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#2 Nittany Lions Travel to Columbus for B1G Clash With #11 Buckeyes

Jan. 5, 2017

WEEKEND PREVIEW


13-1-1
(2-0-0-0 B1G)		9-3-4
(1-1-0-0 B1G)
Friday at 7:00 p.m. | Saturday at 8:00 p.m.
VALUE CITY ARENA | COLUMBUS, OHIO
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Penn State | Ohio State
TEAM STATISTICS
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS
PSU
OSU

13-1-1Overall Record9-3-4
2-0-0-0Conference Record1-1-0-0
73Goals Scored71
28Goals Allowed48
4.9Goals Scored/gm.4.44
1.9Goals Allowed/gm.3.0
724Shots526
48.3Shots/gm.32.9
122Assists125
20-88Power Plays17-70
.227Power-Play Pct..243
62-67Penalty Kills56-75
.925Penalty-Kill Pct..747
334Saves385
2Shutouts1

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Penn State men's ice hockey team returns from an extended winter break and will put their program-best No. 2 ranking on the line as they travel to Columbus for a pair of games against No. 11 Ohio State this weekend.

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • After 34 days off since their last game, Penn State begins the 2017 portion of their schedule as they continue conference play on the road with a two-game series against Ohio State in Columbus.
  • This weekend marks the 15th and 16th games in the series history against the Buckeyes with the Nittany Lions holding just a 5-9-0 record against OSU including just a 1-5-0 mark at Value City Arena.

LAST TIME THEY MET

  • The two teams split the season series last year with Penn State taking the opening game in each set and Ohio State salvaging the finale. The Buckeyes defeated the Nittany Lions 7-4 at Pegula in their final contest of the 2015-16 season.

NOT SO HAPPY NEW YEAR

  • In their first four seasons as a NCAA Division I program, Penn State is just 1-3-0 in initial games following semester break while being outscored 19-8 in those games, all of which were against Robert Morris.
  • The Nittany Lions are also just 10-16-1 in the month of January over the last four seasons.
  • Their 34 days off in between games also marks the longest break they've had by 11 days. Hopefully the extended break helps the Lions more than it hurts as they look for a fast start in the second semester of play.

SOPHOMORE SURGE

  • Second-year right-wing Andrew Sturtz has laughed at the idea of a sophomore slump and has instead had one of the most productive fall semester's in program history.
  • The sophomore's 13 goals in 13 games played leads the entire Big Ten and is tied for tenth in the nation while his 1.00 goals per game average is tops in the country
  • Sturtz's 13 goals is also the most all-time by any Nittany Lion at the semester break surpassing the 10 goals scored by Casey Bailey and Chase Berger during the first half of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, respectively.
  • In just 50 career games played, Sturtz already ranks fourth on the all-time goal scoring list with 31 just 14 behind Casey Bailey's 45 which is the program record. His six game-winning goals is also just one back of Tommy Olczyk's program-leading seven.

TWO FOR YOU

  • Marking a new program-high, Penn State moved up to No. 2 in both the uscho.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, despite not playing a single game in over a month.
  • The Lions have also been receiving first place votes in both polls for the first time in program history marking yet another first for the fifth year program.
  • Penn State concluded the first semester of play ranked No. 3 after their weekend sweep against Michigan at the beginning of December.

RUSSIA'S FINEST IMPORT

  • Freshman Denis Smirnov hails from Moscow, Russia and has quickly solidified himself as a top prospect for next summer's NHL draft.
  • Smirnov leads the team and the entire Big Ten in points and assists with 27 and 17, respectively. Both marks lead all freshman across the country while ranking sixth and tied for fifth in the nation, respectively.
  • Averaging 1.80 points per game through the first 15 of his career, Smirnov ranks third in the nation and trails only Kyle Connor (1.87) for the highest points per game total by a freshman since 2000. Connor was a Hobey Hat-Trick member last year for Michigan after leading the nation in points with 71 (35G, 36A).
  • With his 27 points, the rookie is also nine points better at the semester break than both Casey Bailey and Taylor Holstrom were in 2014-15 when their 18 points was a first half program record.
  • The 27 points by a freshman also ties the Penn State single-season freshman record held by both Casey Bailey and Andrew Sturtz. His 17 assists, however, already breaks the mark set by Scott Conway in 2014-15 for single-season freshman assists.
  • Smirnov also broke the team point-streak record as he recorded at least one point in his first 10 games. The freshman leads the team with nine multi-point games so far this season and has registered one or more points in all but one game this season.

NUMBERS DON'T LIE

  • The Nittany Lions current boast the most potent offensive attack in the nation averaging 4.87 goals per game. Their +45 goal differential is also the best in the country while their 73 goals tie for fourth
  • PSU's 13 wins tie for second in the nation with Boston College and UMass-Lowell only behind the 14 of Union.
  • Penn State is also ahead of last season's record setting offensive pace with 195 points on 73 goals and 122 assists through 15 games at the end of the fall semester compared to 70-108-178 through 16 games after the 2015-16 fall semester.

