Jan. 18, 2018
| WEEKEND PREVIEW | |
| 13-8-3 (6-5-3-2 B1G) | 10-10-2 (5-7-2-1 B1G) |
| Friday at 8:00 p.m. | Saturday at 7:30 p.m. | |
| YOST ICE ARENA | ANN ARBOR, Mich. | |
| GAME DAY CENTRAL |
FRIDAY LIVE COVERAGE |
| Radio: Penn State Sports Network |
| TV: Big Ten Network |
| SATURDAY LIVE COVERAGE Video ($) | Audio | Live Stats |
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| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | MICH | |
| 13-8-3 | Overall Record | 10-10-2 |
| 6-5-3-2 | Conference Record | 5-7-2-1 |
| 96 | Goals Scored | 73 |
| 73 | Goals Allowed | 71 |
| 4.00 | Goals Scored/gm. | 3.32 |
| 3.04 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 3.23 |
| 962 | Shots | 743 |
| 40.1 | Shots/gm. | 33.8 |
| 169 | Assists | 120 |
| 21-93 | Power Plays | 14-86 |
| .226 | Power-Play Pct. | .163 |
| 68-82 | Penalty Kills | 65-87 |
| .829 | Penalty-Kill Pct. | .747 |
| 654 | Saves | 581 |
| 2 | Shutouts | 1 |
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The 12th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions travel to No. 20 Michigan this weekend for a pair of crucial Big Ten matchups on Friday and Saturday evening.
HOW TO WATCH
- Friday nights tilt will be broadcast live across the nation on the Big Ten Network with puck drop slated for 8 p.m. ET.
- Saturday night's contest will stream live on BTN-Plus at 7:30 p.m. ET.
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- Penn State enters the weekend after seeing its 11-game unbeaten-streak snapped by No. 6 Ohio State last Saturday during a 5-1 setback.
- The Wolverines enter the weekend after sweeping Minnesota on the road, 5-3 and 3-1 last weekend. The sweep was the first in a B1G series for the Gophers at Mariucci Arena since the Big Ten began for the 2013-14 season.
- After splitting the first series of the season at Pegula Ice Arena in October, Michigan maintains the one-game advantage in the all-time series with an 11-10-0 record including the 8-4 mark over the past two-plus seasons, however, Penn State was 3-2 last year against the Wolverines including a 4-1 victory in the Big Ten Tournament to send Michigan home.
- Penn State is just 2-6-0 all-time at Yost Ice Arena including five straight losses as senior classmates James Robinson and Erik Autio are the only two current Nittany Lions to experience a victory at Yost as part of a 3-2 victory in November of their freshman season.
- Penn State is being outscored at Yost 28-5 in the last five games.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
- The Wolverines enter the weekend with a 10-10-2 record and a 5-7-2-1 overall mark in Big Ten action placing them five points back of Penn State in the conference standings in fourth place with 18 points.
- Michigan is 5-4-1 this season at Yost Ice Arena and just 2-3-1 in home Big Ten affairs.
- Cooper Marody leads Michigan in scoring with 31 points (9 goals, 22 assists) to rank second in the Big Ten and tied for third in the nation.
- Tony Calderone leads the Wolverines in goals with 15 over his first 22 games of the season ranking first in the Big Ten and tied for seventh nationally. Jake Slaker has added nine goals of his own while Dexter Dancs, Josh Norris and Brendan Warren each have six goals to their credit to pace the offense.
- The Wolverines will most likely be without one of their top offensive weapons in Will Lockwood as the sophomore forward was injured during the 2018 World Junior Championships during the holiday break while skating for Team USA. Lockwood hasn't dressed in a game so far this semester after playing in all 16 games during the first semester registering four goals and seven assists for 11 points.
- Michigan ranks second in the conference, only behind Penn State, and 11th in the nation averaging 3.32 goals per contest, however, they rank last in the Big Ten and 45th in the nation allowing 3.23 goals per contest on average.
- Sophomore Hayden Lavigne has solidified himself as the starter between the pipes for the Wolverines as he boasts a 6-6-2 record with a .902 save percentage and a 2.73 goals against average. Those numbers are even better in Big Ten games where he is 4-4-2 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.63 goals against average.
