Sullivan, Penguins embrace Penn State exhibition despite loss

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The crowd was on its feet when the two-time Stanley Cup champions were introduced and stepped onto the ice at the sold-out, 6,222-seat Pegula Ice Arena.

Some whipped Terrible Towels and others sported some variation of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust or Phil Kessel sweaters, t-shirts or hats. Hockey was back in Hockey Valley, if only for one night as the Penguins traveled to the center of the state to meet Terry Pegula’s Sabres in the arena on Penn State’s campus that bears his name.

The second preseason NHL game in the history of Pegula -- after the Sabres and Wild played here last September – ended with Buffalo taking the 4-3 victory 25 seconds into overtime on a Jack Eichel goal. Antti Niemi recorded 21 saves over two periods, and Zach Aston-Reese netted the Penguins’ first goal, followed by Jay McClement and Olli Maatta.

“It was a great experience,” Mike Sullivan said. “This is a really neat environment here. Penn State’s got a beautiful facility. I think the building, the fans are on top of you so I think it’s a unique environment from that standpoint. It has the college feel, that I thought was great for our players. There was a lot of energy in the building. So I think it was great for us to have to ride the bus for 2.5 hours to, you know, kind of keep things in perspective and realize how fortunate we are in the way we travel and to have a young lineup for me is exciting.”



The spectacle that it was, from the jam-packed concourse to the elbow-to-elbow student section dubbed the Roar Zone with a banner titled ‘Go [Insert Team Here]’ with both team’s logos on either end, was a welcome sight on a night where most of the Penguins’ biggest names weren’t on the ice. With Carl Hagelin, Maatta and Rust serving as the Pens’ headliners against a Buffalo roster that was dotted with NHLers, it was Maatta’s goal in the third period that resulted in the loudest roar of the crowd on the night.

Despite Pegula’s Sabres serving as the home team -- a fitting gesture for the man who shelled out $102 million to fund the facility and launch Division I hockey at Penn State in 2010 – playing in the state of the art arena that opened in 2013 wasn’t lost on many of the Penguins. In fact, it took many of them back to their own college days, when the crowd was loud and rowdy and pounding on the glass.