Jan. 30, 2015
| PENN STATE vs. #14 VERMONT | |
| 12-7-4 (5-2-1-0 B1G) | 15-8-2 (7-6-1 HEA) |
| Saturday, Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. | |
| WELLS FARGO CENTER | PHILADELPHIA | |
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| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | UVM | |
| 12-7-4 | Overall Record | 15-8-2 |
| 5-2-1-0 | Conference Record | 7-6-1 |
| 80 | Goals Scored | 71 |
| 66 | Goals Allowed | 47 |
| 3.5 | Goals Scored/gm. | 2.8 |
| 2.9 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 1.9 |
| 963 | Shots | 751 |
| 41.9 | Shots/gm. | 30.0 |
| 125 | Assists | 128 |
| 19-91 | Power Plays | 20-99 |
| .209 | Power-Play Pct. | .202 |
| 61-75 | Penalty Kills | 85-92 |
| .813 | Penalty-Kill Pct. | .924 |
| 644 | Saves | 609 |
| 0 | Shutouts | 2 |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State takes part in the third annual Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday against No. 14 Vermont at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on GoPSUsports.com.
The Nittany Lions and Catamounts faceoff for the third straight season with the series deadlocked at 1-1-0. Another big crowd awaits the two teams, each of which sport winning records for the first time in three meetings.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets remain on sale at ComcastTIX.com. Prices start at just $10.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Vermont (15-8-2, 7-6-1 Hockey East) is a disciplined team that allows the third fewest goals per game (1.88) in Division I.
Part of UVM's success is its second-ranked penalty kill (.924) that has conceded just seven goals in 92 attempts. The Catamounts also allow just 26.24 shots per game to reach the net, sixth best in the country.
In net, Mike Santaguida (5-5-0) will get the start on Saturday as Brody Hoffman (10-3-2) has been suspended from the team. Santaguida boasts robust numbers despite a .500 winning percentage, raking second nationally in save percentage (.945) and goals-against average (1.51), while seeing 45 percent of the team's ice time. Santaguida also owns both of UVM's shutouts.
A strong start for Vermont yielded a 14-4-1 record before going 1-5-1 in its last seven games since Dec. 29. Last weekend, the Catamounts succumbed to No. 3 Boston University 4-2 and 2-1 (OT).
Senior defenseman and Chicago draft pick Mike Paliotta leads the team in points (23) on seven goals and 16 assists. Four of Paliotta's goals have come on the power play. Another Catamount defenseman, Alexx Privitera, is tied for fourth in points (16) with five goals and 11 assists.
The forwards are paced by sophomore Mario Puskarich (10g, 11a), Colin Markison (6g, 13a) and Brady Shaw (8g, 8a). A key distributor on the offensive end is Brendan Bradley who has 12 assists in his sophomore campaign.
SERIES HISTORY WITH VERMONT
All-Time Series: Tied, 1-1-0 PSU Streak: 1 loss First Meeting: 1/19/13, PSU 4-2 Last Meeting: 10/26/13, UVM 5-2 Last PSU Win: 1/19/13, 4-2 Last UVM Win: 10/26/13, 5-2 Last Tie: - Largest PSU Win: 4-2, 1/19/13 Largest UVM Win: 5-2, 10/26/13
BIG STAGE AWAITS PENN STATE AGAIN
Penn State plays in its third NHL venue this season and will again be playing in front of one its largest crowds in hockey history.
The two previous Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoffs have produced crowds of 19,529 (Jan. 2013) and 17,632 (Oct. 2013), which rank first and second in PSU's highest attended games. Third on that list was this year's Frozen Apple contest vs. Cornell at Madison Square Garden that drew 15,027 fans.
Penn State is 0-3-0 in NHL arenas this year.
COMEBACK LIONS EARN WIN, TIE VS. NMU
The all-too-familiar storyline during the second semester games crept up in a non-conference series vs. Northern Michigan last weekend as Penn State fought back from a pair of 4-1 deficits to earn a 5-4 win and 5-5 tie.
