| WEEKEND PREVIEW | |
| 2-1-0 (0-0-0-0 B1G) |
3-1-0 (0-0-0 Hockey East) |
| Friday at 7:35 p.m. | Saturday at 7:05 p.m. | |
COMPTON FAMILY ICE ARENA | SOUTH BEND, IND.
| GAME DAY CENTRAL |
FRIDAY LIVE COVERAGE
NBCsports.com Video | Audio |
TV: CSN Chicago+
Radio: Penn State Sports Network (Affiliates)
SATURDAY LIVE COVERAGE
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TV: NBC Sports Network
Radio: 103.1 FM Affiliates) -->
GAME NOTES
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| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU |
UND |
|
| 2-1-0 | Overall Record | 3-1-0 |
| 0-0-0-0 | Conference Record | 0-0-0 |
| 14 | Goals Scored | 19 |
| 8 | Goals Allowed | 9 |
| 4.7 | Goals Scored/gm. | 4.8 |
| 2.7 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 2.2 |
| 128 | Shots | 149 |
| 42.7 | Shots/gm. | 37.2 |
| 24 | Assists | 36 |
| 5-24 | Power Plays | 10-37 |
| .208 | Power-Play Pct. | .270 |
| 15-15 | Penalty Kills | 21-23 |
| 1.000 | Penalty-Kill Pct. | .913 |
| 68 | Saves | 95 |
| 1 | Shutouts | 0 |
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Penn State men's ice hockey team will make their first-ever trip to the University of Notre Dame this weekend for a pair of contests on Friday and Saturday evening.
Penn State comes into the weekend after a 7-0 victory over Mercyhurst last week while the Fighting Irish split with No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth to move up in the polls and now sit at No. 3/4 to begin the week.
HOW TO WATCH
Both games will be available on NBCsports.com with Saturday's contest airing live across the nation on NBCSN at 7:05 p.m. Friday's game will also be picked up locally by CSN Chicago+ with a 7:35 p.m. puck drop.
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
This marks the second straight season that the Nittany Lions and Fighting Irish will square off.
- Notre Dame posted a 19-11-7 record last season including a 15-5-2 conference mark and 11-6-3 record at home, but they were bounced on home-ice in two games by Northeastern in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. The Irish managed to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney, but had a quick exit in the opening round falling to Michigan 3-2 in overtime.
- Last season saw the two teams split the season series at the Pegula Ice Arena. Notre Dame took the first game 7-4 before Penn State came back to capture a 5-3 victory the following night.
- Jordan Gross netted the eventual game-winning tally at 5:01 of the third while Dylan Malmquist added an insurance goal just 55 seconds later.
- Notre Dame returns five of their top six scorers from last season's roster including leading scorer Anders Bjork who collected 35 points off 12 goals and 23 assists. Jake Evans, Jordan Gross, Mario Lucia and Bobby Nardella also return to join Bjork as 20+ point getters from a season ago.
- The Irish did, however, graduate three double-digit goal scorers following last season including leading goal scorer Thomas DiPauli who potted 14 goals during the 2015-16 campaign. Steven Fogarty and Sam Herr were also lost to graduation after tallying 10 goals apiece.
- Back between the pipes is Buffalo Sabres draft pick Cal Petersen who started all 37 games last season for the Irish. He compiled a 19-11-7 record with a 2.20 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. In four games so far this season he is 3-1-0 with a 2.21 GAA and .917 save percentage.
- Bjork leads the team and the entire country with 10 points (5G, 5A) through the first two weeks of the regular season. Malmquist is currently second on the team and in the nation with eight points off three goals and five helpers. Connor Hurley leads the Irish with six assists while Gross, Nardella, Andrew Oglevie and Bo Brauer have also registered multiple goals early in the season.
- Notre Dame is currently tied with Western Michigan for second in the country with 19 goals, only trailing Minnesota-Duluth with 20 for the nation's top spot.
- The Irish enter the 2016-17 season with eight NHL draft picks on their roster, five forwards, two defensemen and one goalie.
