Nov. 22, 2016
ROSELAND, Ill. – Following his four goal performance during a weekend sweep of Arizona State, freshman Denis Smirnov (Moscow, Russia) has been tabbed the Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey First Star of the Week as announced by the league office Tuesday morning.
Smirnov led the entire Big Ten last weekend with five points on four goals and one assist. His four goal output also tied for the national lead over the weekend.
During Friday night's 7-4 victory, the rookie became just the fourth Nittany Lion in program history to register a hat-trick joining David Glen '16, Casey Bailey and Tommy Olczyk '16. Smirnov scored twice in the opening period and tipped the hat just 3:29 into the second period.
Smirnov then assisted on the opening goal in Saturday afternoon's contest before scoring the eighth and final goal to help the Nittany Lions to an 8-0 shutout victory, their second of the season, and their fourth consecutive weekend sweep.
This marks the second weekly award for the freshman as he was named Second Star of the Week on November 8, 2016. Smirnov joins freshman classmate Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) as two-time honoree's as Jones has taken home First Star and Third Star accolades so far this season.
This is the third consecutive week a Penn State player has earned one of the three stars as after Smirnov two weeks ago, freshman Nate Sucese (Fairpoirt, N.Y.) took home Third Star accolades on last week's report.
Smirnov currently leads the Big Ten in scoring with his 22 points which is also tied for second nationally while his 13 assists tie for the league best and his nine goals are ranked third in the conference. He also leads all freshman nationally in points and assists while his goal total ranks second among first-year players.
Penn State enjoys a weekend off before welcoming Michigan to Pegula Ice Arena to open conference play on December 1-2. Search for tickets HERE.
FULL BIG TEN RELEASE