- Michigan's special teams have left a lot to be desired so far this season as its penalty kill ranks 58th in the nation out of 60 teams at 74.7 percent (65-for-87). The Wolverine power-play hasn't been much better converting just 14-of-86 opportunities to rank second to last in the Big Ten and 42nd nationally.
- Michigan's 22 power-play goals allowed is the most in the Big Ten and rank 13th nationally while its 14 power-play goals scored is the least in the Big Ten and rank tied for 44th in the nation.
ROAD WARRIORS
- Penn State has a modest 6-4-1 record this season away from Pegula Ice Arena, but they are currently riding a five-game unbeaten streak in road games (4-0-1) to tie its best road streak in program history which was achieved two seasons ago.
ZERO TO 100
- In just his sixth season behind the bench in Hockey Valley, Guy Gadowsky is just two wins shy of 100 at Penn State. The Nittany Lions are 98-88-15 under his guidance.
- Gadowsky's all-time record is 271-286-52 in this his 18th season as a head coach. Gadowsky currently ranks 19th among active NCAA Division I coaches in wins and third in the Big Ten behind Don Lucia of Minnesota (730) and Jeff Jackson at Notre Dame (468).
SECOND PERIOD SURGE
- Despite a slow second period against Ohio State on Friday, being outshot 22-11 and outscored 2-1, the middle frame is usually the best for the Nittany Lions. Penn State ranks third in the nation and tops in the Big Ten having scored 36 second period goals.
- While only allowing 21 second period goals to opponents, Penn State has a +15 scoring margin in the second period which ranks second in the Big Ten and fifth in the nation.
- This season Penn State is 12-0-2 when leading after two periods.
BLUELINE BEAUTIES
- With 71 points (15 goals, 56 assists) by defensemen this season, Penn State leads the entire nation averaging 2.96 points per game from its defensemen.
TREMENDOUS TREVOR
- Senior defensemen Trevor Hamilton is having a career-year for the Blue and White as he leads the Big Ten and ranks tied for third in the nation in defensemen scoring with 22 points on four goals and 18 assists.
- His 18 assists also lead the Big Ten for blue-liners and rank second in the nation. Hamilton has eight multi-point efforts so far this season.
- No other player in the country has been on the ice for more goals (34) than Trevor Hamilton while his plus-15 rating ties for sixth in the nation and third in the Big Ten. (Among defensemen he ranks first in the Big Ten and tied for second in the nation in plus/minus.)
- Hamilton's 54 blocks are also the second most in the Big Ten and tied for fourth in the nation.
HOBEY HOPEFULS
- For the second consecutive season junior Andrew Sturtz and sophomore Denis Smirnov have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, presented to the top player in NCAA Division I men's hockey.
- Sturtz currently leads the team with 30 points to tie for third in the Big Ten and sixth in the nation. The junior has scored 11 goals and already has a career-high 19 assists on the season in 23 games played.
- His assist total ranks fifth in the Big Ten and tied for eighth in the nation. Sturtz recently had a career-long nine-game point streak snapped. Sturtz currently leads the team with 10 multi-point effort this season.
- Sturtz's 94 career points rank second all-time at Penn State and are tied for 19th in the nation among active players and fifth among the junior class.
- Smirnov missed eight games earlier this season due to an illness, but is still one of the top scorers in the conference with ten goals and nine assists for 19 points.
- The sophomore's 10 goals rank second on the team and eighth in the Big Ten while his 66 career points are the second most nationally among sophomore's, only trailing Henrik Borgstrom from Denver.
ON THE OFFENSIVE
- A year after leading the nation in goals per game with a 4.10 average, Penn State is right back atop the nation averaging 4.00 goals per game through the first 24 games this season.
- The Nittany Lions also lead the nation in goals (96), assists (169), points (265), shots on goal (962) and shots on goal per game (40.08) just one year after setting single-season program records for each category.
PERFECT ATTENDANCE AWARD
- Junior forward Chase Berger hasn't missed a single game in his entire Penn State career and last Friday played in his 100th consecutive game becoming the first Nittany Lion in program history to reach 100 games without missing a single one.
NEXT UP
- Penn State remains on the road next weekend for a pair of Big Ten tilts with Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday evening.