UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 13 Penn State closes out a four-game homestand when they welcome in Big Ten leader and fourth-ranked Ohio State for a weekend series on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon at Pegula Ice Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, January 18 | Saturday, January 19
Place: Pegula Ice Arena
Time: Friday at 7 p.m. | Saturday at 3 p.m.
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
Streaming Video: BTN-Plus
Watch: Friday ($) | Saturday ($)
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats (Both Games)
Game Notes: Penn State | Ohio State
WEAR WHITE
- Friday's contest marks the annual Penn State Wear White game with puck drop slated for 7 p.m.
- Due to the threat of a winter storm on Saturday the series finale has been pushed up to 3 p.m.
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- Penn State remains home for a pair of contests against Big Ten leading and fourth-ranked Ohio State on Friday and Saturday evening
- This marks the 25th and 26th meetings all-time between the two programs with the Buckeyes holding the 13-9-2 series lead while the Nittany Lions are 4-3-2 over the last nine meetings and 4-5-1 all-time against Ohio State at Pegula Ice Arena.
- The series has been fairly even since the calendar turned to 2016 as in seven series since then there have been five splits while each team garnered a win and tie in the other two series. All-time there have only been two series sweeps during this rivalry with the Buckeyes earning each, the last coming on February 27-28, 2015 at Value City Arena. Penn State has never been swept by the Buckeyes at Pegula Ice Arena.
- Junior Brandon Biro leads the team with 11 points in 10 career games against the Buckeyes scoring three goals while adding eight assists. Senior Kevin Kerr also has good success against Ohio State with three goals and three assists for six points in 12 games while sophomore Evan Barratt is averaging a point per game over his six games against the Buckeyes with three goals and three assists.
- This marks the 25th and 26th games all-time for Penn State against a top-5 ranked opponent and the 12th and 13th meetings against a top-5 opponent inside Pegula Ice Arena. The Nittany Lions are just 5-17-2 all-time against top-5 teams including a 1-9-1 mark at home. Penn State is 2-2-0 this season against top-5 teams including a 1-1-0 mark at Pegula Ice Arena.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
- The Buckeyes enter the weekend leading the Big Ten with 23 points and a 6-3-3-2 record in conference action. OSU is also an eye-popping 6-1-4 on the road this season and is one of just four teams nationally with only one road defeat.
- Ohio State comes into the weekend with the third most potent offense in the Big Ten averaging 3.05 goals per game only behind Penn State's 4.86 and Wisconsin's 3.15. However, the strength of this Buckeye team has been the defense as they lead the Big Ten and rank 12th nationally allowing just 2.18 goals per game.
- Sophomore goaltender Tommy Nappier is a huge reason why the Buckeyes have been so successful on defense this year as he has posted an 8-1-2 record between the pipes in his second season in Columbus. The sophomore leads the Big Ten and ranks second in the nation with a .945 save percentage and a 1.58 goals against average. Nappier hasn't lost a game since a 2-1 defeat to Notre Dame on November 3, 2018, he is 6-0-1 in his seven starts since allowing more than two goals just once over that stretch while collecting a pair of shutouts.
- Both Nappier and Sean Romeo have each registered three shutouts between the pipes to lead the Big Ten and tie for fifth in the nation in that category. Ohio State's six shutouts as a team tie Arizona State and Quinnipiac for the most in the nation.
- On offense the Buckeyes are led by senior Mason Jobst with 25 points on 13 goals and 12 assists. His 13 goals is tied for the Big Ten lead while his seven power-play tallies top the conference and rank tied for third in the nation. Jobst leads all active players with 153 points in his career, 19 clear of Ryan Kuffner in second. Jobst has a Big Ten record 65 goals to go along with 88 assists in 136 career games.
- Junior Tanner Laczynski ranks second on the team with 20 points on seven goals and 13 assists while Ronnie Hein has chipped in eight goals including three game winners.
HOME OF THE GOOD BERGER
- Senior Chase Berger scored twice last Saturday to move into second on the Penn State all-time goals list with 46, passing Casey Bailey and David Goodwin '17. The senior's 106 points are also now good for second all-time passing Andrew Sturtz '18.
- One of those two goals was during the man-advantage giving him 13 career power-play goals to pull even with Bailey for the most PPG's all-time in program history. Denis Smirnov and Evan Barratt are the next two active players closest to Berger with 10 and nine PPG's, respectively.
- In his last six games, Berger has five goals and three assists for eight points registering at least one goal in four of those six contests.
- Berger's 106 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 (153) and Minnesota's Tyler Sheehy (126).
- The senior is also now just 10 games shy of tying Goodwin's program record of 147 games played. Berger's 137 games rank fourth all-time and should he play both games this weekend he will move into a tie with Ricky DeRosa for second with 139. Berger hasn't missed a single game since stepping foot on campus.
THE FAIREST OF PORTS
- Fairport, N.Y. native Nate Sucese scored in each game last weekend against Michigan State giving him 41 career goals as he became just the fifth Nittany Lion in program history to hit the 40 goal plateau. In just 95 career games, Sucese is the third fastest Nittany Lion to reach 40 career goals only behind Sturtz (73 games) and Bailey (81 games).
- With ten goals and ten assists this season, Sucese became the sixth Penn State player to hit the 20 point mark as the Nittany Lions have the most 20-plus point scorers in the nation.
BEE SQUARED
- Junior Brandon Biro notched a pair of assists in each game last weekend running his point-streak to eight games (2-10-12), a new career-high. The junior has now registered at least one point in 12 of his last 13 games with three goals and 14 assists for 17 points over that span.
- With 19 assists this season Biro is tied for second in the nation while his 26 points are tied for eighth in the country and rank fourth in the Big Ten.
- Biro's 17 points in Big Ten games ranks tied for second in the conference and tied for 11th in the nation during conference games while his 14 assists in league play lead the Big Ten and rank tied for second in the nation.
- With 77 career points, Biro has moved into a tie with Eric Scheid '16 and Dylan Richard '17 for seventh on the Penn State all-time scoring list while his 55 assists are now just five behind Berger for second all-time.
THE BIG THREE-OH
- Penn State is the only team in the nation with multiple 30-point scorers so far this season as linemates Alex Limoges and Evan Barratt rank second in the nation with 30 points each.
- Limoges was held off the scoresheet last weekend against Michigan State marking the first time all season the sophomore has failed to register at least one point during a weekend series. Prior to Friday night Limoges hadn't gone without a single point in back-to-back games this season.
- Barratt also failed to register a point last Saturday marking just the third time all season in 19 games he hasn't landed on the scoresheet. Barratt has yet to go multiple games without a point this season.
BOUNCING BACK
- Penn State has only lost back-to-back games once this season and hold a 4-1-1 record following a loss. The only time the Nittany Lions have lost two games in-a-row this season was back on December 1st against Wisconsin and December 7th against Notre Dame as part of a mini four-game unbeaten streak.
THREE AND BELOW
- Penn State has struggled at times this season on defense as the Nittany Lions rank 55th in the nation allowing 3.68 goals per game. Penn State is just 5-7-2 on the year when allowing four or more goals. However, when Penn State holds its opponent to three goals or less they are 10-0-1 this season.
OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER
- Penn State currently leads the nation averaging 4.86 goals per game. The Nittany Lions also pace the nation in goals (107), assists (188), points (295) and shots per game (40.05).
NEXT UP
- The Nittany Lions travel to Ann Arbor next Thursday for a single game at Yost Ice Arena against the Wolverines before heading to New York City to participate in B1G Super Saturday at Madison Square Garden to close out the season series against the Maize and Blue at 7 p.m.