UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 11th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions return home for four-straight Big Ten contests beginning this weekend as they host the Michigan State Spartans for a pair of contests on Friday and Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, January 11 | Saturday, January 12
Place: Pegula Ice Arena
Time: Friday at 8 p.m. | Saturday at 7 p.m.
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
TV: Friday: BTN | Saturday: BTN-Plus
Watch: Friday | Saturday ($)
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats (Both Games)
Game Notes: Penn State
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- Penn State returns to Pegula Ice Arena for the first time in 34 days since defeating Notre Dame 9-1 on December 8. The Nittany Lions will host Michigan State in a pair of Big Ten contests on Friday and Saturday evening.
- This marks the 23rd and 24th meetings all-time between the two schools with Penn State holding the 11-7-4 advantage in the series. The Nittany Lions have dominated the Spartans recently with a 9-1-2 record since the start of the 2015-16 season.
- The Nittany Lions hold a commanding 6-1-3 record against the Spartans at Pegula Ice Arena and haven't dropped a game to MSU on home ice since a 2-1 defeat on February 15, 2014.
- Junior goaltender Peyton Jones has enjoyed playing the Spartans as he has registered his best numbers against the Green and White. In eight starts, Jones has a 6-1-1 record with a 2.12 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.
- Senior Chase Berger leads all Nittany Lions with 11 points in 12 career games against the Spartans on five goals and six assists while classmate Kevin Kerr has added seven assists in 10 career games against MSU.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
- The Spartans enter the weekend after securing just two-of-six points at home against Ohio State last weekend including a 6-0 blanking as Michigan State currently sits last in the Big Ten with just 10 points and a 6-11-3 overall record.
- The Spartans return all, but one of their top 10 scorers from last season losing only Carson Gatt to graduation while returning the entire "KHL" line which accounted for 44 goals and 64 assists for 108 points last season as one of the top lines in the entire country.
- Taro Hirose who paced the team with 42 points and 30 assists last season is once again leading the team with a national best 31 points and 22 assists so far this season while Patrick Khodorenko paces the Spartans with 12 goals and is second with 21 points and Mitchell Lewandowski is third on the team with 19 points on six goals and 13 assists.
- The 'KHL" line has provided 50 percent of Michigan State's 54 goals so far this season while accounting for 48.6 percent of total points.
- Junior John Lethemon returns between the pipes for the Spartans, but he has split time with freshman Drew DeRidder as each goalie has started 10 games. Lethemon has the slightly better numbers with a 4-7-3 record to go along with a 3.32 goals against average and .897 save percentage. However, in Big Ten play Lethemon has failed to win a game in three starts while DeRidder has started seven games posting a 2-2-2 record with a 3.52 goals against average and .893 save percentage.
- The Spartans rank last in the Big Ten and tied for 38th nationally averaging just 2.70 goals per game having scored more than three goals just seven times this season while being held to two or less goals on 10 occasions. On the flip side the Spartans are allowing 3.50 goals per game which ranks 51st in the nation and second worst in the Big Ten only ahead of Penn State (3.65).
- Michigan State also struggles on the penalty kill allowing 20 goals in 85 chances to rank 51st in the nation killing off just 76.5 percent of opposing power-plays. On their end the Spartans have a dangerous power-play which ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 21st in the nation converting 20 percent of the time (15-for-75).
HIGH CLASS SCORING
- Penn State is leading the nation in most all offensive categories this season including goals per game averaging 4.95, however, the Nittany Lions were held to their fewest goals in a game this season during a 4-1 defeat at Minnesota last Saturday.
- Last Saturday was only the second time all season that Penn State was held under three goals in a game and just the ninth time in the last 97 games dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season that Penn State has failed to score more than a single goal in a game.
- Penn State also maintains the national lead in goals (99), assists (173) and points (272) points. PSU's 39.90 shots per game is also the top mark in the country.
- Separating the scoring by class, Penn State's junior class is the highest scoring class in the nation with 110 points on 42 goals and 68 assists. Their 42 goals scored are as many or more than 15 NCAA Division I men's teams' total goal output so far this season.
WINNER, WINNER CHICKEN DINNER
- With his game-winning tally last Friday night against Minnesota, junior Denis Smirnov is now the all-time leader in program history with nine game-winning goals to his name in 87 career games played.
#SCTop10
- Highlight reel goals have become part of the norm around Hockey Valley this season and last Friday against Minnesota was no different. Junior Brandon Biro became the fourth different member of the Nittany Lions to land on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays with his highlight reel snipe against the Gophers while falling to the ice.
- That goal landed at No. 1 as he joins classmate Nikita Pavlychev who was also No. 1 with his dangle against Notre Dame last semester. Junior Nate Sucese and Sophomore Evan Barratt have also been featured in the No. 2 slot on #SCTop10 last semester. Barratt earned a second spot on the countdown with his backhanded snipe during the World Junior Championship that took the No. 6 spot.
THE SILENT ASSASSIN
- Biro who normally fly's under the radar has been one of the most consistent members of Guy Gadowsky's squad for the past three seasons. The junior is currently tied for third on the team in scoring with 22 points after setting a career-high and ranking second on the team last season with 31 points after coming off a freshman season where he registered 20 points.
- Biro tallied one point in each game last weekend running his point-streak to six games (2-6-8), which is just one shy of his career-high, seven-game streak from last season.
- With his assist on Saturday night, Biro moved into third on the Penn State all-time assists lists only trailing David Goodwin '17 and Chase Berger while his 73 career points are good for ninth in program history.
BLOCK PARTY
- Penn State leads the nation with 347 blocks on the season averaging 17.35 per game while Kris Myllari's 67 blocks and 3.35 per game also top the country.
- Over the last seven games freshman Paul DeNaples, the nation's leader in plus/minus at +20, has been sacrificing his body more and more and leads the team with 21 blocks over that stretch while Cole Hults is second with 19. DeNaples ranks tied for 11th in the nation with 44 blocks while Hults is 22nd with 39.
HOME OF THE GOOD BERGER
- Senior Chase Berger tied his career-high with four points on one goal and three assists against Notre Dame prior to the semester break and in the process became just the third player in program history to eclipse 100 career points.
- Last weekend Berger scored the 44th goal of his career to pull even with David Goodwin '17 for third on the Penn State all-time goals list just one shy of tying Casey Bailey for second. The goal was also the 104th point of his career which is now tied with Andrew Sturtz '18 for second all-time.
- Berger's 104 career points are the ninth most in the nation among active players and the third most in the Big ten behind Ohio State's Mason Jobst (151) and Minnesota's Tyler Sheehy (124).
- The senior's 135 career games played are also tied for the fifth most in the nation as he hasn't missed a single game since stepping foot on campus ranking fourth on the Penn State all-time games played list.
DENNY AND THE JETS
- Smirnov registered the 39th goal of his career last Friday at Minnesota to pull even with classmate Nate Sucese for fifth on the Penn State all-time goals list.
- Smirnov is also now two points clear of Sucese for fourth on the all-time points list with 85 for his career, just 19 behind Berger for third. The junior's 46 assists are also tied with Dylan Richard '17 for sixth on the all-time assists list. Sucese ranks ninth with 44 career assists.
NEXT UP
- The Nittany Lions remain home as they battle No. 4 Ohio State for a pair of games next Friday and Saturday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. each night at Pegula Ice Arena.