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#16 MHKY Visits MSU for Final Road Series This Weekend

Feb. 15, 2018

WEEKEND PREVIEW


13-12-5
(6-9-5-2 B1G)		10-18-2
(4-14-2-1 B1G)
Friday at 6:30 p.m. | Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
MUNN ICE ARENA | EAST LANSING, Mich.
GAME DAY CENTRAL

FRIDAY LIVE COVERAGE
Video | Audio |


Radio: Penn State Sports Network
TV: Big Ten Network

SATURDAY LIVE COVERAGE
Video | Audio |
Radio: Penn State Sports NetworkAffiliates) -->
TV: Big Ten Network

GAME NOTES
Penn State Michigan State

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INSIDE THE NUMBERS
PSU
MSU

13-12-5Overall Record10-18-2
6-9-5-2Conference Record4-14-2-1
109Goals Scored73
95Goals Allowed93
3.63Goals Scored/gm.2.43
3.17Goals Allowed/gm.3.10
1222Shots766
40.7Shots/gm.25.5
188Assists126
22-110Power Plays22-113
.200Power-Play Pct..195
83-99Penalty Kills82-106
.838Penalty-Kill Pct..774
830Saves794
2Shutouts4

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The 16th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions look to snap a seven-game winless skid as they travel to Michigan State for a pair of Big Ten contests this weekend in their final regular season road trip of 2017-18.

HOW TO WATCH

Both games will air live on the Big Ten Network with puck drop on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m.

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • The Nittany Lions enter the weekend on a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2) after going unbeaten in their previous 11 games (7-0-3).
  • This weekend marks the 21st and 22nd all-time meetings between the two schools with Penn State holding the 10-6-4 overall series lead.
  • Michigan State has not beaten the Nittany Lions since the 2014-15 campaign as Penn State holds the 8-0-2 mark over the last two-plus seasons.
  • Although Penn State managed a series sweep last season in East Lansing, the Nittany Lions are just 4-5-1 all-time at Munn Ice Arena, but they are 3-0-1 over the past two-plus seasons.
  • Penn State is being outscored 17-7 during its five losses at Munn Ice Arena averaging just 1.4 goals per contest while outscoring the Spartans 19-8 averaging 3.80 goals per contest during the other five games at Munn in which they are unbeaten (4-0-1).

SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE

  • The Spartans enter the weekend with just two wins since returning from winter break as they have gone 2-9-1 since January and going back even further MSU is just 3-13-2 since a three-game winning streak in mid-November.
  • Michigan State stands at 10-18-2 overall this season and just 4-14-2 in the Big Ten and sit 10 points behind Penn State for last in the conference with 15 points.
  • The Spartans have played tighter defense this season allowing 0.70 goals per game less than in 2016-17, but the offense hasn't improved much averaging 2.43 goals per contest, which is right around the 2.40 they finished at last season.
  • The stronger defense is due in large part to stronger goaltending from sophomore John Lethemon who has compiled a 10-16-2 record with a .907 save percentage and a 2.71 goals against average, much improved from his 2-10-1 mark with an .873 and 3.59 as a freshman.
  • Michigan State is led offensively by freshman Mitchell Lewandowski with 15 goals on the season including seven power-play tallies to rank tied for first in the Big Ten and tied for 14th in the nation. Lewandowski's 15 goals are tied for 20th nationally and rank tied for first in the Big Ten. He has added 13 assists for 28 points ranking second on the team.
  • Sophomore Taro Hirose leads the Spartans with 33 points to tie for fourth in the Big Ten with 10 goals and 23 assists. Classmate Patrick Khodorenko has added 10 goals of his own to go with 15 assists for 25 points.
  • Michigan State does not have a player on the 2017-18 roster that has been drafted by an NHL team making them the only Big Ten school without a drafted player.
  • The Spartan power-play ranks fourth in the Big Ten having converted 22-of-113 (19.5 percent) chances, however, their penalty kill unit ranks sixth in the Big Ten and 53rd in the nation at 77.4 percent (82-for-106).

