Nov. 27, 2014
| PENN STATE vs. CORNELL | |
| 7-3-2 (1-1-0-0 B1G) | 3-4-1 (3-3-0 ECAC) |
| Saturday, Nov. 29 at 8:00 p.m. | |
| MADISON SQUARE GARDEN | NEW YORK | |
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| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | COR | |
| 7-3-2 | Overall Record | 3-4-1 |
| 1-1-0-0 | Conference Record | 3-3-0 |
| 42 | Goals Scored | 14 |
| 32 | Goals Allowed | 13 |
| 3.5 | Goals Scored/gm. | 1.8 |
| 2.7 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 1.6 |
| 483 | Shots | 226 |
| 40.2 | Shots/gm. | 28.3 |
| 66 | Assists | 26 |
| 13-51 | Power Plays | 8-35 |
| .255 | Power-Play Pct. | .229 |
| 31-38 | Penalty Kills | 29-32 |
| .816 | Penalty-Kill Pct. | .906 |
| 344 | Saves | 216 |
| 0 | Shutouts | 1 |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State men's hockey visits its fourth NHL arena on Saturday night (8 p.m.) when it takes on Cornell at Madison Square Garden in the Frozen Apple. Saturday's game will be streamed live through the Ivy League Digital Network's subscription service.
The Nittany Lions play the Big Red for the first time in 70 years, and it will take place at The World's Most Famous Arena. This will be the second year Cornell has hosted the Frozen Apple, which saw Michigan take part in 2012. Cornell has also hosted the Red Hot Hockey series vs. Boston University on four other occasions.
PENN STATE'S PAST HISTORY AT NHL ARENAS
Madison Square Garden will be PSU's fourth NHL arena, having already played games at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center, Pittsburgh's CONSOL Energy Center and St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center.
The Nittany Lions are 1-1-0 at Wells Fargo Center, 2-2-0 at CONSOL Energy Center and 1-1-0 at Xcel Energy Center. Later this season, Penn State will visit Pittsburgh and Philadelphia before traveling to Detroit's Joe Louis Arena for the Big Ten Tournament in March.
SCOUTING THE BIG RED
Cornell (3-4-1, 3-3-0 ECAC Hockey) enters Saturday's game the winner of two straight and three of the past four contests overall. The Big Red swept a split weekend at home of Yale (3-2) and Brown (4-0). Cornell is 3-1-0 after starting 0-3-1.
Cornell is accustomed to playing low-scoring games, averaging just 1.8 goals per game, while allowing a stingy 1.6 goals per game. Prior to last weekend, Cornell had failed to score more than two goals in a single game. The shutout against Brown was the first of the season. The penalty kill has been impressive, allowing only three goals in 32 opportunities.
Individually, Cornell is led by Joel Lowry (2-3) with five points, while four members of the Big Red have four points: Matt Buckles (3-1), Cole Bardreau (1-3), Jake Weidner (0-4) and Jeff Kubiak (0-4). Buckles leads the team with three power play goals and in penalty minutes (25) along with teammate Holden Anderson.
In net, Mitch Gillam (2-3-1) has seen the ice in six starts with a 1.72 goals-against average and .943 save percentage. His backup, Hayden Stewart (1-1-0), has a 0.91 GAA and .962 save percentage. Stewart picked up the shutout win over Brown with 26 saves.
SERIES HISTORY WITH CORNELL
All-Time Series: Cornell leads 1-0-0
PSU Streak: 1 loss
First Meeting: 2/5/44, COR 7-1
Last Meeting: 2/5/44, 7-1
Last PSU Win: n/a
Last COR Win: 2/5/44, 7-1
Last Tie: n/a
Largest PSU Win: n/a
Largest COR Win: 7-1, 2/5/44
LAST MEETING WITH CORNELL
2/5/1944 L 1-7 A
GADOWSKY AND THE BIG RED
Prior to his arrival at Penn State, Guy Gadowsky led the Princeton Tigers who competed in the ECAC Hockey Conference with 11 other schools including Cornell. While at Princeton, the Tigers went 7-9-0 against Cornell during Gadowsky's tenure over a seven-year span. Following a 0-3-0 start in that time, Gadowsky's troops went 7-6-0 against the Big Red following Cornell's 11-game winning stretch vs. Princeton that dated back to March 9, 2001.
