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Craig Houtz

No. 6 Men's Hockey Resumes B1G Play Against Michigan This Weekend in Hockey Valley


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The sixth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions resume Big Ten play as Michigan travels to Hockey Valley to conclude the season series this weekend at Pegula Ice Arena with puck drop slated for 7 p.m. on Friday night and 6 p.m. on Saturday.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, January 17 | Saturday, January 18
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

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 30th and 31st meetings in the all-time series with Michigan holding the slim 16-13-0 advantage including the 6-3-0 mark in the last nine meetings. The two teams split the earlier series this year in Ann Arbor with the Wolverines earning the 4-1 victory in game one and the Nittany Lions snapping a nine-game losing skid at Yost with a 3-1 win the following night. Penn State is 7-4-0 all-time against Michigan at Pegula Ice Arena including series splits over the past two seasons.
  • Senior Nate Sucese leads all active Nittany Lions with 12 points in 15 career games against Michigan on five goals and seven assists while Evan Barratt has added six goals against the Wolverines to pace the team. Barratt has 10 points in 10 career games while senior Liam Folkes has added nine points in 11 games against Michigan on five goals and four assists.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN

  • The Wolverines enter the weekend winners of five of their last seven games and coming off a series sweep at Notre Dame to open the second semester of action last weekend.
  • Michigan is paced by goalie Strauss Mann between the pipes as the sophomore has a .935 save percentage good for second in the Big Ten and ninth in the nation while his 1.90 goals against average also ranks second and third, respectively. Mann has registered three shutouts so far this season placing him second in the Big Ten and tied for fifth nationally.
  • Offense has been the issue so far for the Wolverines ranking last in the Big Ten and 44th nationally scoring just 2.32 goals per game, however, with the help of Mann and the defense, Michigan leads the Big Ten and ranks tied for fifth nationally allowing just 2.05 goals per game.
  • Michigan is led on offense by a pair of seniors in Jake Slaker and Will Lockwood with 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Slaker paces the team with six goals as the Wolverines have spread out most of its goal scoring with 18 players having at least one goal on the season and six players with four goals or more.
  • Since the calendar turned to December, Michigan has allowed just 11 goals in seven games for an average of 1.57 goals per game, but in its five victories the Wolverines haven't surrendered more than a single goal. In fact, out of nine wins this season, Michigan has only allowed more than one goal once, a 4-3 victory against Lake Superior State back on October 19.

HOBEY HOPEFULS

  • Senior goaltender Peyton Jones and junior defenseman Cole Hults were each named to the initial list of 78 candidates who were nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award earlier this week.
  • This marks the second time in his career that Jones has been nominated after earning the same distinction as a freshman while Hults is making his first appearance on the list of nominees.
  • Jones leads the Big Ten and ranks tied for fourth in the nation with his 14 wins this season while his 72 career victories are the most among active goaltenders across the nation.
  • The senior's 38 career Big Ten victories are also a new league standard as he passed Eric Shierhorn's total of 34 back in November. Coincidentally enough, Jones registered career Big Ten win's 34 and 35 against Minnesota at Mariucci Arena back in November.
  • Jones' .926 save percentage and 2.37 goals against average are current career bests while both rank fourth in the Big Ten and good for 16th and 29th in the nation, respectively.
  • Hults currently leads the entire Big Ten with a plus-15 rating which is good for 11th nationally, but tied for fifth among blue-liners.
  • The junior is currently on pace to shatter his career-high for points as he leads all Big Ten defensemen and ranks eighth in the conference with 19 points through the first 22 games this season on four goals and 15 assists. His point total is also tied for eighth nationally among defensemen. Hults' 15 assists are the third highest mark in the Big Ten and tops among defensemen while his four goals rank tied for third among blue-liners in the conference.
  • Earlier this year, Hults became the Penn State all-time leader in points by a defenseman, a record which now stands at 67. Hults' 54 career assists are also the most-ever by a Nittany Lion blue-liner and rank tied for sixth all-time in program history. The junior is just 11 points shy of Vince Pedrie's single-season program record for points by a defenseman with at least 14 games remaining on the schedule.
  • Hults is currently riding a mini three-game point streak and has at least one point in six of his last eight games.

