No. 9 Men's Hockey Closes Regular-Season Road Slate at Wisconsin This WeekendNo. 9 Men's Hockey Closes Regular-Season Road Slate at Wisconsin This Weekend
Craig Houtz

No. 9 Men's Hockey Closes Regular-Season Road Slate at Wisconsin This Weekend

MADISON, Wis. – The ninth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions conclude their regular-season road schedule with a pair of crucial Big Ten Conference games against the Wisconsin Badgers as playoff seeding hangs in the balance with the top-6 teams in the conference separated by just six points (two games).

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, February 14 | Saturday, February 15
Place: Kohl Center
Time: Friday at 8 p.m. ET | Saturday at 8 p.m. ET
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats (Both Games)
Game Notes: Penn State

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 35th and 36th all-time meetings between Penn State and Wisconsin with the Nittany Lions holding the 19-12-3 series advantage after sweeping the previous series at Pegula Ice Arena back in October. The 19 wins are the most by Penn State against any opponent all-time.
  • From the 2014-15 season through the 2016-17 season, Penn State owned the series winning 12-of-14 meetings, but since the start of the 2017-18 season things have been more even with a record of 6-4-3 in favor of the Nittany Lions. Penn State is 6-6-2 all-time at the Kohl Center.
  • Senior Liam Folkes missed both games against the Badgers earlier in the season following his nine-point onslaught during the 2019 Big Ten Tournament where he scored three goals while adding six assists in the three game quarterfinal series. For his career, Folkes has 17 points in 14 career games against the Badgers scoring 10 goals while adding seven assists.
  • Classmate Nate Sucese leads all active Nittany Lions with 18 points against Wisconsin on 10 goals and eight assists while Denis Smirnov has added nine goals and eight assists for 17 points in 17 career games against Wisconsin. Junior Alex Limoges has also seen success against the Badgers with six goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 13 games.

SCOUTING WISCONSIN

  • The Badgers enter the weekend last in the Big Ten with just 17 points and a 5-14-1-1 record and are currently on a five-game losing streak having won just three times in their last 13 contests.
  • Freshman Cole Caufield leads UW with 32 points this season ranking second in the Big Ten behind Sucese while his 18 goals lead the conference. Caufield has 12 points in his last 10 games with six goals and six assists including his first collegiate hat-trick against Notre Dame back in January. In 20 Big Ten games this season Caufield leads the conference with 22 points on 11 goals and 11 assists.
  • Sophomore Roman Ahcan is second on the team with 10 goals while adding nine assists for 19 points while junior Wyatt Kalynuk ranks second on the team with 23 points on six goals and a team best 17 assists. Junior Linus Weissbach has chipped in with four goals and 16 assists for 20 points.
  • Four Badgers who played over 10 games without a goal, scored last weekend for the Badgers including Jack Gorniak (14 games), Linus Weissbach (14), K'Andre Miller (12) and Dylan Holloway (11), however, the Badgers were swept by Michigan in Ann Arbor.
  • Wisconsin ranks second in the Big Ten averaging 3.04 points per game this season, but have struggled mightily on the defensive side of the puck allowing a league worst 3.75 goals per game to rank 58th nationally our of 60 teams.
  • The Badger power-play has been successful this season ranking third in the Big Ten and 20th in the nation converting 21.6 percent (21-for-97) of their chances including a 2-for-3 effort last weekend against Michigan, however, the penalty kill has struggled ranking sixth in the Big Ten and 49th nationally at 77 percent (77-for-100).

PERFECT POWER-PLAY

  • Last weekend in Columbus the Penn State power-play went a perfect 3-for-3 in the series improving to 28.4 percent (29-for-102) on the season, good for first in the Big Ten and second in the nation.
  • Senior Denis Smirnov and junior Evan Barratt each scored on the man-advantage during a 6-3 victory on Saturday and both are now tied with Casey Bailey and Chase Berger '19 for the Penn State all-time record with 13 power-play goals in their careers.
  • The Nittany Lion PK remains atop the Big Ten as well at 86.3 percent (88-for-102) joining only Minnesota State for having both specialty units in the top-10 nationally. Over the last 13 games, Penn State is 32-for-35 (.914) on the PK, ranking third in the nation in that span.

A CUT ABOVE

  • In a league that has four of the top-14 goaltenders in the nation relative to save percentage, Penn State is the only team in the Big Ten averaging over three goals per game in conference games at 3.35 with Minnesota second at 2.94.
  • Overall, Penn State ranks sixth in the nation averaging 3.63 goals per game and 23rd allowing just 2.57 goals per game nearly a full goal better than the 3.56 average allowed last season which ranked 56th nationally.

