Nov. 30, 2016
| WEEKEND PREVIEW | |
| 11-1-1 (0-0-0-0 B1G) | 6-5-1 (0-0-0-0 B1G) |
| Thursday at 6:30 p.m. | Friday at 7:00 p.m. | |
| PEGULA ICE ARENA | UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. | |
| GAME DAY CENTRAL |
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| TV: ESPNU |
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| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | MICH | |
| 11-1-1 | Overall Record | 6-5-1 |
| 0-0-0-0 | Conference Record | 0-0-0-0 |
| 62 | Goals Scored | 33 |
| 26 | Goals Allowed | 26 |
| 4.77 | Goals Scored/gm. | 2.75 |
| 2.0 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 2.17 |
| 618 | Shots | 304 |
| 47.5 | Shots/gm. | 25.3 |
| 103 | Assists | 42 |
| 16-80 | Power Plays | 12-53 |
| .200 | Power-Play Pct. | .226 |
| 56-61 | Penalty Kills | 59-64 |
| .918 | Penalty-Kill Pct. | .922 |
| 284 | Saves | 377 |
| 2 | Shutouts | 2 |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 7/6 Penn State men's ice hockey team begins Big Ten play on Thursday and Friday evening as they wrap up the first semester of the 2016-17 season against the 20th ranked Michigan Wolverines.
Thursday night's contest will be a 6:30 p.m. puck drop and will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU with John Buccigross and Sean Ritchlin on the call. Friday night's game will be featured on BTN-Plus and will begin at 7 p.m.
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- Penn State opens conference play with a 2-game series against No. 20 Michigan on Thursday and Friday evenings.
- This weekend marks the 15th and 16th games in the series history with Michigan holding the 8-6-0 advantage while Penn State enjoys a 3-2 mark at Pegula Ice Arena.
LAST TIME THEY MET
- Michigan and Penn State last met in the 2016 Big Ten Tournament semifinals where the Wolverines skated away with a 7-2 victory on their way to the B1G Championship.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
- Michigan is coming off a Big Ten Tournament Championship in 2015-16 as they advanced all the way to the Midwest Regional Final where they fell to eventual National Champion North Dakota, 5-2.
- A new look Wolverine team this season is currently ranked 20th in the uscho.com poll with a record of 6-5-1.
- Michigan is without six of their top seven scorers from last season including their leading four while only two players who recorded 10 plus goals last year, out of nine, have been a factor this season as junior Tony Calderone ties for the team lead with six goals and senior Alex Kyle is tied for fifth on the team with six points (2G, 4A).
- Michigan is without their dominant "CCM" line which consisted of Kyle Connor, JT Compher and Tyler Motte. That line accounted for 71, 63 and 56 points, respectively, which ranked them one, two and four in the entire NCAA. Connor and Motte potted 35 and 32 goals, respectively, to lead the NCAA. Both Connor and Motte are currently playing in the NHL with Winnipeg and Chicago, respectively, and have each dressed in 18 games so far this season while Compher has appeared in 12 games for the San Antonio Rampage the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche.
- The "CCM" line contributed for 39 percent of the Wolverine offense last season including an eye-popping 46 percent of goal scoring.
- A pair of freshman lead the way for the Wolverines this season as Will Lockwood and Jake Slaker have registered 10 and nine points, respectively. Lockwood ties with Calderone for the team lead with six goals.
- In net a pair of freshman as well as senior Zach Nagelvoort have all split time with Jack LaFontaine pacing the trio with five starts, however, Hayden Lavigne leads the team with a .956 save percentage, 1.50 goals against average and a 3-1-0 record. Lavigne's save percentage leads the nation while his GAA is good for third.
- Michigan has eight draft picks on their 2016-17 roster featuring two goalies, three forwards and three defensemen.
HOME SWEET HOME
- This series concludes a 10-game home stand for the Nittany Lions which they are currently 8-0-0 during. So far this season Penn State is 9-1-0 inside the friendly confines of Pegula Ice Arena.
- PSU is also currently riding a 47 game sold out streak as they have filled the 5,704 seat venue in 62-of-64 career games played in the House that Terry Built.
- This season Penn State is averaging 5,944 fans good for fifth in the country while their 104.2% capacity ranks first in the nation.
IT FEELS SO GOOD'TO'WIN
- Senior David Goodwin is one of just 12 players nationally to reach the 100-point milestone for his career as his 103 points place him 11th in the nation.
- Up until last year the Des Peres, Missouri native had also enjoyed a 6-3 record against Michigan including an overtime game winner his freshman year and a four-point outburst during his sophomore campaign. One of just two games where the senior has registered four points in his career.
- However, the Wolverines took all five meetings between the two schools during the 2015-16 season with a combined 33-11 score including a 7-2 victory in the Big Ten semifinals.
- Now a senior, Goodwin looks to end his career on a high note against Michigan, a team he has played well against over his career. In 14 games he has registered five goals and nine assists for 14 points (13.6 percent of his career scoring).
ELITE COMPANY
- Freshman Denis Smirnov might not be a household name quite yet, but the rookie stands in elite company with some of the best freshman to have ever laced them up at the collegiate level.
- Averaging 1.60 points per game through the first 13 of his career, Smirnov trails only Kyle Connor (1.87) and Jack Eichel (1.77) for the most by a freshman since 2000. Eichel was the 2015 Hobey Baker Award winner after his incredible season with BU while Connor was a Hobey Hat-Trick member last year for Michigan after leading the nation in points with 71 (35G, 36A).
- However, through 13 games last year Connor averaged just 1.23 points per game before an incredible stretch during conference play. So, could this be the same fate Smirnov will have? I'm sure every member of Nittany Nation would enjoy that!