MICHIGAN HANDS FIRST BIG TEN LOSS
A night afetr a 3-2 win at Yost Arena, Michigan exploded for five goals in the third period to blow the doors off a tight game, going on to win, 8-1. The win salvaged a split for the Wolverines.
Penn State trailed 3-0 before getting one back in the final minute of the second period on a Taylor Holstrom power-play goal. Casey Bailey and Luke Juha each earned assists on the marker.
In the third, with all the pressure at the Michigan end and Penn State on the power play, a giveaway at the blue line allowed Andrew Copp to score a short-handed goal with 14 minutes left. It was the first short-handed goal allowed by PSU, and would lead to four more tallies.
LIONS TAKE BIG TEN OPENER AT MICHIGAN
Penn State didn't play its best game, giving up a goal just 46 seconds after starting, but used a three-goal spurt in three minutes to down Michigan, 3-2, on Friday night at Yost Ice Arena.
Sophomore goaltender Eamon McAdam saved 38 shots to earn his first Big Ten win, improving to 2-0-0 on the year. Casey Bailey tallied two points on a goal and an assist, scoring the eventual game-winning goal late in the first period.
Down 1-0, Penn State scored 22 seconds after going on its first power play as Bailey's shot from the left wing was deflected in by Max Gardiner to tie the score with 5:54 remaining in the first period.
Only 22 seconds later, Penn State moved into the lead as James Robinson tied up a Michigan player near the blue line, Eric Scheid stripped the puck and went the length of the ice and scored his seventh of the year.
Two minutes and thirty seconds later, Bailey took a turnover at his own blue line, beat a defenseman with a toe drag and scored his conference-leading ninth goal of the year for a 3-1 lead with 3:02 remaining. PSU would allow a third-period goal, but hang on for its fourth win in five tries against Michigan.
TOP LINE REMAINS PRODUCTIVE, INTACT
Penn State has already used 23 different offensive line combinations in the first 12 games, but one thing has remained constant: David Goodwin-Taylor Holstrom-Casey Bailey will play and score.
The threesome have been together in 11 of 12 contests (only time not together was Oct. 17 at Alaska when Holstrom sat out), accounting for 41 of Penn State's 108 points. The three have combined for 17 goals, 24 assists and a plus-10 rating. Currently, the line is 7-2-2 this season.
At UMass Lowell, the line amassed four goals, seven assists and 11 points. Against Michigan, Bailey had a goal and an assist on Friday and added another assist on Saturday, while Holstrom scored his fourth goal of the year.
ROLLING WITH HOLSTROM
Penn State's most productive point-scorer has been Taylor Holstrom with four goals and 13 assists for 17 points.
Holstrom enters the weekend tied for first nationally in assists (13), while leading the Big Ten in points with 17. He leads the team with five multi-point games and tallied a point in his first nine games of the year.
BAILEY REGAINING SCORING FORM
Behind a Big Ten-leading nine goals, junior forward Casey Bailey has regained his scoring form from 2012-13 that saw him tally 14 goals during his freshman campaign. Last season, Bailey tallied nine goals in 32 games.
Bailey is tied for first on the team with five multi-point games and recently registered a two-goal game against UMass Lowell on Saturday and a two-point effort in the 3-2 win at Michigan.
ERIC THE CLUTCH
Forward Eric Scheid has been Penn State's go-to guy for a late-game goal. Scheid ranks tied for fifth in the nation with three game-winning goals this season, earning his third by scoring 16 seconds after PSU's game-tying goal vs. Bentley on Halloween in the third period.
Scheid is second on the team in scoring with seven goals, adding a first-period insurance goal last weekend in a 4-1 win over UMass Lowell and the second goal in the 3-2 win at Michigan. Scheid missed the Saturday game due to illness.
ERIK THE PASSER
Prior to the season, head coach Guy Gadowsky identified freshman defenseman Erik Autio as one of Penn State's best passers. It took four games, but Autio registered an assist in three straight contests all on the power play.
