Feb. 17, 2014
By Michael Renahan, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's hockey team got a significant boost from their defense over the weekend against Michigan State. Despite not collecting a win this weekend, the defensive play was strong for the Nittany Lions and helped keep them in both games.
Guy Gadowsky's squad was without arguably two of its best defenders in Nate Jensen and Luke Juha. Both suffered injuries against then-No. 10 Michigan last weekend, but the Blue and White, however, were still confident in their abilities to shut down the Spartans attack.
"I thought we played pretty well defensively," Gadowsky said after Saturday night's loss. "We didn't give up a ton of chances and we felt pretty good about that part of our game."
The Nittany Lions left Pegula Ice Arena after what they called a frustrating weekend, but they can feel good about how hard they played the Spartans and how well they played as a team for a full 60 minutes both nights.
Penn State limited Michigan State to just 13 shots Saturday night. That's the lowest total the Nittany Lions have allowed all season and Matt Skoff contributed 11 saves in net, but the offense could only muster just one goal in the defeat.
After the game, Gadowsky was very high on his goaltender. After all, Skoff had made some terrific saves to keep the Nittany Lions ahead throughout the game.
"I thought he [Skoff] played well," Gadowsky said. "I thought he battled. I thought he was composed. I don't think he let in any of the goals that he shouldn't have. You can't blame him tonight. He had the angle on the first one and it just went off a skate. The other goal was a rebound that they got a stick on before we did. I thought he played well."
The Nittany Lions were quick on the rush out of their defensive zone and they were unbelievably aggressive and relentless when the Spartans tried to attack in their offensive zone.
Penn State relied on guys like Patrick Koudys, Mike Williamson, Connor Varley and Kenny Brooks, a forward playing defense, to step up and contribute to the team's effort at the blue line. Not only did they step up on the back-end, but they also stood tall against a very good Spartan team.
"I thought Mike [Williamson] played with a lot more composure this weekend," said Gadowsky. "I think he knew that he was going to be counted on more and he really play with a lot more composure.
"I thought Connor [Varley] had a good weekend, as well. I think if both Luke and Nate were not out of the lineup, that would have helped our offense out, but I thought defensively the guys played very well."
It was no surprise to see Brooks listed as a defenseman against Michigan State. The sophomore had stepped in and played that role very well last weekend vs. Michigan and Gadowsky clearly had confidence he would play well again.
After the game, Brooks and Koudys were very complimentary of the play of their forwards, saying their defensive composure helped make their night much easier.
"I think it just shows we have a good backend, but also we have good forwards," Koudys said. "We lost a few guys on the backend and they [the forwards] were back-checking harder. They were helping us out and Skoff has been backing us up the last two games with great efforts. When everyone is doing their part we can play really well."
Offensively, the Penn State defensemen were very effective, as well.
Koudys led all Nittany Lions with four shots and scored the lone goal for Penn State on Saturday night. He fired a wrist shot from the blue line that trickled past Michigan State goaltender Jake Hildebrand just 43 seconds into the game for his second goal of the season.
Gadowsky was not surprised to see Koudys score and set a tone for the Blue and White early. It's something he has come to expect from his big defensemen.
"I thought he [Koudys] made some nice plays and he got a goal," said Gadowsky. "I thought he had some other really good chances that could have gone in. He's just a really good, solid hockey player. He is a great defensive player, but I thought his whole game was pretty good tonight."
The Nittany Lions were led by the men on their blue line this weekend. They still have some kinks to work out as the season progresses, but they will be hungry heading forward as they ended the weekend feeling they let one go.
"We didn't give any ground this weekend," Gadowsky said, "but I think we could have [won] both of these [games]."