PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The ninth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions close out the first semester of play when they travel to the City of Brotherly Love for a single contest against the Princeton Tigers at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Saturday, December 15
Place: Wells Fargo Center
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: Saturday
Listen: Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- Penn State travels three hours east for a single contest against Princeton on Saturday as part of the Philadelphia College Hockey faceoff at Wells Fargo Center. This marks the sixth time the Nittany Lions will play a game in Philadelphia as they hold a 3-2-0 record at Wells Fargo Center.
- The Nittany Lions defeated the Tigers earlier this season at Pegula Ice Arena by a score of 4-2 to take the 2-1-0 lead in the all-time series. This marks the second time the two teams will battle in Philadelphia with Princeton earning the 5-4 victory two seasons ago.
- Ten different players registered points in the opening game of the season series for the Nittany Lions who had four different goal scorers.
SCOUTING PRINCETON
- After a mini four-game unbeaten streak to open the season following its loss in Happy Valley, Princeton is currently riding a seven-game losing streak averaging just 1.29 goals per game during that stretch. The Tigers enter the weekend 3-8-1 overall.
- Princeton is paced on offense by its top line of Ryan Kuffner, Max Veronneau and Alex Riche who have combined for 15 goals and 26 assists for 41 points in 12 games.
- Kuffner and Veronneau rank third and fifth in the nation among active players with 125 and 122 points, respectively, while Kuffner is tied for the national lead with 62 career goals. Kuffner's nine goals so far this season lead the Tigers and are tied for 20th nationally.
- Princeton's power-play currently ranks ninth in the nation converting at a 25 percent clip (11-for-44) while its penalty kill ranks 26th at 82.1 percent (32-for-39). Both Kuffner and Riche have registered three power-play goals each.
- The Tigers are averaging 2.50 goals per game to rank 40th in the nation while they are allowing 3.25 goals per game to rank tied for 46th.
- Sophomore Ryan Ferland has been strong in net posting a .908 save percentage with a 2.96 goals against average while starting all 12 games for Princeton.
HIGH CLASS SCORING
- Penn State is scoring in bunches this season averaging 5.29 goals per game, which is over a goal per game more than the next closest team in Minnesota State who averages 4.19 goals per game.
- Penn State's 90 goals are 23 more than second place Minnesota State. The Nittany lions also lead the country with 162 assists and 252 points. PSU's 41.06 shots per game is also the top mark in the country.
- No team has scored that many goals in the first half in the last six years (as long as that data is readily available); and no team has finished the season averaging more than five goals per game since Quinnipiac in 1999-2000 (5.42).
- The Nittany Lions are already eight goals clear of their own record set last season in 20 games when they went into the holiday break with 82 goals scored.
- Separating the scoring by class, Penn State's sophomore and junior class each lead the nation in scoring with 89 and 102 points, respectively.
- With 38 goals this season, Penn State's junior class has outscored 21 NCAA Division I teams by themselves while the sophomore class with 34 goals has scored as many or more goals than 14 teams.
DONNING THEIR NATION'S COLORS
- Sophomore Evan Barratt and freshmanAarne Talvitie will both be out of the lineup for the first time all season long on Saturday as they each travel to camp with their respective countries in preparation for the 2019 World Junior Championship in Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia.
- Barratt is the national leader in points and goals with 29 and 13, respectively, while Talvitie ranks seventh on the team with five goals and 11 assists for 16 points through the first 17 games of his collegiate career.
- Barratt's 29 points are the most ever by a Nittany Lion through the team's first 17 games of a season.
B1G STAR: IT FEELS GOOD IN THE HOT SPOTLIGHT
- Following a career-high four point effort during a 9-1 victory over Notre Dame on Saturday, Barratt earned his second Big Ten weekly honor this season as he was named the Second Star of the Week. Barratt assisted on the first three goals of the game in the first period tying a Penn State single-game record for most assists in a single period. The sophomore also added a goal late in the third period for his final point of the night.
- Junior goaltender Peyton Jones also earned his second weekly honor this season as he was named the Third Star of the Week for his 26 save performance in a victory over the Irish. Jones now has six career Big Ten weekly accolades.
NINE SPOT
- Penn State lit the lamp nine times last Saturday against Notre Dame marking the most goals scored in a Big Ten game in program history. The nine goals also tie for the second most by a single-team in a conference game since the Big Ten formed prior to the 2013-14 season.
- Michigan holds the record for most goals in a Big Ten game during a 10-6 victory over Ohio State on January 16, 2015.
- The nine goals scored are the third most in a single-game in program history behind the 11 scored earlier this season against Robert Morris and the 10 scored against Union during the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
- Penn State has now scored at least seven goals in a game five times this season and 19 times in program history.
HOME OF THE GOOD BERGER
- Senior Chase Berger tied his career-high with four points on one goal and three assists last Saturday against Notre Dame and in the process became just the third player in program history to eclipse 100 career points.
- Berger's 102 career points are now just two behind Andrew Sturtz for second on Penn State's all-time points list and rank ninth in the nation among active players and third in the Big Ten.
- Berger's 42 career goals rank fourth all-time at Penn State and are just two goals shy of David Goodwin '17 for third and three behind Casey Bailey for second.
- The senior's 132 career games played are also tied for the eighth most in the nation as he hasn't missed a single game since stepping foot on campus and is tied with Tommy Olczyk for fourth on the Penn State all-time games played list.
MOVIN' ON UP
- Penn State's junior class has been one of the most dynamic in the nation after bursting onto the scene in 2016. Headlined by Denis Smirnov and Nate Sucese the junior class is slowly making its way up the Nittany Lion career rankings for most offensive categories.
- Last weekend, Sucese passed Casey Bailey for fifth on the all-time scoring list as he picked up his 81st career point and is now just three points behind Smirnov for fourth. Both Sucese and Smirnov are also tied for fifth on the all-time goals list with 38 apiece.
- Junior classmate Brandon Biro is also slowly working his way into the mix as he moved into a tie for third on the all-time assist list with 50 after a career-high three helpers last Saturday. Biro's 70 career points are also good for ninth on the all-time points list.
- Fellow junior Liam Folkes is also working his way up the list as one of the best goal scorers to wear the Blue and White as his 28 career goals rank tenth all-time passing Olczyk.
WE'VE GOT THE POWER(PLAY)
- Penn State has scored at least one goal on the man-advantage in 12-of-17 games this season including nine of its last 11 games going 13-for-36 (36.1 percent) over that stretch. The Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten and rank third in the nation at 29.3 percent (17-for-58) on the power-play this season and are 10-for-24 (41.7 percent) in Big Ten play.
- Barratt, Pavlychev and Sam Sternschein lead the team with three power-play tallies each. Penn State has seen nine different players register a power-play goal.
- Penn State scored a season-high three power-play goals during Saturday's 9-1 victory over Notre Dame.
NEXT UP
- The Nittany Lions take a few weeks off for the holidays before opening the second semester of action with a pair of Big Ten Conference games at Minnesota on January 4-5.