Matthew Knies' second goal gives Gophers men's hockey 3-2 overtime victory at Penn State

Sophomore forward Matthew Knies had missed a few nets and hit a pipe during the Gophers' low-scoring second game with Penn State.

But as the last minute of the third period began, he asserted himself by scoring the tying goal with 41 seconds left and then getting the winning goal in overtime as No. 2 Minnesota edged No. 7 Penn State 3-2 on Saturday night at Pegula Ice Arena in Big Ten men's hockey,

His second goal of the game in State College, Pa., came 2:49 into the extra period and was his 20th of the season. Linemate Logan Cooley set him up. The freshman center drove to the net from the left side, prompting Penn State goalie Liam Souliere to slide over to cut the angle.

Instead of shooting, though, Cooley passed backward and cross ice to Knies, on the inside of the right circle. He beat Souliere with a rocket shot into the other side of the cage — just inside the post — before the Penn State netminder could completely shift over.

"It was a full 60 minutes from our whole group. Up and down the lineup, everyone was working, contributing. So it was good to see that," Knies said.

Cooley's line, so dominant in the series opener with four goals and six assists in a 7-2 rout, was quiet until the end this game. Souliere had a role in that, he stopped 29 shots.

Justen Close made 26 saves for the Gophers (23-8-1, 17-4-1 Big Ten).

The Nittany Lions' Ture Linden scored 29 seconds into the game.

And it stayed 1-0 Penn State (19-12-1, 9-12-1) until the Gophers' Rhett Pitlick's ninth goal of the season, on a breakaway, at 1:58 of the second period. He beat Souliere through the five-hole after taking a long pass from Connor Kurth well behind Penn State's defensemen.

Danny Dzhaniyev's goal put the home team ahead 2-1 with 2:03 to play in the third.

After that Knies and his linemates took control.

"We stayed resilient throughout the whole game," Knies said.

Jimmy Snuggerud, his other linemate, had one of the assists on Knies' tying goal, defenseman Jackson LaCombe the other.

"I like how our team played all weekend long," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. "Man to man, shift to shift, I thought we were a pretty darn good hockey team this weekend."