The opening puck drop signaled Penn State’s downfall on Friday night in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes.
Junior forward Dylan Richard and sophomore defenseman Erik Autio were scratched prior to the game. Freshman forward and leading goal-scorer Andrew Sturtz was serving his one-game suspension for his high hit on Michigan’s Tyler Motte last Saturday.
Those roster moves resulted in the forward lines being shuffled uncomfortably, and forced freshman defenseman Derian Hamilton into the lineup for the first time in eight games.
The Nittany Lions also had to play on an Olympic-sized rink with 15 extra feet of ice to cover on the sides, as opposed to the 200-by-85-foot sheet they play on at Pegula Ice Arena and virtually everywhere else.