No. 6/5 Men's Hockey Battles No. 11/11 Ohio State in Final Home Series of SemesterNo. 6/5 Men's Hockey Battles No. 11/11 Ohio State in Final Home Series of Semester
Craig Houtz

No. 6/5 Men's Hockey Battles No. 11/11 Ohio State in Final Home Series of Semester


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 6/5 Penn State Nittany Lions welcome the No. 11/11 Ohio State Buckeyes to Hockey Valley for a pair of Big Ten Conference games on Friday and Saturday night. This will be the last time Penn State plays at home until January.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, November 22 | Saturday, November 23
Place: Pegula Ice Arena
Time: Friday at 7 p.m. | Saturday at 6 p.m.
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
Streaming Video ($): Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats (Both Games)
Game Notes: Penn State | Ohio State

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 28th and 29th meetings all-time between Penn State and Ohio State with the Buckeyes holding the 15-10-2 all-time advantage including winning the season series last year taking the final nine points after dropping the opening game. However, Penn State earned revenge by going into Columbus for the Big Ten semifinals and securing the 5-1 victory.
  • Ohio State has had great success over the years at Pegula Ice Arena boasting a 7-4-1 record including a 4-1-1 record over the past three seasons in Hockey Valley. This weekend pits the top offense in the Big Ten vs. the top defense in the Big Ten as Penn State is averaging 4.73 goals per game and Ohio State is allowing just 1.80.
  • Senior Brandon Biro leads all current Nittany Lions with 12 points in 11 career games against Ohio State scoring four goals while adding eight assists. Junior Evan Barratt also has four career goals against the Buckeyes and has added five assists for nine points in nine career games.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE

  • The Buckeyes enter the weekend coming off a bye and stand fifth in the Big Ten standings with six points. Overall, OSU is 6-3-1 on the season and rank 11th in both national polls.
  • Ohio State remains one of the toughest defensive teams in the country after finishing second in the Big Ten and 14th nationally last year allowing just 2.31 goals per game, the Buckeyes currently lead the Big Ten and rank fifth in the nation allowing just 1.80 goals per game.
  • A big reason for the defensive success is junior goaltender Tommy Nappier who has played every minute between the pipes this season for OSU posting a 1.79 goals against average and a .935 save percentage to rank first and second in the Big Ten and seventh and 10th in the nation, respectively, for each category. Nappier's career winning percentage of .727 is the best mark among current NCAA goaltender who have played multiple seasons.
  • The Buckeye offense has sputtered at times this season scoring over three goals in a game just once and averaging just 2.70 goals per game to rank fifth in the Big Ten and middle of the pack nationally. OSU did lose four of its top-10 scorers from last season's roster including Big Ten all-time leading scorer Mason Jobst who had 164 career points including team-high's of 17 goals and 36 points last season. Penn State kryptonite Dakota Joshua also graduated after finishing second on the team with 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists a year ago.
  • The Buckeyes do return Philadelphia Flyers draft-pick Tanner Laczynski who ranks just behind Nate Sucese among active Big Ten scorers with 119 career points, good for third nationally. He leads the team so far this season with 10 points, but only has a pair of goals in the early going. Sophomore Gustaf Westlund leads the Buckeyes with five goals.
  • Ohio State has produced well on special teams this season ranking third in the Big Ten and ninth in the nation with the man-advantage scoring 13 goals in 50 chances (26 percent) while the PK has only allowed four goals on 39 chances (89.7 percent) to lead the Big Ten and rank ninth nationally.

STERN'SHINING' IN CONFERENCE PLAY

  • Junior Sam Sternschein has exploded since the start of Big Ten play three weeks ago with six goals and one assist for seven points. The junior has scored at least one goal in five of the six conference games so far as his six Big Ten goals lead the conference.
  • Overall, Sternschein's seven goals this season rank second in the Big Ten and tied for 13th nationally. His current three-game goal-streak is also a career best.

B1G LEADERS

  • Penn State is two points clear of Notre Dame leading the Big Ten with 15 points and a 5-1-0-0 record. The Nittany Lions also have 10 of the top-16 scorers in conference games this season including the top four as both Evan Barratt and Aarne Talvitie lead the conference with eight points in six games while Sternschein and Nate Sucese are right on their heels with seven conference points each.
  • Penn State is averaging 5.00 goals per game over its six conference games this season to lead the Big Ten a full 1.75 goals clear of second place Michigan State. The Nittany Lions have also made a vast improvement this season and are allowing just 2.33 goals per game in conference action compared to 4.00 last season.
  • Nationally, Penn State ranks third in the nation in scoring averaging 4.73 goals per game while allowing just 2.27, good for 18th in the nation.

