Nov. 17, 2016
| WEEKEND PREVIEW | |
| 9-1-1 (0-0-0-0 B1G) | 2-9-0 (Independent) |
| Friday at 7:00 p.m. | Saturday at 3:00 p.m. | |
| PEGULA ICE ARENA | UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. | |
| GAME DAY CENTRAL |
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| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | ASU | |
| 9-1-1 | Overall Record | 2-9-0 |
| 0-0-0-0 | Conference Record | N/A |
| 47 | Goals Scored | 24 |
| 22 | Goals Allowed | 54 |
| 4.3 | Goals Scored/gm. | 2.18 |
| 2.0 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 4.91 |
| 513 | Shots | 273 |
| 46.6 | Shots/gm. | 24.8 |
| 81 | Assists | 43 |
| 14-70 | Power Plays | 6-67 |
| .200 | Power-Play Pct. | .090 |
| 51-56 | Penalty Kills | 54-74 |
| .911 | Penalty-Kill Pct. | .730 |
| 244 | Saves | 354 |
| 1 | Shutouts | 1 |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State men's ice hockey team looks to continue their winning ways this week as they welcome the Arizona State Sun-Devils to Pegula Ice Arena for a pair of contests on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.
Friday's contest will begin at 7 p.m. while the puck drops on Saturday at 3 p.m.
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE
With students on Thanksgiving break there are still a number of tickets available in the "Roar Zone" as both games were excluded from the student ticket package. Come experience the heartbeat of Hockey Valley and be the roar while you can.
FRIDAY TICKETS | SATURDAY TICKETS
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
Penn State battles Arizona State for the first-time ever as the two newest NCAA Division I men's ice hockey team's face-off for a weekend set at Pegula Ice Arena.
SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE
This marks the first full season that the Sun-Devils have been an NCAA Division I program. ASU had a hybrid season in 2015-16 and finished 5-22-2 overall as they played a mix of NCAA Division I teams as well as some Canadian teams, Division II teams and club programs.
- Arizona State's top-3 scorers from a season ago were all freshman and return for their second season in the desert, Jordan Masters, Joey Raats and Joe Lappin. However, neither are in the top-8 scorers so far this season.
- Masters paced the 2015-16 squad with eight goals and 14 helpers for 22 points while Raats and Lappin added 15 and 11 points, respectively as the only three skaters with double-digit point efforts.
- The Sun-Devils are led so far this season by Ottawa Senators draft pick and Boston University transfer Robbie Baillargeon who has six goals and three assists for nine points over the first 11 games. Freshman classmates Tyler Busch and Brinson Pasichnuk have also emerged as significant scoring threats with four and three goals, respectively.
- Between the pipes a freshman has burst onto the scene to solidify the starting role as Joey Daccord, also a Senators draft pick, has compiled a 1-6-0 record in seven starts with an .870 save percentage and a 4.92 goals against average. Behind him is a pair of suitable back-ups who split time last year in senior Robert Levin and sophomore Ryland Pashovitz.
- ASU's offense is off to a slow start as they have scored just 24 goals over their first 11 games or 2.18 per game to rank T-46 and 52nd in the nation, respectively.
NOT SO SPECIAL TEAMS
- ASU currently ranks 56th in the nation for combined special teams as their PK is 59th at 73 percent only ahead of Ohio State at 72 percent. Their 20 PP goals allowed is also the most in the country.
- Their power-play isn't fairing much better coming into the weekend they are just 6-for-67 (9 percent) with the man-advantage including just 1 for their last 37 over the last six games. Over that same stretch they have allowed 10 power-play goals in 27 chances for the opposition.
MILESTONE ACHIEVED
- Senior David Goodwin wasted little time last week securing his 100th career point as he set up the first goal of Friday's game with a terrific tape-to-tape pass through the slot.
- Goodwin, becomes the first Penn State player to reach the 100-point milestone and after adding another assist later in the game he now stands at 101 points.
- Entering the weekend, the senior is one of just nine players nationally to be above the 100-point milestone for their careers.
STREAK SNAPPED
- Freshman Denis Smirnov saw his 10-game point streak snapped on Saturday night as he was held off the scoresheet for the first time all season.
- The rookie continues to lead the team with 17 points and 12 assists, both marks top the conference while his 17 points leads all freshman nationally. His 12 helpers also tie for second in the nation while his 17 points ties for sixth.