On Friday, Penn State coughed up a 1-0 lead by allowing four NMU goals in 13 minutes. The comeback trail started with a Casey Bailey power-play goal to end the second period and a Dylan Richard short-handed goal to open the third. The goal was Richard's second of the game.
David Glen tied the game with 5:40 remaining before Scott Conway smashed home the game-winner with 3:20 left. PJ Musico made 11 saves to earn his first win of the season. Richard led the team in points (3), while Eric Scheid and Curtis Loik supplied two assists each.
Saturday's comeback was of a different sort. The Lions dominated the pace of play, out-shooting NMU 20-8 in the first period, but falling behind 3-0.
Eric Scheid's short-handed goal brought PSU within two goals briefly in the second, but another NMU tally gave the Wildcats a 4-1 lead for the second straight night.
Ricky DeRosa's redirected goal off a Patrick Koudys slapshot made it 4-2 with 2:08 left in the second and Scheid's second of the game, a dazzling breakaway goal, made it 4-3 entering the second intermission.
Tommy Olczyk's fifth of the year assisted by DeRosa knotted the score at four just 3:09 into the period, but a Wildcat power-play goal four minutes later regained the lead for NMU.
Richard's batted a mid-air puck from Scheid's rebound attempt to even the score at five with only 6:32 left in the third.
Musico picked up his second straight decision in 45 minutes of work, allowing two goals against 19 saves. PSU out-shot NMU 117-59 for the weekend.
SECOND LINE SCORING RE-EMERGES
Penn State's second line of Eric Scheid, Dylan Richard and Scott Conway provided the scoring punch it was missing from its top line last weekend.
Scheid (2g, 3a) and Richard (3g, 2a) each finished with five points against Northern Michigan, while Conway notched four points on a goal and three assists.
The trio have now appeared in six games this season (4-0-2), tallying 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points and a plus-seven rating. The scoring marks and plus-minus rating rank second on the team.
SCHEID CONTINUES TO SCORE
Forward Eric Scheid missed six games and returned to the ice in impressive fashion, tallying three multi-point games and a pair of two-goal performances to pace the Penn State offense.
Scheid tallied four points in two games including a three-point game on Saturday, Jan. 10 against Ohio State.
While Scheid's five-game point streak came to an end in Jan. 17's 5-2 win over MSU, he threw in his fifth goal during that streak in Friday's 2-2 tie.
Last weekend, the Minnesota native used his speed to produce two assists Friday night and scored twice on Saturday night against Northern Michigan.
Scheid is second on the team with 12 goals. The Nittany Lions went 2-4-0 in during his absence, which puts PSU at 10-3-4 when Scheid is in the lineup.
OFFENSIVE PRODUCTIN FUELING LIONS
Penn State is coming off a six-game homestand in which it scored 25 goals (4.17 per game), scoring at least four goals in five of those games.
Penn State scored five goals or more in three straight games for the first time in program history against Michigan State and Northern Michigan.
JUNIORS PROVIDING THE SCORING
Penn State's juniors have been the most productive scoring class this year with 41 goals and 47 assists for 88 points. The three other classes combined have totaled 39 goals and 84 assists for 123 points.
BALANCED NITTANY LION SCORING
Penn State has 80 goals through 23 games, an average of 3.48 goals as opposed to last year's 2.22 average.
Eight Nittany Lions have tallied 10 or more points so far this season: Casey Bailey (27), Taylor Holstrom (23), David Goodwin (22), Eric Scheid (18), Curtis Loik (15), Scott Conway (15), Dylan Richard (15) and Luke Juha (11). Last season 12 Lions garnered at least 10 points or more in 36 contests.
Moreover, 15 different Nittany Lions have 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.
FIRE AWAY!
Penn State likes to shoot the puck. A lot. The Nittany Lions lead NCAA Division I men's hockey with 41.87 shots per game, a full five shots more than second best Robert Morris (36.04) and six-plus shots ahead of Michigan (35.14).