MR. ASSIST/MR. 100

  • Junior Andrew Sturtz is known mostly for his goal scoring prowess as Penn State's all-time leading goal scorer with 52 to his credit in his career. Sturtz is one of just nine current NCAA Division I players to have scored at least 50 goals in their careers.
  • However, this season the junior has registered a team best 23 assists through 29 games to rank tied for ninth in the nation and second in the Big Ten. His 23 helpers also rank tied for the fifth most in a single-season in Penn State history just five shy of Denis Smirnov's single-season record and are just one shy of the 24 total he had entering the season. Dating back to the end of last season, Sturtz has registered 28 assists in his last 33 games played.
  • Sturtz' three assist performance two Friday's ago against Notre Dame moved him into third place on the Penn State all-time assists list with his 47 career helpers. He is only behind current linemate Chase Berger's 50 and David Goodwin's '17 program mark of 84.
  • Sturtz currently ranks tied for 21st nationally in scoring among active players with 99 points good for sixth in the junior class.
  • With his next point, Sturtz will become just the second Nittany Lion to hit the 100-point milestone joining Goodwin and if he hits the mark this season he will become the fastest player to 100 points in program history as Goodwin reached the milestone in the 119th game of his career.

THIRD PERIOD SURGE?

  • The third period hasn't been a strong point for the Nittany Lions this season as they have been outscored 41-34 in the final frame including an 8-1 clip over the last four games.
  • However, in its last nine games against Michigan State, Penn State holds the 16-3 advantage in third period scoring including an eye-popping 12-3 margin over the last six contests.

BLOCK PARTY

  • Senior Trevor Hamilton appeared in his 100th career NCAA game two weeks ago against Notre Dame with the last 69 coming as a Nittany Lion.
  • In those 69 games, Hamilton has blocked 187 shots setting a new Penn State record after surpassing the 181 of Luke Juha '16, which he compiled over 104 career games.
  • Hamilton's 80 blocks on the year lead the NCAA a year after he set the Penn State single-season block record and also led the nation with 107.
  • Hamilton is averaging 2.67 blocks per game and has nine games with at least four blocks with a season-high eight against St. Lawrence.
  • In Big Ten games this season, Penn State leads the conference averaging 15.00 blocks per game in 20 contests. Hamilton leads the way with 2.80 while freshman Cole Hults ranks fourth with 2.20 and sophomore Kris Myllari is ninth with 1.70.
  • Penn State as a team leads the entire nation in blocks per game since the calendar turned to 2018 averaging 19.70, nearly four more than Vermont at 15.82. Hamilton and Hults lead the nation in blocks since January with 35 and 33, respectively.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

  • Penn State is 6-7-2 on the road this season and is just two wins shy of setting a new single-season program record for road wins, which currently sits at seven after a 7-5-1 finish last season. The two wins over .500 also marked the best road winning percentage in team history.

IT'S OVERTIME RIGHT NOW AND THERE'S A PENALTY SHOT ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE. THIS HAPPENS ABOUT ONCE EVERY TEN YEARS OR SO.

  • In Saturday's 2-2 tie against Notre Dame, Andrew Sturtz was awarded a penalty shot in overtime, but after making a nice move Irish goaltender Cale Morris kept his left pad down and was able to make the save.
  • That marked the third penalty shot this season for Penn State and the second in as many weeks as Brandon Biro cashed in on his opportunity during a 4-4 tie against Wisconsin the Saturday prior.
  • Penn State is just 1-for-3 this season on penalty shots as James Robinson was also stopped earlier in the year against Ohio State.
  • The Nittany Lions have scored three penalty shots in program history as Biro joined Tommy Olczyk '16 who secured the first against UConn in 2014 and Denis Smirnov last season against Minnesota. Penn State is 0-1-2 in games when scoring on a penalty shot.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

  • Penn State hasn't fared too well in close games this season as they are just 1-4-5 in games decided by one goal or less and just 1-8-1 when trailing after two periods.

SHOOTOUT

  • This season Penn State has seen itself in five shootouts including each of the past two Saturday's before entering its bye week.
  • The five shootouts for the Nittany Lions are the most they have been a part of in a single season as over the previous two seasons combined Penn State had only participated in three shootouts.
  • Penn State went 0-4 in shootouts during the 2014-15 season, which was previously the most they had participated in.
  • Penn State is just 3-11 all-time in shootouts and just 1-3 against Michigan State. The four shootouts between the two schools are the most between any single opponent in program history.
  • Each of Penn State's five shootouts this season have gone the minimum three rounds and with the exception of the 2-1 shootout loss against the Spartans back in November, each shootout has ended 1-0. Sturtz leads the team with two goals on five attempts as he is the only Nittany Lion who has participated in all five.

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 98-92-17 under his guidance.
  • Gadowsky's all-time record is 271-290-54 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 (735) and Jeff Jackson at Notre Dame (472).

NEXT UP

  • Penn State closes out the regular season with a pair of games at home against Minnesota next Friday and Saturday at 6:30 and 7 p.m. Both games will air live on the Big Ten Network.
  • Prior to Saturday night's contest there will be a brief pregame ceremony to honor this year's senior class as part of Senior Night.