No. 8 Michigan State blanks No. 20 Penn State, 5-0; Trey Augustine returns with shutout

Michigan State started off its hockey new year playing arguably better than it did in the old year – which is saying something. The No. 8 Spartans blasted No. 20 Penn State, 5-0, Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena in State College, Pa., in the resumption of the 2023-24 season, after a two week break.

Freshman goaltender Trey Augustine secured the shutout in his first action in a Spartan uniform since Dec. 9, turning away 31 shots. Augustine and sophomore left wing Isaac Howard returned to the Spartans after helping Team USA win the gold medal at the World Junior Championship in Sweden over the holidays. 

“He was really good,” Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale said of Augustine. “He made some critical saves on breaks when they got in on him. Trey is a calm guy. The moment never seems to eat him up.  I thought he did a heck of a job over there in that tournament and we expect him to do the same here.”

Michigan State improved to 14-4-3 overall and 8-1-2 in the Big Ten. It’s Michigan State’s best start since going 14-1-4 in 2000-01 behind Hall of Fame goalie Ryan Miller. 

Augustine, who was a second round draft choice of the Detroit Red Wings last summer, has two shutouts on the season. 

“I missed the guys, gone for a long time,” Augustine said. “It was great to be back and we had a great game tonight.

“It’s pretty speical to get a shutout in Big Ten play but the guys did a great job in front of me, keeping it pretty easy.”

Michigan State will go for the sweep at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday (BTN).

“The win is big but we know we can do better,” said sophomore winger Joey Lahttps://msuspartans.com/sports/mens-ice-hockey/roster/joey-larson/13196rson, who scored two goals. “We just have to come with the right mindset.”

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Larson (6-1, Soph., Brighton, Mich.) scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season against Penn State. That matches the 13-goal total he had as a freshman at Northern Michigan last year. He ranks third in the Big Ten in goals. It was Larson’s second straight two-goal game.

Michigan State missed four players for most of December while they were away at the World Junior Championship.

“It’s great to have everyone back together,” Larson said. “We were all pumped to get to work in practice this week and showing it tonight.”

Tanner Kelley (5-10, Jr., San Diego), Reed Lebster (6-0, Gr., Grand Rapids) and Gavin O’Connell (6-0, Fr., Plymouth, Minn.) also scored for Michigan State. O’Connell has nine goals on the season. 

Lebster’s goal came on the penalty kill, getting loose for a two-and-one and finishing it himself.

The Spartans have six short-handed goals on the year, which ranks No. 2 in the country. 

“You never go into the game saying hey we are going to get a short-handed goal,” Nightingale said. “When you have depth and a number of guys that can kill up front and on the back end, your guys are a little more fresh and you’ve got opportunities to catch them at the end of a power play unit being out there. And obviously you have to have guys who have the ability to finish.”

Defenseman and team captain Nash Nienhuis (5-10, Sr., Sarnia, Ont.) assisted on Kelly’s goal. That was Nienhuis’s 10th assist of the season, marking the third straight season with double-digit assists. 

Joey Larson makes it an even dozen on the season with this putback of a Red Savage shot. pic.twitter.com/vvrmyYG9Aj

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) January 13, 2024

LOW RUBBER

Penn State is known for getting high numbers of shots on goal, but the Spartans kept the Nittany Lions contained most of the night and carried the play to the hosts. Michigan State outshot Penn State 40-31.

“I really liked us in the first period,” Nightingale said. “I thought we were on our toes and controlled a lot of the play. There were parts of the game when we got away from being us but for the most part it was a pretty good effort.”

When did Nightingale think the game got away?

“In the second period, they got behind us and it was up and down the sheet instead of controlling the play,” he said. “You don’t want to be a team that to get a chance you give up a chance. You want to play repeatable hockey and I thought we got back to it in the second half of the period.”