DEFENSIVE SHIFT

  • Penn State has dropped its goals against average by more than a full goal per game from last season to 2.27 through the first 22 games of 2019-20 ranking third in the Big Ten and 15th nationally. Through 22 games in 2018-19 PSU was allowing 3.68 goals per game.
  • The Nittany Lions have surrendered just 50 goals this season through 22 games compared to 81 last season at this point.
  • With tighter defense and strong goaltending being key factors to the turnaround, Penn State has also excelled on the penalty kill this season leading the Big Ten and ranking 12th nationally killing 86.2 percent (69-for-80) of opponent power-plays. Penn State hasn't allowed a power-play tally over the last five games going 17-for-17 on the PK.
  • Over the first 22 games, Penn State has held opponents to two goals or less 13 times going 12-1-0 in such games. In 2018-19, the Nittany Lions had just 15 games out of 39 where they allowed two or less goals going 15-0-0.
  • The Nittany Lions have also posted three shutouts this season tying the program record for most shutouts in a season set during the 2016-17 season when they also had three.

ALEXANDRE THE GREAT

  • Junior Alex Limoges returned to the lineup last Saturday after missing the previous four games and he picked right back up where he left off extending his point-streak to 10-games to tie his career-high following his empty net goal.
  • Limoges has six goals and ten assists for 16 points during the streak, which is just one game shy of Evan Barratt's program record of 11-straight games with a point from last season.

START FAST, FINISH STRONG

  • Penn State has scored first in 14-of-22 games this season, included all three to open the semester, and have a 13-1-0 record when doing so. The Nittany Lions are also a perfect 12-0-0 when holding a lead entering the third period using a 35-19 scoring edge over the final 20 minutes to close out opponents.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS

  • Following a post-game stat correction to the game's first goal, senior Nate Sucese collected a trio of assists during a 6-2 victory over Robert Morris last Saturday moving him past David Goodwin '17 and into the top spot on the Penn State all-time points list with 129 for his career. The senior also set the Penn State all-time goals record earlier this season and his 71 career assists are tied for the second most in program history.
  • Sucese's 129 points are the second most among active players in the Big Ten only behind Ohio State's Tanner Laczynski with 130 and rank third nationally while his 58 career goals lead the Big Ten and rank second nationally.

.500

  • With last Saturday's victory, Head Coach Guy Gadowsky improved his all-time record to 314-314-56 reaching a .500 winning percentage. Gadowsky passed longtime AIC coach Gary Wright for the 79th most victories all-time throughout all divisions.
  • Among Division I coaches all-time, Gadowsky ranks 45th with his 314 victories and is currently 13th among active NCAA Division I coaches and second in the Big Ten behind Notre Dame's Jeff Jackson.

BEST IN THE B1G

  • With each team at the midpoint of their conference schedule, Penn State remains on top with an 8-4-0-0 record and 24 points sitting two points clear of Michigan State and Ohio State.
  • Penn State also accounts for five of the top-10 scorers in the conference with Sucese leading the way with 27 points while junior Evan Barratt (25), Limoges (21), Hults (19) and Biro (18) rank second, fifth, eighth and ninth, respectively, in the Big Ten.
  • Junior Sam Sternschein's team-leading 11 goals are also good for second in the conference tied with MSU's Patrick Khodorenko and just two shy of Wisconsin's Cole Caufield for the Big Ten lead. Limoges, Folkes and Sucese are tied for sixth in the Big Ten with eight goals each.
  • In conference only games, the Nittany Lions account for eight of the top-11 scorers as Barratt leads the way with 13 points on five goals and eight assists while Limoges and Sucese are tied for second with 12 points each. Sternschein's eight goals in 12 Big Ten games tie for the conference lead with Khodorenko while Limoges is tied for third with six goals in B1G games and Smirov, Barratt and Sucese each adding five to tie for sixth.

GETTING CROWDED

  • Not only is Sucese at the top of the record books, but six of the top-10 scorers in program history are all current members of the roster. Led by Sucese with 129 points, Smirnov (113), Biro (109), Folkes (94), Limoges (92) and Barratt (86) 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 YEARS AND COUNTING

  • Penn State enters the 2020 calendar year having been ranked in the uscho.com poll consecutively for more than two years.
  • The Nittany Lions have been ranked in the top-20 in each of the last 54 consecutive polls having spent 20 weeks in the top-10 during that time including the last 10 polls.
  • Penn State is 84-57-9 all-time when ranked including a 25-19-3 record when ranked in the top-10.

OH HOW SWEEP IT IS

  • By finishing off the season sweep of RMU last Saturday, Penn State now has five series sweeps so far this season, which is already more than the three series sweeps they posted in 2017-18.
  • Penn State's record for most series sweeps in a single-season is eight registered during the 2016-17 season. The Nittany Lions registered five series sweeps in 2014-15 and four each in 2015-16 and 2017-18.

NEXT UP

  • The Nittany Lions hit the road for a crucial Big Ten series in East Lansing with the 20th ranked Spartans of Michigan State. Six conference points are on the line and the race for home ice is tightening up atop the standings.

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.