Dec. 4, 2014
| PENN STATE at WISCONSIN | |
| 7-4-2 (1-1-0-0 B1G) | 1-8-1 (0-0-0-0 B1G) |
| Friday, Dec. 5 at 9:00 p.m. ET | |
| Saturday, Dec. 6 at 9:00 p.m. ET | |
| Kohl Center | Madison, Wis. | |
| GAME DAY CENTRAL |
| FRIDAY TV: ESPNews |
| FRIDAY: WatchESPN | Live Audio ($) | |
| FRIDAY RADIO: Penn State Sports Network |
| SATURDAY TV: CW 15 (Harrisburg-Lancaster-York-Lebanon) |
| SATURDAY TV: MeTV (Johnstown-Altoona-State College) |
| SATURDAY: BTN2Go | Live Audio ($) | |
| SATURDAY RADIO: Penn State Sports Network |
| Men's Hockey Blog | 2014-15 Yearbook |
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| TEAM STATISTICS Penn State | Wisconsin |
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| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | WIS | |
| 7-4-2 | Overall Record | 1-8-1 |
| 1-1-0-0 | Conference Record | 0-0-0-0 |
| 43 | Goals Scored | 17 |
| 35 | Goals Allowed | 32 |
| 3.3 | Goals Scored/gm. | 1.7 |
| 2.7 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 3.2 |
| 521 | Shots | 226 |
| 40.1 | Shots/gm. | 22.6 |
| 68 | Assists | 31 |
| 13-54 | Power Plays | 4-39 |
| .241 | Power-Play Pct. | .103 |
| 33-40 | Penalty Kills | 25-32 |
| .825 | Penalty-Kill Pct. | .781 |
| 366 | Saves | 269 |
| 0 | Shutouts | 0 |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State men's hockey team makes a return to conference play when it travels to Wisconsin for a two-game series beginning Friday at 9 p.m. ET. That game will air live on ESPNews, while Saturday's 9 p.m. ET contest will air in multiple local markets in Pennsylvania.
The Nittany Lions and Badgers renew their rivalry for the eighth time on Friday, which will be the first time since a narrow 2-1 Wisconsin victory in the 2014 Big Ten Semifinals. Penn State enters this weekend on a two-game skid, while Wisconsin went 1-0-1 vs. Ferris State. The Badgers have yet to play a Big Ten game this year. Penn State is 1-1-0-0.
SCOUTING THE BADGERS
Wisconsin (1-8-1, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) had its most successful weekend to date, going 1-0-1 against Ferris State at the Kohl Center last weekend. FSU gathered a tie with a third-period goal on Friday night before Wisconsin overcame a 2-1 deficit to win 5-3. Not only was Saturday the first victory for the Badgers, the five goals represented the most in a single game this season.
The Badgers have scored 17 goals this season, 10 of which have come in their past four games. Defensively, UW has conceded 3.2 goals per game with its one-goal showing vs. Ferris State the best since opening night vs. Alaska (1-0 loss).
Wisconsin features seven NHL draft picks that have played this season along with 11 freshman that have seen ice time. Sophomore Grant Besse leads the team with three goals and six points, having scored two against Ferris State in UW's victory. Freshman defenseman Tim Davison, senior forward Joseph LaBate and freshman defenseman Jake Linhart each have four assists to aid the offense.
In net, seniors Joel Rumpel (1-6-1) and Landon Peterson (0-2-0), have seen time in the cage. Rumpel has a 3.01 GAA and .900 save percentage, while Peterson has a 3.03 GAA and .900 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY WITH WISCONSIN
All-Time Series: Wisconsin leads 6-1-0
PSU Record at WIS: 1-3-0
PSU Streak: 5 losses
First Meeting: 2/24/13, WIS 5-0
Last Meeting: 3/21/14, WIS 2-1
Last PSU Win: 2/25/13, 3-2 (OT)
Last WIS Win: 3/21/14, 2-1
Last Tie: n/a
Largest PSU Win: 3-2 (OT), 2/25/13
Largest WIS Win: 7-1, 12/6/13
NITTANY LIONS TO HAVE SIX MORE TV GAMES
It was announced on Tuesday, Dec. 3, that the American Sports Network picked up six Penn State hockey games beginning with Saturday's tilt at Wisconsin.