MARATHON NOT A SPRINT

  • After starting the season getting out to early first period leads, Penn State has actually been held off the scoresheet over the opening twenty minutes during four of the last five contests, but have used strong showings over the final forty minutes to secure victories in three of those games.
  • Last weekend at Minnesota, the Nittany Lions outscored the Gophers 14-3 over the final two periods of play and are now outscoring opponents 18-9 and 22-11 in the second and third periods, respectively.
  • Overall, Penn State's plus-27 goal differential this season is tied for the national lead with North Dakota while its 52 goals scored are five more than Providence in second.

 
PHILLI SPECIAL

  • Junior Clayton Phillips is coming off a sweet homecoming last weekend at Minnesota having scored the game-winning goal on Saturday night to lead Penn State to it's first-ever sweep over the Gophers at Mariucci Arena.
  • Phillips has settled in nicely to Hockey Valley and ranks second on the team in defensemen scoring with eight points on two goals and six assists. The junior is already approaching a career-high point total after registering just 10 points in 34 games with the Gophers last season. His current three-game point-streak is also a career-high.
  • Phillips' eight points from the blue-line this season rank third in the Big Ten for defensemen scoring only behind teammate Cole Hults and Wisconsin's Wyatt Kalynuk who lead the league with ten points each.

NEW TOP 'NATE' DOGG

  • Last Saturday night, senior Nate Sucese broke the tie with Andrew Sturtz to become the Penn State all-time goal scoring leader as he netted a pair of goals and he now has 56 for his career, a mark that is also tied for the most in the nation among active players.
  • Sucese also passed Chase Berger '19 for second on the Penn State all-time points list with 120 for his career, just eight shy of David Goodwin's '17 program record of 128. His 120 career points are also the most in the Big Ten among active players and rank second nationally.
  • Sucese's 18 points this season lead the Big Ten and rank third in the nation while his six goals are tied for third in the Big Ten and 22nd nationally. The senior was named Big Ten Second Star of the Week for his accomplishments over the weekend at Minnesota.

BFL BACK AT IT

  • After a slow start to the season, the BFL line has started clicking again in conference play having accounted for eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points over the last five Big Ten games with each member of the trio currently on a three-game point-streak.
  • Barratt has multiple points in three-straight games and his eight Big Ten points leads the conference. The junior was recently named the Big Ten Third Star of the Week after leading the conference and ranking second in the nation with five points, all assists, over the weekend at Minnesota.

THE FINNISHER

  • Sophomore Aarne Talvitie is currently tied for the Big Ten lead with eight points in six conference games while his 12 total points are good for tied seventh in the conference.
  • Overall, through his first 28 career games, Talvitie is averaging a point-per-game with 28 points on nine goals and 19 assists.
  • Talvitie has also been strong at the dot this season winning 63.7 percent (79-for-124) of his draws ranking first in the Big Ten and tied for ninth in the nation while Penn State as a team ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 19th in the nation at the face-off circle winning 51.5 percent of draws so far this season.

GOALIE OFFENSE

  • Senior Peyton Jones tallied his second assist of the season last weekend in Minnesota, both goals have been scored by Sam Sternschein. For his career, Jones now has eight assists to lead all active goaltenders nationwide.
  • Personal offensive numbers aside, Jones is also stifling opposing offenses ranking third in the Big Ten and 12th in the nation with a .934 save percentage while his 2.01 goals against average is good for second and 17th, respectively.
  • Jones' 67 career wins are also the most among active goaltenders in the NCAA.

BLUE-LINE BEAUTY

  • Junior Cole Hults is chasing history of his own as he is currently tied for second all-time in Penn State history for points by a defenseman with 58 just two shy of Luke Juha's '16 program record.
  • Hults' 13 goals rank fourth all-time by defenseman as current teammate Kris Myllari holds the record which stands at 17. The junior's 45 career assists also rank tied for third among Nittany Lion blue-liners and are just one shy of the top-10 all-time at Penn State.

HOCKEY VALLEY SPECIAL

  • Penn State is coming off another very successful weekend on the power-play going 3-for-5 against Minnesota. Penn State is now 15-for-46 (32.6 percent) this season to rank first in the Big Ten and third in the nation. PSU's 15 PPG's this season are good for second in the nation just one shy of the 16 scored by Northern Michigan.
  • In conference only action, the Nittany Lions are converting at an even higher clip going 9-for-21 (42.9 percent) having scored at least one power-play goal in five of the last six games.
  • Penn State's PK has also been consistent this season allowing just six goals in 44 chances to the opposition ranking second in the Big Ten and 13th in the nation killing off 86.4 percent of opposing power-plays.

NEXT UP

  • Penn State hits the road for a three-week road trip to close out the first semester of action when they take part in the Turkey Leg Classic in Massachusetts. The Nittany Lions will battle Merrimack for the first-time ever on Friday night at 7 p.m. before taking on UMass-Lowell the following night for the first time in five years at 6 p.m. RPI is the fourth team taking part in the event.

For more information on the 2019-20 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: the Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.