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Hockey: Hults' historic hat-trick lifts Lions to opening night win

As Penn State’s most fundamentally sound defenseman, Cole Hults often finds the scoresheet in quiet ways.

Friday night, he was loud.

Hults tallied the first hat trick by a defenseman in Penn State program history, as the Nittany Lions handled Sacred Heart, 8-2, in their season opener.

“Obviously, it was nice to get the goals, but he was just so good in so many areas and he’s been like that,” Guy Gadowsky said. “...He’s a guy that’s just so effective, and not flashy.”

Penn State defenseman Cole Hults stands near the blue line during a game against Ohio State in 2017-18.
Penn State defenseman Cole Hults stands near the blue line during a game against Ohio State in 2017-18.

But a little flash doesn’t hurt once in a while. Hults, who said he’s been working on shooting the puck more when he gets the chance, didn’t hesitate to let it fly Friday.

From the high slot, he scored over the shoulder of Sacred Heart goaltender Josh Benson to put Penn State up 2-0 in the first period.

The Pioneers cut the Nittany Lions’ lead in half late in the second, but Hults answered on the power play, scoring with a wrister from the blue line that found twine thanks to an excellent screen by Tyler Gratton.

On the power play again in the third, he ripped a one timer by Benson, and the hats started flying.

“I’ve tried to put an emphasis on my game to shoot more pucks and be more active on the blue line,” Hults said. “I really wanted to make a statement doing that.”

The eighth player to score a hat trick in Penn State history, Hults helped alleviate a slow start by the Nittany Lions.

Familiar problems plagued Penn State, which turned the puck over far too often and surrendered too many odd-man rushes. The Pioneers outshot the Nittany Lions 24-19 through two periods — an alarming statistic for a Penn State team that typically outshoots its opponent even when it loses.

But luckily for the Nittany Lions, Peyton Jones was equal to the task in net.

Jones nullified chance after Sacred Heart chance, controlling rebounds well and keeping the Nittany Lions ahead in a game they probably deserved to trail after two periods. Jones finished with 29 saves on 31 Sacred Heart shots.

“It’s not often in an 8-2 game that you feel that your goaltender saved you, but I really felt that way,” Gadowsky said.

“If it wasn’t for Peyton Jones, I think we would be learning a much different lesson right now,” he continued.

Gadowsky said he wasn’t sure what caused Penn State’s defensive lapses, but said he didn’t feel as though the Nittany Lions played to their identity until the third period.

In the final stanza, Penn State simply thrashed Sacred Heart, turning a 3-1 lead into an 8-2 rout.

Within the onslaught was Aarne Talvitie’s first goal since returning from a torn ACL suffered last January. Freshman Connor MacEachern, playing center in Nikita Pavlychev’s absence, scored a goal in his first game to cap it off.

MacEachern, with Gratton and Connor McMenamin on his wings, formed the line that pleased Gadowsky the most through the first 40 minutes.

Surprisingly, those three freshmen were more ready to go than the Nittany Lions who have been through this before.

“It’s not easy to play to our identity,” Gadowsky said. “It’s not an easy thing. Sometimes it’s easier to take a fancy way out, and I think we were trying to be pretty fancy.”

Penn State and Sacred Heart will play the second game of their series Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

Notes:

Penn State was 4-for-8 on the power play Wednesday. Gadowsky said he was impressed with the puck movement as the game wore on.

Nate Sucese scored his 51st career goal, tying him with Chase Berger for second place all-time in program history and moving him within three goals of Andrew Sturtz, the record holder.

Last year’s NCAA points leader, Alex Limoges, began his season with a power-play goal, redirecting a slapshot off the stick of Evan Barratt to start the game’s scoring.


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