes with the man advantage.
UAA of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association slipped to 6-4-1 entering Saturday night's series finale. Penn State of the Big Ten improved to 7-2-2 and ran its unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1).
Penn State bench boss Guy Gadowsky, the former UAF head coach, identified two turning points: McAdam's strong work after UAA came from down 2-0 to forge a 2-2 tie in the first period, and Ricky DeRosa's go-ahead goal in the second period.
UAA's goals from Dylan Hubbs and Nicolas Erb-Ekholm 29 seconds apart in the first period allowed the Seawolves to regain their equilibrium after Sturtz scored consecutive goals 89 seconds apart earlier in the period. Sturtz's second goal was a short-handed strike.
But McAdam snuffed Erb-Ekholm's bid from point-blank range shortly after the freshman's equalizer. And McAdam twice rebuffed Tatchell's bids from the slot early in the second period.
"They caught fire and took it to us,'' Gadowsky said. "We were fortunate. Eamon McAdam made some big saves.''
Soon after McAdam denied Tatchell, DeRosa took a drop pass from Tommy Olczyk and snapped a left-circle wrister past Mantha to restore Penn State's lead at 3-2.
"We were on our heels,'' Gadowsky said. "We needed a goal to get us going – we were struggling – and we needed a great goal by Ricky DeRosa.''
Curtis Loik later in the second period led a 2-on-1, eschewed the pass and beat Mantha from the left circle to regain the Nittany Lions' two-goal cushion at 4-2.
"We had a few breakdowns that cost us – details,'' said UAA winger Tad Kozun, who set up Erb-Ekholm's goal. "Those first two (Penn State) goals were killer, but we got two and it was go-time. But then we had a few lapses.''
Getting the game back on even terms in the first period buoyed the Seawolves, who, with the Nittany Lions showing ample giddy-up, early on looked like the team that traveled across four times zones.
"It was a weird start, and then we got those two goals and things were good, and we could wipe the slate clean,'' Sevalrud said.
Yet the three-goal spread of the Seawolves' defeat marked their second-worst loss of the season, topped only by a 6-2 loss to St. Cloud State in UAA's Kendall Hockey Classic.
In that game, the Huskies overwhelmed the Seawolves with three first-period goals, and though UAA pulled to within 3-2 in the second period, the Huskies owned the third period.
Friday, when Thomas called the Nittany Lions the more dangerous team in transition for much of the game, Penn State never seemed in trouble once it restored its two-goal lead.
"Hockey can be a frustrating game,'' Sevalrud said.
Seawolves notes
Erb-Ekholm's goal was the first of the freshman's career and helped atone for his power-play turnover that furnished Sturtz's semi-breakaway.
Nice play by Sturtz, whose breakaway was generated by teammate David Glen's hit on Erb-Ekholm. Sturtz avoided Erb-Ekholm's diving stick-check deep in the UAA zone, got Mantha to bite on a move and tucked a backhander inside the left post.
Hubbs' goal came off a Mason Mitchell rebound after Penn State defenseman Vince Perdie (one assist, plus-2) gifted Mitchell with a turnover just inside the Nittany Lions' blue line. Hubbs early in the game had to be helped to the bench by teammates after blocking a power-play one-timer from Penn State winger Zach Saar (6-foot-6, 225 pounds).
UAA dropped to 3-4-0 on home ice this season.
Kozun's assist on Erb-Ekholm's goal gives him a three-game point streak. He owns 2-2—4 totals in that span and has moved into third place among UAA scorers (6-3—9 in 11 games), behind Tatchell (4-9—13 in 11 games) and Matt Anholt (4-6—10 in 11 games).
Penn State senior center Eric Scheid, who began his college career at UAA, had one assist and four shots on goal.
Penn State's 31-21 advantage in shots on goal didn't illustrate its superiority was well as its gap in attempted shots did. The Nittany Lions attempted 63 shots to the Seawolves' 34. UAA blocked 17 shots, including nine in the first period.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockeyblog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Penn State 2 2 1 -- 5
UAA 2 0 0 -- 2
First Period – 1, Penn State, Sturtz 5 (Kerr, Berger), 8:01; 2, Penn State, Sturtz 6, 9:30 (pp); 3, UAA, Hubbs 3 (Mitchell), 12:08; 4, UAA, Erb-Ekholm 1 (Kozun, Brown), 12:37. Penalties – Williams, UAA (roughing), 1:20; Marsh, Penn State (holding the stick), 8:18; Goodwin, Penn State (interference), 19:29.
Second Period – 5, Penn State, DeRosa 3 (Olczyk, Pedrie), 3:42; 6, Penn State. Loik 4 (Brooks, Berger), 12:36. Penalties – Sturtz, Penn State (goaltender interference), 5:41; Williams, UAA (slashing), 13:11.
Third Period – 7, Penn State, Brooks 4 (Marsh, Scheid), 16:20. Penalties – Anholt, UAA (roughing), 4:38; Mitchell, UAA (elbowing), 16:20.
Shots on goal – Penn State 12-10-9—31. UAA 9-6-6—21.
Power-play Opportunities – Penn State 0 of 4. UAA 0 of 3.
Goalies – Penn State, McAdam, 5-1-0 (21 shots-19 saves). UAA, Mantha, 5-4-1 (31 shots-26 saves).
A – 1,784. T – 2:14.
Referees – Brett Klosowski, Kevin Langseth. Assistant referees – Travis Jackson, Carl Saden.