No. 7 Men's Hockey Closes Fall Semester at No. 15 Notre Dame This WeekendNo. 7 Men's Hockey Closes Fall Semester at No. 15 Notre Dame This Weekend
Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics

No. 7 Men's Hockey Closes Fall Semester at No. 15 Notre Dame This Weekend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The seventh-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions look to close out the fall semester of action strong as they travel to South Bend for a pair of Big Ten Conference games against No. 15 Notre Dame this weekend.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, December 13 | Saturday, December 14
Place: Compton Family Ice Arena
Time: Friday at 7 p.m. | Saturday at 6 p.m.
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats (Both Games)
Game Notes: Penn State | Notre Dame

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 15th and 16th meetings between the two teams with Notre Dame holding the 8-4-2 all-time advantage including the 5-2-1 mark at Compton Family Ice Arena. Last season the teams split the season series both winning one game at home and one game on the road.
  • Senior classmates Nikita Pavlychev and Nate Sucese lead all current Nittany Lions with four career goals against the Irish while senior Liam Folkes and junior Alex Limoges each have three. Senior Brandon Biro leads all Nittany Lions with nine points in 12 games against Notre Dame on a pair of goals and seven assists while Folkes has added seven points.
  • Notre Dame has played spoiler to Penn State the last two seasons knocking them out of the Big Ten Tournament in the semifinals in 2018 and in the Big Ten Championship last season, both 3-2 setbacks.

SCOUTING NOTRE DAME

  • The Irish began the season on an eight-game unbeaten streak going 7-0-1, but have since won just once over their last eight games and are entering the weekend on a five-game losing streak. Notre Dame was averaging 4.13 goals per game during its unbeaten streak, but over the last eight are scoring just 1.63 goals per contest and have been shutout twice.
  • Normally a stout defensive team, Notre Dame ranks fifth in the Big Ten and 40th in the nation allowing 3.06 goals per game after leading the Big Ten and ranking 12th nationally last season allowing just 2.27 goals per game.
  • The Irish did lose three of their top four scorers from last season's roster, two of which were defensemen, as both Bobby Nardella (8-26-34) and Dylan Malmquist (10-20-30) graduated while Andrew Peeke (3-21-24) decided to forgo his final season in South Bend and signed an NHL contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
  • Through 16 games this season, senior Mike O'Leary leads the team with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points, three of those goals have come with the man-advantage to lead the team. Classmates Cal Burke and Cam Morrison have each added ten points with four and three goals, respectively.
  • Michael Graham who burst onto the scene during the second semester last season and finished with a team-high 12 goals has been limited during the fall and has only appeared in nine games with one goal and a trio of assists.
  • Senior goaltender Cale Morris has had an uncharacteristic start to his season after returning from an early injury that saw him miss the first three games of the season, he currently ranks last in the Big Ten among No. 1 goaltenders with an .890 save percentage. Morris is also allowing 3.07 goals per game lightyears behind his 2018-19 totals of .930 and 2.19.
  • The Irish have struggled on special teams so far this season ranking last in the Big Ten on the PK killing just 75.6 percent (34-for-45) of opponent PP chances to rank 53rd in the nation. Notre Dame has allowed at least one power-play goal in four-straight games giving up multiple man-advantage scores in three of those games. The Irish power-play has been slightly better ranking fourth in the Big Ten and 19th in the nation at 21.3 percent (10-for-47), including an 0-for-7 showing last week against Boston College.

B1G A.L.

  • Junior Alex Limoges started the 2019-20 season slow after tying for the national lead with 50 points last season, a Penn State single-season record. He had just one goal and three assists for four points over the first six games of the season, but currently ranks tied for third in the Big Ten and 13th in the nation with 20 points on seven goals and 13 assists.
  • In conference only games, Limoges is tied with teammate Evan Barratt for the Big Ten lead with 12 points in 10 games on six goals and six assists. His six goals are the third most in the conference during league games.
  • Limoges is currently riding a nine-game point-streak (5-9-14), just one game shy of his career-high and two games shy of Barratt's program record set last season.