- Smirnov's career-best 10-game point streak also broke the current Penn State single-season point streak record of nine games which was set by Taylor Holstrom in 2014.
SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS
- The Lions are currently leading the nation in shots per game as they are firing and eye-popping 46.64 shots per game, nearly nine shots more than their closest competitor.
- Penn State is also ranked fourth in the nation with their 47 goals scored as they average 4.27 goals per game a mark good for second nationally.
SUCESE NAMED B1G THIRD STAR
- Freshman forward Nate Sucese was named this week's Big Ten Third Star after collecting four points during a weekend sweep of Alaska-Anchorage last weekend.
- The rookie scored twice while adding two assists to run his point total to 10 with six goals and four assists. Sucese currently ranks third in the Big Ten in freshman scoring while his six goals tie for the rookie standard.
- Sucese marks the third Nittany Lion to garner weekly accolades so far this season joining fellow freshman Peyton Jones and Denis Smirnov.
PERFECT 10
- This weekend marks the first-time ever that Penn State will take the ice ranked inside the USCHO.com Top-10 as the Nittany Lions are ranked 10th in the nation.
- PSU also has a chance to extend their unbeaten streak to 10 and 11 games as they are currently 8-0-1 in their last nine, riding the nation's second longest streak only behind Boston College at 9-0-1.
- Their current nine-game unbeaten streak also ties a program best set last season when the Nittany Lions went 7-0-2 over a nine game stretch from November 6 - December 11, 2015.
- Penn State also has a chance to reach the 10-win plateau the fastest they ever had with a win this weekend as they have never been at 10 wins before the month of December.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
- Penn State entered the 2016-17 season with 12 new faces, 10 of which were freshman, but so far they aren't playing like rookies. The Nittany Lion freshman class currently leads the team with 18 goals and 29 assists for 47 points.
- Their 47 points account for 37 percent of the PSU offense while their 18 goals are good for 38 percent of the goal scoring.
- Nine freshman have registered at least one point so far this season with six finding the back of the net. Smirnov leads the nation in freshman scoring with his 17 points while Sucese ranks tied for tenth.
- Goaltender Peyton Jones has even got into the offensive action with a pair of assists on the year.
MR. JONES WISHES HE WAS SOMEONE JUST A LITTLE MORE FUNK'E'Y
- Jones currently leads the nation in winning percentage with his 8-0-1 record (.944) as he is now the only unbeaten goaltender in the nation out of regular starters.
- The freshman is also 11th in the nation with his 1.96 goals against average and 15th with a .919 save percentage.
- Not to be outdone sophomore Chris Funkey impressed in his lone start this season stopping 24 of 25 shots to secure his first collegiate victory in a 5-1 win over Niagara earlier this month.
- In two appearances this season the sophomore has a .951 save percentage and a 1.05 goals against average in 185:34 of ice time.
CONTROLLING THE DOT
- Penn State currently ranks third in the nation in Face-off win percentage at 56.7 percent as they have won 437 and lost 334.
- Sophomore Chase Berger leads the team at 61.8 percent while his 134 wins are good for eighth in the nation.
- Last weekend against Alaska-Anchorage the Nittany Lions controlled 67 percent of face-offs (100-49).
ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
- Penn State has been exceptional on defense this season coming into the weekend tied fourth in the nation in scoring defense allowing just 2.00 goals per game.
- A large part of this success is their penalty-kill which has only allowed five goals in 56 chances (91.1 percent) and ranks tied for third in the nation.
RECAPPING ALASKA-ANCHORAGE
- Penn State registered their third consecutive weekend sweep with victories of 6-3 and 3-1 last weekend against the Seawolves.
- Five players registered multi-point evenings on Friday night as the Nittany Lions recorded their second highest goal total of the season.
- Sucese had a hand in each goal on Saturday night scoring twice, including the game-winner, and adding an assist.
- The power-play went 3-for-9 (33 percent) over the weekend while the PK was 9-for-11.
NEXT TIME OUT
- Penn State welcomes Michigan to Pegula Ice Arena in two weeks to begin Big Ten Conference play on the first two days of December.
- Thursday night's affair will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be featured across the nation on ESPNU with John Buccigross on the call.
- On Friday night there will be a Teddy Bear Toss during the second intermission to benefit THON and other child philanthropies.