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Gavin McKenna set a new program record with eight points in No. 5 Penn State’s 11-4 romp over Ohio State on Friday night. The Nittany Lions pounced on Ohio State’s poor goaltending early and often and delivered their most decisive win of the season. Penn State’s 11 goals matched a program record set on November 10, 2018 against Robert Morris. The win marked Guy Gadowsky’s 250th win as Penn State’s head coach .
First Period
After a slow start, Shea Van Olm drew an interference penalty to set up the Nittany Lions with their first power play of the game. Gavin McKenna made a great cross-ice pass to Aiden Fink, and the new alternate captain blasted home a one-timer from the faceoff circle to give Penn State a 1-0 lead:
Penn State went right back to the power play, and Gavin McKenna snuck a wrist shot through traffic in front of Kristoffer Eberly to extend the Lions’ lead to 2-0:
Decent Celly #WeAre#HockeyValleypic.twitter.com/Ki9vhpSagA
— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) February 21, 2026
Josh Fleming made an incredible glove save on Davis Burnside after a Penn State defensive breakdown to keep the lead at 2-0:
Ohio State continued to pressure Penn State’s defense and drew a penalty on Nick Fascia. The Buckeyes’ passing was crisp on the power play, and Felix Caron eventually found the back of the net to cut Penn State’s lead to 2-1. A turnover by Mac Gadowsky led to two great chances in front for Ohio State, but Fleming shut the door.
Cade Christenson interfered with Riley Thompson to send the Buckeyes back to the power play late in the period. This time, the penalty kill survived the onslaught, and Penn State headed to the intermission with a 2-1 lead.
Second Period
Matt DiMarsico drew a tripping penalty as he gained the zone early in the second to send Penn State to their third power play of the evening. DiMarsico was in position to deflect home a shot by Gavin McKenna from the left faceoff circle, and DD potted his team-high 16th goal of the season to restore the two-goal lead:
DiMarsico made a nice play a couple minutes later when he wrapped the puck around the net through the goal crease to an open JJ Wiebusch. Kristoffer Eberly was caught out of position, and Wiebusch easily tapped home his 14th of the season to extend the lead to 4-1:
Ohio State pulled Eberly for Sam Hillebrandt Another bad defensive breakdown in transition led to Felix Caron’s second goal of the night, on the Buckeyes’ first shot of the period, to cut the lead to 4-2. Shea Van Olm answered shortly afterward in transition on an innocent-looking shot that snuck past Hillebrandt and extended the lead to 5-2:
Moments later, Gavin McKenna faked out Hillebrandt and made a great feed to Luke Misa, who capitalized on the wide open net and ran the lead up to 6-2:
A bad turnover by Mac Gadowsky sprang Davis Burnside on a breakaway, and the senior cashed in on the mistake to cut Penn State’s lead to 6-3 midway through the period.
Gavin McKenna tallied his fifth assist of the night when he found a streaking Shea Van Olm, and SVO buried his second goal of the game for a 7-3 Penn State lead:
The second period onslaught by Penn State reached six goals when Matt DiMarsico finished a 2-on-1 with JJ Wiebusch. DiMarsico made a nice dangle to freeze Hillebrandt and score his second goal of the game:
A wild second period finally came to an end with Penn State ahead 8-3. The Nittany Lions rolled up 20 shots in the period.
Third Period
Luke Misa tipped home Matt DiMarsico’s slap shot from the point to run the lead up to 9-3:
McKenna recorded his seventh point of the game, a new single-game program record, with an assist on Misa’s goal. Adam Eisele scored his 10th goal of the season for Ohio State on a nice backhander that beat Fleming glove side high.
Penn State drew a couple power plays late in the game. Jackson Smith ripped home a one-timer for Penn State’s 10th goal of the night:
Reese Laubach poured it on when he tucked home the puck after a laser of a pass from Mac Gadowsky that ran the lead to 11-4, the 15th and final goal of the game:
Scoring Summary
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Final | |
| Ohio State | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Penn State | 2 | 6 | 3 | 11 |
First Period
- PSU: Aiden Fink (6)- Gavin McKenna (23), Jackson Smith (10)- PP- 9:05
- PSU: Gavin McKenna (12)- Jackson Smith (11), Aiden Fink (18)- PP- 10:20
- OSU: Felix Caron (9)- Riley Thompson (9), Davis Burnside (13)- PP- 13:52
Second Period
- PSU: Matt DiMarsico (16)- Gavin McKenna (24), Aiden Fink (19)- PP- 2:31
- PSU: JJ Wiebusch (14)- Matt DiMarsico (20), Reese Laubach (13)- 5v5- 3:34
- OSU: Felix Caron (10)- Sam McGinley (4), Riley Thompson (10)- 5v5- 4:54
- PSU: Shea Van Olm (4)- Ben Schoen (9), Gavin McKenna (25)- 5v5- 6:23
- PSU: Luke Misa (6)- Gavin McKenna (26), Aiden Fink (20)- 5v5- 7:48
- OSU: Davis Burnside (12)- Unassisted- 5v5- 8:04
- PSU: Shea Van Olm (5)- Gavin McKenna (27)- 5v5- 16:55
- PSU: Matt DiMarsico (17)- JJ Wiebusch (17), Cade Christenson (2)- 5v5- 19:09
Third Period
- PSU: Luke Misa (7)- Matt DiMarsico (21), Gavin McKenna (28)- 5v5- 7:09
- OSU: Adam Eisele (10)- Ryan Gordon (13), James Hong (7)- 5v5- 13:25
- PSU: Jackson Smith (11)- Gavin McKenna (29), Aiden Fink (21)- PP- 16:24
- PSU: Reese Laubach (10)- Mac Gadowsky (12), Luke Misa (9)- PP- 17:10
Shots By Period
- OSU: 18-10-14-42
- PSU: 10-20-8-38
Takeaways
- Gavin McKenna- The superstar’s seven points set a new program record. He has adjusted well to the pace of NCAA hockey in the last couple months, and his offensive game has finally reached the lofty heights we have hoped to see all season.
- Shining Stars- In a season that has been mired with injuries, there was pressure on the top guns to carry the load for the offense down the stretch. They certainly delivered tonight and sent a message that this team is still dangerous.
- Defense (Or Lack Thereof)- The offensive explosion was exciting, but the defense gave up a ton of high-danger chances all night as well. Ohio State could easily have scored six or seven goals with the quality of chances they were getting. They will need to tighten up tomorrow night.
- Power Play- The power play has been inconsistent for stretches of the regular season, but they were sharp tonight. Penn State went five for six on the man advantage tonight.
- Josh Fleming- With the defense out of sorts in the first period, Fleming made some superhuman saves to preserve the lead. The defense is what it is at this point of the season, but when the team needed Fleming to make a save, he delivered.
Standings & Such
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Penn State remains in third place in the Big Ten. Wisconsin upset Michigan at home tonight to stay three points back of the Nittany Lions, though Penn State has two games in hand. Michigan State is in excellent position to win the regular season title and get the first-round bye in the conference tournament.
At the time of posting, Penn State is still at No. 5 in the NPI. The Nittany Lions remain in striking distance to get the final No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but they must continue to take care of business.
What’s Next
The two teams will meet again tomorrow night at Pegula Ice Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 8pm on Big Ten Network.
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