SOUTH BEND, Ind. – With playoff positioning on the line, the 18th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions conclude the 2018-19 regular season with a trip to South Bend to battle No. 17 Notre Dame in a crucial Big Ten Conference weekend series.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, March 1 | Saturday, March 2
Place: Compton Family Ice Arena
Time: Friday at 7 p.m. | Saturday at 7 p.m.
TV: Friday: NBC Sports Network | Saturday: N/A
Streaming Video: NBC Sports App
Watch: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats (Both Games)
Game Notes: Penn State | Big Ten | Notre Dame
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- Penn State hits the road to close out the 2018-19 regular season with a pair of Big Ten Conference matchup's at Notre Dame.
- This weekend marks the 12th and 13th meetings all-time between the two schools with the Irish holding the 6-3-2 overall series advantage. The two teams split a weekend series earlier this season with Notre Dame winning the first game 5-4 before a 9-1 victory for Penn State the following night.
- Senior Chase Berger leads all Nittany Lions with 10 career points against the Irish in 11 games on four goals and six assists while classmate Alec Marsh has lit the lamp six times against Notre Dame while adding three assists for nine points in 11 games. Marsh has scored 28.5 percent of his career goals against the Irish including a multi-goal game earlier this season.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS
- Penn State is currently fifth in the Big Ten standings and one spot out of home ice for the opening round. Pending the outcomes across the league the Nittany Lions could finish as high as second or as low as seventh in the final conference standings.
- The Nittany Lions need four points on their own to clinch home ice in the B1G Quarterfinals or at least two points and a Wisconsin sweep against Michigan.
- Since January 26, Penn State has the best record in the Big Ten at 5-2-0 and statistically speaking has been the best team in the conference over that stretch.
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
- Slightly inconsistent since the calendar turned to 2019, Notre Dame enters the weekend with a 5-7-2 record this semester including just a 3-4-1 record at home. Overall, the Irish are 17-12-3 and 10-10-2-2 in the Big Ten and sit tied for third with 34 points.
- Notre Dame is just 3-12-2 this season when scoring two goals or less compared to 8-7-2 under the same circumstances last year. The Irish currently rank27th in the nation averaging 2.94 goals per game and are 14-0-1 this season when scoring at least three goals per game.
- Goaltender Cale Morris has again been Notre Dame's most valuable player ranking second in the Big Ten and ninth in the nation with a .927 save percentage, but his goals against average has spiked a little this season sitting at 2.30 also good for second in the conference but only 24th in the nation.
- The Irish have been without senior Joe Wegwerth since the middle of November due to a lower-body injury.
- Freshman Michael Graham leads the Big Ten and ranks tied for fourth in the NCAA with 10 goals since the start of the second semester while his 11 total goals pace the Irish offense. Colin Theisen, Cal Burke and Dylan Malmquist have each added ten goals for Notre Dame. Bobby Nardella leads the team with 29 points while Malmquist and Burke have added 27 and 25, respectively.
- Notre Dame's power-play ranks 13th nationally converting at 22.8 percent (26-for-114) while it's PK is middle of the pack ranking 30th at 81.6 percent (80-for-98). The Irish are 6-for-18 with the man-advantage and 10-for-11 on the PK over their last five games.
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
- Penn State will play its final regular season game in front of a national audience on Friday as the series opener will air live on NBCSN at 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions are 6-0-0 this season in nationally televised games.
- The Nittany Lions are outscoring opponents 34-12 on national television this season averaging 5.67 goals per game while only allowing 2.00.
KEEPIN' IT 100
- On Friday, Denis Smirnov will become the eighth different player this season to reach the 100 career games played mark as well as the fifth different member from the junior class to do so.
- Smirnov currently ranks fifth all-time at Penn State in points with 94 while his 41 goals and 53 assists place him sixth and fourth, respectively, on the all-time lists.
- Smirnov's 94 career points rank ninth among active juniors in the entire NCAA and fifth among third-year Big Ten players.
CLOSING THE GAP
- Following a two-point weekend, junior Nate Sucese is now just two points shy of becoming the fourth player in program history to hit 100 career points. With the 46th goal of his career last Friday, Sucese also passed Casey Bailey for third on the Penn State all-time goals list. The junior also ranks fifth in career assists with 52.
- Sucese is currently seventh in the country among active juniors with his 98 career points while his 46 goals place him second in the country among third year players. Sucese is just three points shy of tying his career high of 36 set during his freshman campaign.
THE NEW STANDARD
- On Friday, senior Chase Berger will play in his 148th consecutive game becoming the all-time leader at Penn State in games played. Berger hasn't missed a single game since stepping foot on campus.
- The St. Louis, Missouri native scored twice last weekend against Wisconsin and now has a new career-high of 14 goals this season while becoming just the second player in program history to eclipse the 50-goal mark. With 26 points, Berger has now registered 25 or more points in each of his four seasons donning the Blue and White.
- Berger also tied the all-time record at Penn State for shots on goal having fired 454 in his career to match Casey Bailey. The senior's next shot and each subsequent shot will be a new program record.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
- Sophomore Alex Limoges is currently second in the Big Ten in scoring with 40 points, which ranks tied for fourth in the nation. He has at least one point in six of his last seven games, including five goals over that span. Limoges is just the fourth player in program history to hit the 40-point mark in a single season.
- Limoges' 16 goals lead the team and rank fourth in the Big Ten. The sophomore has four multi-goal games to his credit this season along with 12 multi-point efforts. This season, Penn State is 11-1-0 in games where Limoges scores a goal.
RECORD SETTING OFFENSE
- With at least four games remaining in the season for the Nittany Lions, their torrent offense is on pace to set numerous single-season team records including most goals, most assists, most points and goals per game, all of which were set during the 2016-17 season.
- Penn State needs just 10 goals, 10 assists and 20 points to equal each total from the 2016-17 season in which they also played a program-high 39 games.
- With one more victory this weekend, Penn State will set a new single-season record for Big Ten wins and points.
- The Nittany Lions lead the nation in most offensive categories including goals scored (150), assists (255), points (405), goals per game (4.69) and shots per game (40.7).
THREE AND BELOW
- Penn State ranks just 57th in the nation allowing 3.72 goals per game, but is 15-0-1 this season when holding its opponents to three goals or less. However, Penn State is just 3-12-1 on the year when allowing four or more goals.
- Penn State has also had its best results this season when playing with the lead. The Nittany Lions are 12-2-0 when scoring first and 11-1-1 when leading after the first period.
- Penn State is also 15-2-1 when leading after the second period compared to just 1-8-0 when trailing entering the third period.
CONTROLLING THE DOT
- Penn State ranks second in the nation in faceoff percentage at 55.9 percent led by Ludvig Larsson who ranks second in the Big Ten and 17th in the nation at 59.5 percent while Chase Berger is third in the Big Ten and 19th in the nation at 59.1 percent.
- Since the start of January, out of true centers, Berger leads the entire nation winning 66.8 percent (165-82) of his draws.
NINE SPOT
- The last time these two teams met, Penn State lit the lamp nine times 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. Minnesota has also hit nine goals in a game this season during a 9-4 victory against Wisconsin in January.
- 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 scored at least seven goals in a game seven times this season, including four times in Big Ten play, and 21 times in program history.
NEXT UP
- Penn State will begin its quest at a second Big Ten Tournament championship as the best-of-three quarterfinal round gets underway next weekend with match-ups yet to be determined.