UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 6/6 Penn State Nittany Lions close of their season opening nine-game homestand with a pair of Big Ten Conference games against the Michigan State Spartans on Friday and Saturday evening at Pegula Ice Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, November 8 | Saturday, November 9
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 | Michigan State
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This weekend marks the 27th and 28th meetings all-time between Penn State and Michigan State with the Nittany Lions holding the 13-9-4 advantage. The teams split the season series in 2018-19, each going 1-1 on home ice during the season.
- Penn State is 7-2-3 all-time against the Spartans at Pegula Ice Arena with last year's loss being the first at home against MSU since the 2013-14 season, PSU was 7-0-2 in its previous nine home games against Michigan State prior to the 6-4 loss.
- The Nittany Lions are 11-3-2 against Michigan State since the start of the 2015-16 season.
- Senior Nate Sucese leads all active Nittany Lions with 11 points in 12 career games against the Spartans scoring six goals while adding five assists. Junior Sam Sternschein has also had success against the Green and White with three goals and three assists for six points in just seven games. Senior Nikita Pavlychev has also added three goals and three assists in 10 games against Sparty.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
- Michigan State returns 23 letter winners after losing just three seniors from last season's roster, however, leading scorer Taro Hirose decided to forgo his final season in East Lansing and sign an NHL contract with the Detroit Red Wings. Hirose finished the 2018-19 season tied for the national points lead with 50 on 15 goals and a national best 35 assists.
- With the departure of Hirose and the three seniors, MSU lost four of its top-10 scorers from last season, however, the Spartans do return a pair of 30-plus point getters in senior Patrick Khodorenko and junior Mitchell Lewandowski. Khodorenko leads the team with seven points, but between the pair they have only found the back of the net twice this season after 34 combined goals in 2018-19 finishing first and second on the team, respectively.
- The goaltending has been split through the first six games for the Spartans with both John Lethemon and Drew DeRidder each having three starts. Lethemon has put up the better numbers accounting for both victories with a .918 save percentage and a 2.68 goals against average.
- The Spartans are tied for sixth in the Big Ten averaging just 2.50 goals per game so far this season while allowing 3.00, both marks are tied for 38th and 36th in the nation, respectively.
- The Spartan power-play has been their best source of offense so far this season scoring nearly half their goals on the man-advantage going 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) to rank fourth in the Big Ten and tenth in the nation. MSU's PK, however, is a different story ranking last in the Big Ten and 56th nationally stopping just 68.8 percent (22-for-32) of opponent power-plays.
MOVIN' ON UP
- Penn State jumped six spots in the recent polls to No. 6 cracking the top ten for the second time this season. This also marks the highest the Nittany Lions have been ranked since a previous No. 6 mark on November 26, 2018. This marks the 26th week all-time Penn State has been ranked in the top-10.
- Penn State has now been ranked in 45 consecutive USCHO.com polls and have only spent eight weeks outside the top-20 since November 23, 2015.
GREATER MARGIN OF VICTORY
- Outside of the IVY League teams, which began play last weekend, Penn State is tied with UMass for the largest goal differential this season winning by an average margin of 2.57 goals per game.
- Penn State ranks second in the nation, behind two IVY schools, averaging 4.57 goals per game while Notre Dame leads the country at 4.67 goals per game. PSU's 32 goals scored this year rank tied for second in the nation just one shy of Denver while its +18-goal differential is good for third in the nation.
- The Nittany Lions have tightened up their defense this year as well ranking tied for second in the Big Ten and ninth nationally allowing just 2.00 goals per game through the opening seven games of the season.
- Penn State has allowed just four goals in three games since losing to Alaska and have only allowed more than two goals twice this season.
START FAST, FINISH STRONG
- Penn State has jumped out to early leads in five of its first seven games while outscoring opponents 10-2 over the opening 20 minutes of play so far this season. The Nittany Lions have also closed strong offensively with 14 third period goals outscoring opponents 14-7. PSU is 5-0-0 when scoring first this season.
- Last season the second period was the strongest for the Nittany Lions with 71 goals and a +16 goal differential. So far this season Penn State is outscoring opponents 8-4 during the middle frame.
HOCKEY VALLEY SPECIAL
- Penn State has dominated the special teams battle so far this season as the Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten and rank sixth in the nation converting 31.4 percent (11-for-35) of their power-play chances including a 50 percent clip (5-for-10) last weekend against Wisconsin.
- The PK has also held its own allowing just three opponent power-play goals in 32 chances (90.6 percent) to rank second in the Big Ten and 13th in the nation. The Nittany Lions held a strong Wisconsin man-advantage to just 1-for-8 last weekend and have only allowed two power-play goals in their last 26 chances over the last six games.
MR. JONES
- Senior goaltender Peyton Jones continued his hot start to the season improving to 6-0-0 last weekend after stopping 63-of-66 shots against the nation's second most potent offense entering the two-game series.
- Jones earned Big Ten First Star of the Week accolades earlier this week marking his eighth career weekly honor, the most by a single player in Penn State history.
- Jones is one of just four goalies in the nation with at least three starts this season to remain unbeaten while his 64 career victories are the most among active goaltenders.
- His .947 save percentage leads the Big Ten and ranks tied for second in the nation while his 1.67 goals against average is good for second and eighth, respectively.
DYNAMIC DUO
- Senior Nate Sucese scored twice last weekend and is now tied with Andrew Sturtz for first on the Penn State all-time goals list with 54 for his career. His 54 goals are also the second most in the nation among active players only trailing the 56 of Minnesota State's Marc Michaelis.
- Sucese's 13 points this season are tied for the Big Ten lead and rank tied for third nationally while his 115 career points are third among active players and just three behind Chase Berger '19 (118) for second all-time at Penn State and 13 shy of David Goodwin's '17 (128) program record.
- Classmate Brandon Biro ranks tied for second in the Big Ten and fifth in the nation with his 12 points while his five goals tie for second in the Big Ten and 12th in the nation.
- Sucese's nine assists are also tied for first in the Big Ten and second in the nation while he has moved into fourth on the Penn State all-time assists list with 61 and Biro is tied for second with 67 for his career.
BIG MAN'S GOT MOVES
- Senior Nikita Pavlychev had his most productive weekend against the Badgers collecting four primary assists including one on the game-winning goal on Friday night. The senior now has five points on one goal and four assists in his five games played this season. Pavlychev's 30 career goals rank just outside the top-10 all-time.
BLUE-LINE BEAUTY
- Junior Cole Hults added a trio of assists in the two-game series against Wisconsin giving him eight points on four goals and four assists this season. His goal and point totals both lead all Big Ten defensemen while ranking tied for second and fifth nationally among blue-liners.
- With 56 career points, Hults moved past Trevor Hamilton '18 for fourth on the Penn State all-time scoring list for defensemen, just four points shy of Luke Juha's '16 program record of 60 points.
- Hults is also tied for fourth on the program's all-time goals list for defensemen with 12 as current teammate Kris Myllari holds the record which currently stands at 17. The junior's 44 career assists also tie Hamilton for fourth among Nittany Lion blue-liners and rank just outside the top-10 all-time at Penn State.
NEXT UP
- Penn State hits the road for the first time this season traveling to Minnesota for a pair of games next Friday and Saturday evening.
- The Nittany Lions have won nine of the last 11 meetings between the two teams dating back to the 2017 B1G Tournament semifinals. Both games will air locally on Fox Sports North-plus and can be streamed on BTN+.
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.