YOU CAN'T SCORE IF YOU PASS

  • The Nittany Lions have scored at least four goals in 11 of their 15 games this season including 9 of their last 10 and are 11-0-0 when doing so. PSU has also won six games by four or more goals and nine games by three or more goals.
  • Penn State has also scored the first goal of the contest in 11 games this season and are 10-0-1 when doing so including an impressive 10-0-0 when leading after the first period and 12-0-1 when leading after two periods.

A VERY SPECIAL TEAM "S"

  • Penn State ranks near the top of most special team's categories through the first semester of play. The Nittany Lions rank first in PK at 92.5 percent (62-for-67) including killing off 16-of-16 in their last 5+ games.
  • Penn State also ranks ninth with the man-advantage as they have converted 20-of-88 (22.7 percent) opportunities including 11-for-33 (33 percent) over their last seven games.
  • PSU's 20 power-play goals is also good for tied eighth in the nation.

CONTROLLING THE DOT

  • Penn State leads the nation in face-off win percentage controlling 57.1 percent of draws through the first semester of play.
  • Chase Berger is currently ninth in the nation winning draws at a 63 percent clip to pace the entire Big Ten. Dylan Richard ranks second on the team at 57.6 percent.

MR. JONES

  • Smiling in the bright lights of "Hockey Valley" freshman goaltender Peyton Jones has impressed during his first 13 games between the pipes compiling an undefeated 11-0-1 record.
  • Standing in the spotlight: The freshman leads the Big Ten with a 1.97 goals against average and is second with a .920 save percentage, both marks rank seventh and 13th in the nation, respectively.

BLUE LINE BEAUTY

  • Junior defenseman Trevor Hamilton has rattled opposing offenses with powerful hip checks and a team leading 31 blocked shots during his first semester as a Nittany Lion.
  • A big part of both the power-play and penalty kill, Hamilton registered a man-advantage tally in each game during the sweep over Michigan to close out the fall semester.
  • The junior is currently third in the Big Ten lead in defenseman scoring with 15 points (3G, 12A) which is also tied for eighth nationally while his 1.00 point per game average ranks sixth in the country among blue-liners.

RECAPPING MICHIGAN

  • Over a month ago Penn State swept Michigan for just the second time ever while snapping a five-game losing streak to the Wolverines.
  • The series was the first of its kind where Penn State was ranked higher in the polls then Michigan.
  • The Nittany Lions outscored the Wolverines, 11-2 over the weekend while going 4-for-8 on the power play and 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.
  • Jones and Smirnov garnered First and Third Stars of the week honors following the sweep and it was the third Big Ten weekly award for each, second First Star nod for Jones.
  • Smirnov collected five points over the weekend with a pair of multi-point efforts. The rookie collected three helpers on Thursday before adding one goal and one assist during the finale.
  • Sturtz collected three goals during the series including two in Thursday night's 6-1 victory.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE

  • Ohio State is coming off a 6-3 New Year's Eve setback to Miami (Ohio) after splitting their Big Ten Conference opening series against Minnesota at the beginning of December.
  • The Buckeyes boast a 9-3-4 overall record and a No. 11 national ranking as well as the nation's third highest scoring offense, averaging 4.44 goals per game.
  • That offense is led by a pair of seniors and a freshman. Tanner Laczynski, a Philadelphia Flyers draft pick leads the team with 22 points on six goals and a team-best 16 assists. Seniors Nick Schilkey and David Gust pace the squad in goal scoring with 13 and 11, respectively, as the only two Buckeyes with double-digit goals.
  • It's no surprise that Ohio State is third in the Nation in scoring and has already totaled 71 goals in 16 games as they returned nine of their top-10 scorers for last year's roster. Schilkey and Gust paced the team last year with 41 and 36 points, respectively
  • In total Ohio State has four NHL draft picks on their roster. In addition to Laczynski, senior goaltender Matt Tomkins (Chicago) and sophomore forwards Dakota Joshua (Toronto) and Miguel Fidler (Florida) have also been drafted.
  • Between the pipes a pair of seniors have shared time with Chicago Blackhawks draft pick Matt Tomkins securing most of the time with 11 appearances and a 6-2-3 record. Tomkins has registered a .900 save percentage and a 2.60 goals against average so far this season.
  • While Penn State has the best PK in all the land, Ohio State struggles as they rank 58th in the nation stopping only 74.7 percent (56-for-75) of opponent's man-advantage opportunities. However, they make up for that on the offensive side as their power-play unit is currently fifth in the country as they have converted 17-of-70 chances (24.3 percent) into goals.

NEXT TIME OUT

  • Penn State returns home to Pegula Ice Arena to face Michigan State in a pair of games on January 13-14.