"You're one minute away from a shutout."

That simple statement from a fan Friday night at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion spelled certain doom for the No. 1 Penn State ACHA Div. I Icers (20-0-0) goalie Scott Blackman.

One of the biggest hockey superstitions is that if you want a shutout to hold up, you can never utter those words until the clock has officially run out. With 38 seconds left on the clock, this superstition once again proved to have some validity.

All Blackman could do was watch as a puck bounced over him and off of a Niagara player's skate into the net, erasing his hopes of his second career shutout as an Icer.

"He deserved a shutout," Penn State Icers' coach Joe Battista said. "We called the timeout and said how much we wanted that shutout. We thought Scotty had earned it."

Although disappointed, Blackman understands sometimes goals just happen and looked at the brighter side of things.

"Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes," Blackman said. "I'm really not happy [about losing the shutout], but we played a good game."

Seconds before the goal was scored, fate seemed to tell Blackman he would have his shutout.

After making a save, the rebound bounced to a Niagara player sitting on the doorstep, staring at an empty net.

As he shot the puck, Penn State defenseman Luke Walker slid in front of the goal in order to preserve Blackman's shutout for the time being.

Shutout or not, Blackman still helped lead the Icers to their 19th straight win.

"He's been playing really good," Penn State forward Justin DePretis said. "He definitely solidified himself as a starter. He made a ton of big saves on good, quality chances."

The first period started slow, with Blackman only facing three shots. However, all three shots were either odd-man rushes or breakaways and he came up with key saves.

"Big saves kind of get you in the game," Blackman said. "I was just trying to stay focused. I knew that was the kind of game it was going to be."

As the game progressed, more shots were taken on Blackman but they didn't get any easier. By the end of the game, he had made 20 saves on 21 shots.

With the third period winding down, Blackman admitted he couldn't help but glance down at the scoreboard at the opposite end of the rink, thinking about the shutout.

"Oh yeah, I'm not going to lie," Blackman said. "I looked at it all the time, thinking it could happen, but low and behold, no."

DePretis also felt some responsibility for the goal. He took a slashing penalty with less than two minutes left in the game to put the Icers down a man.

DePretis said he felt bad about taking the penalty and seeing Blackman lose his shutout, but added he'd make it up to him. DePretis did help Blackman earn his eighth win of the season however, scoring a goal and an assist.

As for the fan who broke the cardinal sin in hockey and spoke the word 'shut out,' Blackman said he hopes he won't do it again.