The Nittany Lions have out-shot their opponents in 20 of 23 games this year. Thanks to two shots in the final seconds, Ohio State became the second team to out-shoot the Nittany Lions when PSU won, 4-1. Michigan out-shot PSU in both games this season. PSU is 10-6-4 when out-shooting its opposition.
The Nittany Lions have fired 50 or more shots on six occasions this season, going 4-0-2. Moreover, PSU has attempted 40 or more shots 13 times, going 8-3-2 in those games.
Last weekend, Penn State shot the puck 117 times with 53 on Friday vs. NMU and 64 on Saturday in an overtime tie.
Penn State ranks second nationally in shots on goal margin per game (+11.0). Vermont is 17th (+3.80).
In games where PSU fails to shoot at least 30 times Penn State is 1-0-1 with a tie vs. Alaska Anchorage and a win at Michigan.
Vermont ranks 31st nationally in shots per game with 30.04, while ranking sixth nationally in shots allowed per game (26.24).
MUSICO TO MY EARS
Entering the season, PJ Musico was Penn State's third goaltender and didn't see action through the first 16 games of the year. Since then, Musico has played in four of the past seven games in a reserve role, earning more playing time on each occasion.
Musico played 8:38 against Western Michigan (Dec. 30) during a 4-1 loss, before coming in relief in a Jan. 9 contest vs. Ohio State down 3-0, ultimately picking up a 5-4 loss in overtime.
The last two outings have been more positive, Musico came in on Friday as PSU was down 4-1 in the second period. The senior from California stopped all 11 Northern Michigan shots as Penn State came back to win, 5-4. On Saturday, Musico led the team to the ice in the second period, down three goals once again, making 19 saves and allowing two goals in a 5-5 tie.
Musico is now 1-1-0 with a .913 save percentage and a 2.37 goals-against average in 101 minutes of play.
TOP LINE REMAINS PRODUCTIVE, INTACT
Penn State has already used 36 different offensive line combinations through 23 games, but one thing has remained constant: David Goodwin-Taylor Holstrom-Casey Bailey will play and score.
The three have combined for 30 goals, 36 assists and a plus-30 rating. Currently, the line is 10-5-4 this season. Before last week, where only Bailey scored a single goal, this trio had combined for 10 goals and 10 assists in its previous four games.
The threesome have been together in 19 of 23 contests (only times not together were Oct. 17 at Alaska, Dec. 5-6 at Wisconsin and Dec. 30 vs. Western Michigan), accounting for 66 of Penn State's 205 points (32.2 percent).
Only the Richard-Conway-Scheid line (24 points) has more than nine points this season.
BAILEY THREE OFF SCORING LEAD
Behind a Big Ten-leading 17 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.
Entering this week, Bailey is behind only Union's Daniel Ciampini (20 goals), while tied with Harvard's Jimmy Vesey and Matt Garbowsky of RIT.
Bailey is first on the team with eight multi-point games this season and has 16 in his Penn State career. He has tallied a point in 16 of 23 games this year.
ROLLING WITH HOLSTROM
Penn State's most productive passer has been Taylor Holstrom with five goals and 18 assists for 23 points.
His 18 assists are the most in a Penn State uniform in a single season. Holstrom is six dishes away from matching his freshman performance in 2010-11 at Mercyhurst.
Currently, Holstrom is tied for sixth in the nation with 0.90 assists per game.
BAILEY, HOLSTROM UP FOR HOBEY BAKER
The forward tandem of Casey Bailey and Taylor Holstrom were nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, as announced Wednesday, Jan. 7. Fan voting, which accounts for one percent of all voting, continues through March 8 before the finalists are named.
Bailey leads the Big Ten in goals (17), while Holstrom is two assists off the Big Ten lead with 18.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State caps its regular season with 12 straight Big Ten games starting with a two-game home series vs. Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions swept the Badgers in Madison on Dec. 5-6.
Both games at Pegula Ice Arena will be televised with Friday's contest (6:30 p.m.) on Big Ten Network/BTN2Go, while Saturday's game (2 p.m.) is on American Sports Network/BTN2Go with local broadcast entities showing the game in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.