- Eichel was also the No. 2 overall pick behind Connor McDavid in the 2015 NHL draft and is having a very successful NHL career with the Buffalo Sabres while Connor was the 17th overall pick that same year and is in his first season with the Winnipeg Jets.
- Smirnov went undrafted this past June, but remains eligible for the 2017 NHL draft.
NUMBERS DON'T LIE
- The Nittany Lions current boast the most potent offensive attack in the nation as their 62 goals tops all other teams while their 4.77 goals per game, 618 shots, 47.54 shots per game and +36 goal differential all lead the nation.
- PSU's 11 wins also ties for the top spot in the country with Bemidji State and Boston College.
SPECIAL TEAMS SUCCESS
- This week's match-up pits the top two penalty kill units against the 10th and 16th ranked power-plays, so be prepared to see great execution on both ends of the ice.
- Michigan ranks just above PSU in PK at 92.2 percent killing off 59 of 64 chances so far this season while the Nittany Lions aren't far behind at 91.8 percent (56-61).
- On offense the Wolverines are converting 22.6 percent (12-53) of their man-advantage chances, good for tenth in the nation while Penn State has scored 16 PPG's in 80 chances this season (20 percent) placing them 16th.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Both Penn State and Michigan rank first in the Big ten and tied fifth in the nation with 26 goals against this season.
- Penn State leads the conference and is tied for third in the country allowing 2.00 goals per contest while Michigan trails at tied-seventh at 2.17 as they have played one less game than the Lions.
CONTROLLING THE DOT
- Penn State is second in the nation in face-off percentage as they enter the weekend winning 57.6 percent of draws while Michigan is 39th with a 48.4-win percentage.
- Chase Berger is Penn State's leader winning 61.1 percent of his draws which is good for top-25 in the nation while the Wolverines leader is Jake Slaker at 55.2 percent.
- All of Penn State's main five face-off contributors rank above Slaker as Ricky DeRosa (.603), Nate Sucese (.590), Nikita Pavlychev (.582) and Dylan Richard (.572) are all winning more than 50 percent of their face-offs.
SEVENTH HEAVEN
- Penn State enters this match-up ranked the highest they have ever been as they enter the week No. 7 in the uscho.com poll and No. 6 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
- This marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools where Penn State has been ranked higher in both national polls.
- Michigan is ranked No. 20 in the uscho.com poll and is unranked in the USA Today/USA Hockey magazine poll entering the week.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
- Penn State has 10 freshman listed on their 2016-17 roster and all have seen significant time on the ice this season as eight have played in at least half of the first 13 games.
- Smirnov has been named a B1G First Star and Second Star already this season as he leads the entire nation in freshman scoring with 22 points. His 13 assists tie for the best among first-year players while his nine goals are good for second. He also became just the fourth Nittany Lion in program history to record a hat-trick two weeks ago during a 7-4 victory over Arizona State.
- Classmate Nate Sucese has also been honored by the Big Ten with a weekly award as he sits tied for eighth in the nation for freshman scoring with 14 points on eight goals and six assists. His eight tallies tie for third amongst rookies.
- Goaltender Peyton Jones has also impressed as his 9-0-1 record is the best in the country while his 2.16 goals against average is 16th best and his .912 save percentage is also in the top half of goalies nationwide. Jones also has two assists to his credit.
- The rookies are contributing for 38 percent of the offense with their 63 points out of the 165 total that PSU has. Freshman have also scored 26 goals this season making up for 42 percent of the goal output.
- Nine freshman have registered at least one point so far this season with six finding the back of the net.
#ANDYVALLEY
- Not sure where the hashtag originated, but #AndyValley has taken #HockeyValley by storm in his first 48 games donning the Blue and White.
- The sophomore ranks tied for sixth in the nation with his 10 goals this season even after missing two games due to injury.
- Sturtz now has 28 goals and 11 assists for 39 points in his career. His 28 goals already place him fifth on the all-time list just one shy of David Glen '16 for fourth and only 17 off the pace of Casey Bailey who leads the way with 45.
- His six game-winning goals is also just one shy of Tommy Olcyzk '16 for first on the career list.
- Sturtz currently holds the rookie record for goals by a freshman with 18 and his 27 points during the 2015-16 season ties Casey Bailey for the most by a freshman in program history. However, that record is destined to fall at the hands of Smirnov sooner rather than later.
THON GAME/TEDDY BEAR TOSS
- Friday night's series finale will serve as Penn State's annual THON game which helps raise funds and awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer.
- During the second intermission there will be a Teddy Bear Toss to benefit THON and other child philanthropies. A table will also be set up on the north concourse behind section 111 for those patrons wishing to write a letter and attach it to their bear for the child who receives that bear to read.
- The Student-Athlete Advisory Board will also be canning inside Gate A at the beginning of Friday's contest.
HOCKEY VALLEY HAIRCUT
- Inspired by the spirit of THON, senior defenseman David Thompson will also be donating his luscious flow to benefit a cancer patient in need during a postgame haircut near Gate A.
RECAPPING ARIZONA STATE
- Penn State registered their fourth consecutive weekend sweep with victories of 7-4 and 8-0 last weekend against the Sun-Devils.
- Sophomore Chris Funkey earned his first collegiate shutout during Saturday's contest as he stopped all 18 shots he faced
- Penn State had eight different goal scorers for the first time in program history.
- Smirnov registered a hat-trick during Friday's victory while his line with senior Dylan Richard and Sturtz combined for eight points (5G, 3A) and a plus-nine rating.
NEXT TIME OUT
- Penn State enjoys over a full month off for semester break as they don't play again until traveling to Columbus for a two-game set against No. 10/11 Ohio State on January 6-7, 2017.