- Net-minder Cal Petersen will don the `C' this season for the Irish while Bjork, Evans and Luke Ripley will serve as alternates. It is believed this marks the first time in the history of Notre Dame hockey that a goaltender will serve as team captain.
LAST TIME THEY MET
The teams split last season's series with the Irish taking the opening game, 7-4, before the Lions came back to capture the finale, 5-3.
- Sophomore Alec Marsh collected three goals during the weekend series while senior Dylan Richard added a pair of his own and classmate Ricky DeRosa potted the eventual game-winning tally in the finale.
BECOMING A MORE FAMILIAR FOE
This weekend's series marks just the third and fourth times that Notre Dame and Penn State will meet on the ice. However, this will be the last time the two squads meet up as non-conference opponents. With the Irish entering the Big Ten at the conclusion of the season the teams will begin to see each other four times a year beginning with the 2017-18 campaign.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
- In their previous four seasons as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, no Nittany Lion player had ever scored a goal in three consecutive games to open the season.
- That all changed Friday night when sophomore Andrew Sturtz scored his team-leading third goal of the campaign as he showed off tremendous speed to blow past a defender and finished with some flash on a back hand flick into the top left corner of the net.
- With his three tallies Sturtz is tied with teammate Nate Sucese for the team lead which is also tied with three other players for the Big Ten lead after the opening two weekends of games.
JONES EARNS B1G THIRD STAR
- After collecting his first collegiate shutout against Mercyhurst last weekend, freshman goaltender Peyton Jones was named the Big Ten Conference's Third Star of the Week. The rookie made 20 saves including 12 in the third period and 11 during the penalty-kill.
YOUTH IN NUMBERS
- With more than half of this year's roster being composed of 10 freshmen and eight sophomores it comes as no surprise that those two classes are leading the way in the scoring department.
- The freshmen lead the team with six goals between them while the sophomores have added five. Each class has combined for 13 total points over the first three games.
SHOTS FIRED
- After leading the NCAA in shots on goal per game last season (41.55), the Lions have continued their ferocious pace of shooting the puck and currently sit second nationally (42.67) only behind RIT (44) over their first three games.
HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE
- After the first two weekends of regular season competition both Notre Dame and Penn State rank fourth and sixth, respectively, for goals per game. The Irish are averaging 4.75 while the Lions are standing at 4.67.
- Notre Dame stands one goal shy of Minnesota-Duluth for the nations lead as they have lit the lamp 19 times this season while Penn State comes into the weekend in a tie for 11th nationally, scoring 14 goals in their first three games.
RECAPPING MERCYHURST
Penn State led early and often during a 7-0 shutout victory in the first ever meeting between the two Pennsylvania based schools.
- The shutout marked the first for the Nittany Lions since defeating Vermont, 4-0, last November during the Philadelphia College Hockey Face-off.
- It was also the first road shutout for Penn State since their inaugural season when they defeated Fredonia State, 4-0, on December 11, 2012.
- The freshman class continues to shine as two more rookies collected their first collegiate goals as Nikita Pavlychev and Denis Smirnov found the back of the net. Junior transfer Trevor Hamilton also collected his first goal of the season and assisted on Pavlychev's score, his four points currently tie him for second on the team.
- Sophomore Chase Berger collected his first multi-point game of the season and fifth of his career. He notched his first goal of the season during a first-period power-play and also added a pair of assists for three points. He now leads the team and is tied for third in the Big Ten with five points.
- Penn State swept the three stars with Nate Sucese, Chase Berger and Peyton Jones going 1-2-3.
- The Nittany Lion's recorded their second short-handed goal of the season when Pavlychev's goal inched across the goal line.
NEXT TIME OUT
- Penn State returns home after a two-week road trip to take on Canisius in a pair of contests next weekend.
- This marks just the second and third meetings between the two schools and the first in Hockey Valley.
- Penn State defeated Canisius, 6-1, at the HarborCenter to kick-off the 2015-16 campaign.