CHASING HISTORY

  • Senior Nate Sucese continues to lead the Big Ten with 23 points this season, just two points clear of Barratt.
  • After a two-point game against Michigan last Saturday, Sucese now has 125 career points, just three shy of David Goodwin's '17 program record of 128. Sucese also leads all active Big Ten players with his 125 career points good for second nationally.
  • Sucese, who already set the program record for goals earlier this season, ranks first among active players in the Big Ten with 58 career goals, also good for second nationally. He is ahead of teammates Denis Smirnov (48) and Liam Folkes (45) while MSU's Patrick Khodorenko ranks third in the Big Ten with 46 career goals as Penn State has the three of the top-four active goal scorers in the Big Ten.

NO BETTER TIME THAN THE PRESENT

  • Not only is Sucese approaching a Penn State milestone, but six of the top-10 scorers in program history are all current members of the roster. Led by Sucese who ranks second all-time with 125 points, Smirnov (111), Biro (106), Folkes (93), Limoges (91) and Barratt (82) rank fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
  • Smirnov, Folkes, Biro and Limoges also join Sucese in the top-10 on the all-time goals list.

TWO-WAY HOCKEY

  • Penn State is once again leading the nation in scoring averaging 4.29 goals per game, but in a vast improvement from last season the Nittany Lions rank third in the Big Ten and 20th nationally allowing just 2.41 goals per game after ranking 56th in the nation last season allowing 3.56 goals per game.
  • Since joining the Big Ten prior to the 2013-14 season, Penn State has only held opponents to less than three goals per game on average once, during the 2016-17 campaign. En route to the 2017 Big Ten Tournament Championship and their first-ever NCAA appearance, the Nittany Lions allowed just 2.77 goals per game in 39 games played.

SPECIAL DELIVERY

  • Penn State has scored at least one power-play goal in 9-of-11 games ranking second in the nation with 21 power-play goals this season and a 31.3 percent success rate.
  • In conference only games the Nittany Lions are converting at 39.4 percent (13-for-33) through the first 10 games this season with man-advantage tallies in eight of those games.
  • The PK has also been successful for the Nittany Lions ranking third in the Big Ten and 23rd nationally at 83.6 percent (56-for-67).

B1G LEADERS

  • Penn State is two points clear of Ohio State and Michigan State leading the Big Ten with 21 points and a 7-3-0-0 record. The Nittany Lions also have the top six scorers in league games this season led by Evan Barratt's 11 points in eight games while Sam Strernschein's eight goals in eight games leads the conference.
  • The Nittany Lions also have the top three scorers overall in the Big Ten with Sucese, Barratt and Limoges having 23, 21 and 20 points, respectively. Brandon Biro, Liam Folkes and Denis Smirnov are each tied for eighth with 15 points.
  • In conference only games, the Nittany Lions have four of the top five scorers led by Limoges and Barratt with 12 points in 10 games while Sucese and Sam Sternschein follow closely with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Folkes and Smirnov are tied for sixth with nine points each in nine games while Aarne Talvitie and Cole Hults are tied for ninth with eight points each in B1G games.
  • Sternschein's eight goals in conference games lead the Big Ten while Limoges ranks third with six and Sucese is tied for fourth with five.

START FAST, FINISH STRONG

  • Penn State has scored first in 11-of-17 games this season and have a 10-1-0 record when doing so outscoring opponents 18-9 in the first period. The Nittany Lions are also a perfect 9-0-0 when holding a lead entering the third period using a 29-17 scoring edge over the final 20 minutes to close out opponents.

NEXT UP

  • The Nittany Lions will have the next three weeks off for the holidays before returning home after the New Year for a weekend series against the Niagara Purple Eagles on January 3-4, 2020.

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.