Nov. 8, 2016
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Freshman forward Denis Smirnov (Moscow, Russia) has been tabbed the Big Ten men's ice hockey Second Star of the Week after a dominating performance during a weekend sweep of Niagara.
The rookie finished the weekend with six points, leading all Big Ten players, after a pair of three-point games. This weekend marked the second and third games on the season where Smirnov has recorded multiple points while three points is a new career-best.
Smirnov netted a pair of goals and added an assist in a 5-1 victory on Thursday night before assisting on three scores during a 5-1 win in Friday's finale.
The freshman currently leads the team in scoring with 15 points while his 10 assists is also good for first on the team. Both marks currently lead the Big Ten and his 15 points is also good for fifth nationally and tops for freshman scoring.
Smirnov joins freshman classmate Peyton Jones as the only two Nittany Lions to be honored by the league so far this year as Jones took home Third Star laurels on October 18 and First Star accolades on October 25.
Both Smirnov and Jones as well as the entire Penn State hockey team will be back in action this weekend as the Nittany Lions welcome Alaska-Anchorage to Pegula Ice Arena for a pair of 7 p.m. tilts on Friday and Saturday evening.