ASN, which is owned by Sinclair, will distribute to local outlets. Saturday's game will be shown live in Harrisburg-Lancaster-York-Lebanon on CW 15 as well as on MeTV in State College-Altoona-Johnstown. All ASN games will air on BTN2Go as well.
The other games set to have local broadcasts are a home series against Ohio State (Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.; Jan. 10 at 3 p.m.) as well as another home game against Wisconsin (Feb. 7 at 2 p.m.) highlight the schedule before road contests at Ohio State (Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.) and at Minnesota (March 13 at 8 p.m.). All times are Eastern.
This brings Penn State's TV package to 18 total games for the 2014-15 season with 16 games remaining entering Friday, which will air live on ESPNews. Fans are encouraged to check their local listings for all games.
CORNELL TAKES FROZEN APPLE
Penn State gave up three unanswered goals in a 3-1 loss to Cornell in the Frozen Apple at Madison Square Garden in front of 15,027 fans on Saturday, Nov. 29. David Goodwin scored a first-period goal to pace the offense.
Penn State (7-4-2) dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season as Cornell (4-4-1) won its third straight game, and fourth in its past five outings.
Goodwin scored the game's first goal on a feed from Taylor Holstrom that was tipped by Casey Bailey. The assist by Bailey upped his point streak to five games.
Cornell would fight back to even the score in the second on a John Knisley opportunity. The Big Red went in front in the third as Joel Lowry put away a 2-on-1 break from John McCarron. Cornell sealed the deal with an empty-netter from Knisley.
TOP LINE REMAINS PRODUCTIVE, INTACT
Penn State has already used 23 different offensive line combinations in the first 13 games, but one thing has remained constant: David Goodwin-Taylor Holstrom-Casey Bailey will play and score.
The threesome have been together in 12 of 13 contests (only time not together was Oct. 17 at Alaska when Holstrom sat out), accounting for 44 of Penn State's 111 points. The three have combined for 18 goals, 26 assists and a plus-8 rating. Currently, the line is 7-3-2 this season.
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 and a two-point effort in the 3-2 win at Michigan. Bailey enters this weekend with a five-game point streak.
ROLLING WITH HOLSTROM
Penn State's most productive point-scorer has been Taylor Holstrom with four goals and 14 assists for 18 points.
Holstrom enters the weekend tied for first nationally in assists (14), while leading the Big Ten in points with 18. Holstrom averages a nation's best 1.17 assists per game. He leads the team with five multi-point games and tallied a point in his first nine games of the year.
FIRE AWAY!
Penn State likes to shoot the puck. A lot. The Nittany Lions lead NCAA Division I with 40.08 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. PSU is 6-3-2 when out-shooting its opposition.
LIONS BOAST CHART-TOPPING OFFENSE
Penn State's has been impressive in the early going, ranking in the top 15 in several offensive categories.
PSU leads the country in shots per game (40.08), sixth in power-play percentage (.241) and tied-11th in power play goals (13).
Among Big Ten teams, Penn State leads in shots (40.08) 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 19 goals and 44 assists for 63 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 40 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 on just 17.5 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 three weeks. The Nittany Lions killed off all nine Michigan power plays last weekend and both opportunities against Cornell.
Penn State has allowed just one power play goal in the past 15 opportunities.
BALANCED NITTANY LION SCORING
Penn State has 43 goals through four games, an average of 3.3 goals as opposed to last year's 2.2 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 30.8 shots per game to reach net this year in good part of the blocking ability of PSU's defensive corps, which has stopped 193 from reaching frame.
Senior captain Patrick Koudys (24), junior Luke Juha (22) and sophomore David Thompson (20) lead the team in the category.
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.
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 22-24-4, starting 5-3-2 this year. He has a 2.29 GAA and a .919 save percentage this season, which is better than his career numbers of 2.66 and .914.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State returns to action Saturday night for its final game of the Fall Semester, a 9 p.m. ET showdown with the Badgers at the Kohl Center. Penn State closes out its two-month sojourn with a third straight appearance in the Three Rivers Classic at CONSOL Energy Center, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins.