UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The eighth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions open the New Year with a pair of games against the Niagara Purple Eagles 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 3 | Saturday, January 4
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 | Niagara
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This weekend marks just the sixth and seventh meetings between the two schools with Penn State holding the 4-0-1 all-time record including a perfect 4-0-0 in the last four.
- The Nittany Lions are outscoring the Purple Eagles 23-6 over the previous five games while not allowing Niagara to score more than two goals in any contest.
- Penn State swept Niagara last season winning 8-2 and 4-1 with the BFL line leading the charge with four goals and nine assists for 13 points over the weekend. Barratt paced the trio with five points while Folkes and Limoges added four each.
- Folkes and senior Denis Smirnov are the only active Nittany Lions with multiple goals against the Purple Eagles as Smirnov leads all players with seven points on two goals and five assists in four career games against Niagara.
- In two career starts against Niagara, senior goaltender Peyton Jones is 2-0-0 with 56 saves on 58 shots sporting a 1.00 goals against average and a .966 save percentage.
SCOUTING NIAGARA
- Niagara returns nine of its top-10 scorers from last season including each of its top-5 led by leading scorer Ludwig Stenlund who tied for second in the nation with 23 goals last season while leading the Purple Eagles with 42 points. Another 40-point scorer in Noah Delmas is also back after scoring 15 goals while adding a team-high 25 assists last season.
- Freshman Ryan Naumovski currently leads the team with 11 points, all assists, while Stenlund has added 10 points on five goals and five assists. Jack Billings is tied for the team-lead with Stenlund with five goals.
- Between the pipes Brian Wilson is back for his third season and is currently sporting a .929 save percentage and a 2.23 goals against average ranking second and eighth in Atlantic Hockey and 12th and 22nd nationally. Wilson also has two shutouts on the season.
- Though Wilson has had success keeping the puck out of the net, the Purple Eagles have struggled to fill the opposition's averaging just 1.94 goals per game to rank last in Atlantic Hockey and 53rd nationally. Niagara is allowing 2.81 goals per game to sit in the middle of the pack at 34th in the nation.
- Niagara has also struggled on special teams so far this season scoring just seven power-play goals on 63 chances (11.1 percent) to rank last in the Atlantic and 53rd nationally. The Purple Eagles entered the holiday break zero for their last 11 with the man-advantage after scoring two-straight power-play goals to open a 4-3 victory against Air Force on November 29th. The PK has also struggled ranking 46th in the nation killing just 78.1 percent of opponent power-plays (57-for-73).
B1G ADVANTAGE
- Penn State has a history of success against Atlantic Hockey teams compiling a 34-14-2 all-time record against the conference.
- In recent years that record is even stronger as the Nittany Lions are 16-2-0 against Atlantic teams since the start of the 2016-17 season with the only two losses coming during the 2017-18 campaign against AIC and Mercyhurst. In those 18 games Penn State is averaging 5.67 goals per game and is outscoring its opponents 102-49.
CHASING HISTORY
- Senior Nate Sucese continues to lead the Big Ten with 24 points this season, just two points clear of teammate Evan Barratt.
- Sucese also has 126 career points, just two shy of David Goodwin's '17 program record of 128 while leading all active Big Ten players and ranking 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 (49) and Liam Folkes (45) while MSU's Patrick Khodorenko ranks third in the Big Ten with 47 career goals as Penn State has the three of the top-four active goal scorers in the Big Ten.
GETTING CROWDED
- 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 126 points, Smirnov (112), Biro (108), Folkes (94), Limoges (91) and Barratt (83) 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.
LENDING A HELPING HAND
- Junior defenseman Cole Hults collected a pair of assists during Penn State's 4-2 victory at Notre Dame three weeks ago giving him 51 for his career, which is now the Penn State all-time record for assists by a defenseman and the seventh most all-time
- A couple weeks prior, Hults became Penn State's all-time leader in points by a defenseman, a record that currently stands at 64.
- Hults currently leads the Big Ten and ranks sixth in the nation in defensemen scoring with 16 points on four goals and a conference-best 12 assists.
EVAN ALMIGHTY
- While he may have a flare for the dramatic scoring highlight reel goals, Evan Barratt ranks just outside the top-10 in Penn State history with 34 career goals. However, with his 12th career power-play goal against Notre Dame, Barratt is now tied with Smirnov for second in program history for the most power-play goals just one shy of Chase Berger and Casey Bailey's program record of 13.
- Barratt's seven career game-winning goals are also tied for third all-time, just three shy of Smirnov's program record of 10.
- The junior currently ranks second in the Big Ten with 22 points on seven goals and 15 assists in 19 games this season. His assist and goal totals rank second and tied for seventh in the conference.
- Barratt has 83 points in 83 career games averaging 1.00 points per game, the most-ever in Penn State history. Current teammates Alex Limoges (0.98 PPG) and Nate Sucese (0.95 PPG) rank second and third.
TWO YEARS AND COUNTING
- Penn State enters the 2020 calendar year having been ranked in the uscho.com poll for the past two years.
- The Nittany Lions have been ranked in the top-20 in each of the last 52 consecutive polls having spent 18 weeks in the top-10 during that time including the last eight polls of 2019.
- Penn State is 81-57-9 all-time when ranked including a 22-19-3 record when ranked in the top-10.
PEYTON 'BONES' JONES
- Senior goaltender Peyton Jones secured his 70th career victory against Notre Dame a few weeks ago as he continues to stretch his Penn State record and remains the winningest active goaltender in the NCAA.
- Jones' 12 victories this season lead the Big Ten and are tied for third in the nation while his .924 save percentage and 2.42 goals against average rank fourth in the Big Ten and are both currently career-bests.
- The senior's 38 career Big Ten victories are a new league standard as he recently passed Eric Shierhorn's total of 34. Coincidentally enough, Jones registered career Big Ten win's 34 and 35 against Minnesota at Mariucci Arena back in November.
START FAST, FINISH STRONG
- Penn State has scored first in 11-of-19 games this season and have a 10-1-0 record when doing so, however, the Nittany Lions have scored just once in the first period over the last five games leading into the holiday break. The Nittany Lions are also a perfect 9-0-0 when holding a lead entering the third period using a 32-18 scoring edge over the final 20 minutes to close out opponents.
NEXT UP
- The Nittany Lions will take a quick trip west to Pittsburgh as they close out the season series against Robert Morris with a single contest next Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.
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.