While he didn't tally a point at Lowell, Autio and teammate Luke Juha were effective in Penn State's efforts. The defensive pairing had matching plus-two ratings Friday night and were both plus-one the following night.
FIRE AWAY!
Penn State likes to shoot the puck. A lot. The Nittany Lions lead NCAA Division I with 40.25 shots per game.
Penn State had out-shot its opponent in every game this season until playing at Michigan, where the Wolverines held the edge both nights.
LIONS BOAST CHART-TOPPING OFFENSE
Penn State's has been impressive in the early going, ranking in the top 10 in several offensive categories.
PSU leads the country in shots per game (40.25), tied-fifth in power play goals (13) and seventh in power-play percentage (.250).
Among Big Ten teams, Penn State leads in shots (40.25), goals (42), goals per game (3.50) goal differential (+10) and power-play goals (13).
JUNIORS PROVIDING THE SCORING
Penn State's juniors have been the most productive class in scoring this year with 24 goals and 24 assists for 48 points. The three other classes combined have totaled 18 goals and 43 assists for 61 points.
AVOIDING THE PENALTY BOX
Penn State has been less penalized in 2014-15, averaging 3.8 penalties per game and 8.4 minutes per game, resulting in 38 power play chances for its opponents. Last year, The Nittany Lions were committing 5.3 penalties for 12.3 minutes per game and teams were capitalizing on 18.9 percent of the resulting power plays. This year's penalty kill is allowing goals 18.4 percent of the time.
PENALTY KILL RETURNING TO SHAPE
Following a poor weekend (4-for-8) against the nation's top power play unit, Bentley, the Nittany Lions have become progressively better on the penalty kill in the last two weeks. The Nittany Lions killed off all nine Michigan power plays last weekend and have allowed just one power play goal in the past 13 opportunities.
The clean weekend on the penalty kill was the third of the season after perfect showings at home against Connecticut (4-for-4) and Holy Cross (5-for-5).
BALANCED NITTANY LION SCORING
Penn State has 42 goals through four games, an average of 3.50 goals as opposed to last year's 2.22 average.
Moreover, 14 different Nittany Lions have already registered a goal this season with a total of 22 Lions recording a point. In 2013-14 alone, 16 Lions scored goals with 21 total earning points.
BLOCKING SUCCESS
Penn State's defense has allowed an average of 31.3 shots per game to reach net this year in good part of the blocking ability of PSU's defensive corps, which has stopped 176 from reaching frame.
Senior captain Patrick Koudys (21), junior Luke Juha (21) and sophomore David Thompson (20) lead the team in the category.
WINS OVER RANKED TEAMS
Penn State's victory over UMass Lowell was the program's fifth against ranked competition. Prior to Saturday, PSU was 0-8-0 against top-five squads. Last season, Penn State went 3-16-0, with all three wins coming against Michigan, while in 2012-13 the Nittany Lions went 1-3-0. Penn State now stands at 5-20-0 all-time against ranked teams.
SKOFF GETS THE NOD IN 2014-15
Proclaimed the starter by head coach Guy Gadowsky in the offseason, junior Matthew Skoff started the final 11-of-15 games for the Nittany Lions last season, while compiling an 8-13-2 record with a 2.95 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and a shutout.
This season, Skoff started the first nine games of the season, becoming the goalie of record in a career-best 12 straight games dating to last season.
Skoff's career record stands at 22-23-4, starting 5-2-2 this year. He has a 2.32 GAA and a .919 save percentage this season, which is better than his career numbers of 2.67 and .914.
GADOWSKY INKS FIVE TO HOCKEY VALLEY
On Monday, Nov. 17, head coach Guy Gadowsky and the Nittany Lion men's hockey program welcomed five incoming freshmen for the 2015-16 season: Chase Berger, Kevin Kerr, Alec Marsh, Matt Mendelson and Denis Smirnov. All five are key contributors for their teams in the USHL.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State returns to Big Ten play when it travels to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers Friday-Saturday, Dec. 5-6. Both games will take place at 9 p.m. ET with Friday's game shown live on ESPNews.