ROAD WARRIORS

  • With the victory last Saturday, Penn State improved to 8-4-1 on the road this season, the best mark in the Big Ten and the most road wins in a single-season in program history. The Nittany Lions are averaging a league best 3.77 goals per game on the road, a mark good for sixth in the nation.

PAULY D-FENCE

  • Junior Cole Hults and sophomore Paul DeNaples are once again playing their best hockey of the season coming down the stretch run and are currently a combined +37 ranking first and second in the Big Ten at +21 and +16, respectively. Hults' +21 rating is tied for fifth nationally.
  • In 61 career games as D partners dating back to last season the duo is a combined +61. During the 2018-19 season, DeNaples had the second highest plus/minus rating in program history at +31 ranking first in the Big Ten and third in the nation. Erik Autio '18 currently holds the Penn State single-season record for plus/minus following his +33 junior season in 2016-17 as him and D partner Vince Pedrie were a combined +60.

BLUE-LINE BEAUTY

  • Along with leading the Big Ten in plus/minus, Hults currently leads the conference for points by a defenseman with 27, a mark tied for seventh nationally among blue-liners. His seven goals and 20 assists also pace all defensemen in the Big Ten while his point total is tied for sixth among all players in the conference.
  • Hults, who hasn't missed a single-game in his career, has already set program records this season for points by a defenseman (75) and assists by a defenseman (59), a mark that is tied for sixth overall at Penn State, while his 16 goals are now tied with Pedrie for the second most all-time by a Nittany Lion defenseman, just three shy of teammate Kris Myllari's program record of 19.
  • The junior's 75 points are the most among active defensemen in the Big Ten and tied for the 12th most among active defensemen across the country. Hults is just one-point shy of his single-season career-high achieved last season and sits only three points back of Vince Pedrie's single-season program record for points by a defensemen of 30 set during the 2016-17 season. Hults is also just one goal shy of the Penn State single-season goal record for defensemen held by Pedrie, Myllari and Luke Juha '16.

CUT THE PUCK IN HALF

  • The linemate race to 100 career points is starting to heat up as junior Alex Limoges and senior Liam Folkes continue to go punch-for-punch as each collected three points last weekend to push their career totals to 99.
  • The probability of them each registering their 100th career point on the same goal is highly likely as they play on the same line and the same power-play unit. They would become the seventh and eighth players, respectively, to join the 100-point club at Penn State as both currently sit tied for seventh on the all-time points list.
  • Limoges currently leads all active juniors in the Big Ten in scoring with his 99 career points a mark good for second nationally among third-year players while both him and Folkes are tied for 27th in the nation and sixth in the Big Ten on the active career scoring list.
  • Should the duo connect on the same goal for their 100th career points the puck will have to be cut in half and shared between the two.

HOCKEY VALLEY FIVE-0

  • Penn State hit the magic number five for the first time in eight games during a 6-3 victory over Ohio State last Saturday improving to 11-0-0 on the year when scoring at least five goals. The Nittany Lions are 77-1-2 all-time when scoring five or more goals with the lone loss coming last year at the Kohl Center in an 8-5 defeat.
  • Last weekend the Nittany Lions also scored first in both games improving to 15-1-2 on the year when doing so while also running their record to 14-0-2 when leading entering the third period.

NATE THE GREAT

  • Penn State senior Nate Sucese registered four points last weekend to pull even with Ohio State's Tanner Laczynski for the active Big Ten points lead with 136 for his career, a mark good for second nationally. Sucese currently leads the Big Ten with 34 points on 10 goals and a career-high 24 assists. Sucese is just three points shy of his career-high from last season.
  • Sucese, who has already set Penn State career records for goals (60) and points (136) this season leads all active Big Ten players with 60 career goals, a mark good for second nationally. His 76 career assists are also the second most in program history.

MR. JONES

  • Senior net-minder Peyton Jones secured the ninth weekly award of his career, the most by a single player in Penn State history, earlier this week when he was named the Big Ten's Third Star of the Week after leading the conference with a .924 save percentage and a 2.40 goals against average last weekend while going 1-0-1 at Ohio State.
  • The senior is having a career year this season as his .922 save percentage and 2.58 goals against average are the best of his career while 16 victories this season lead the Big Ten and are tied for ninth nationally. Jones' save percentage ranks fourth in the Big Ten and is tied for 14th nationally while his 74 career wins are the most among active goaltenders in the nation.

NEXT UP

  • The Nittany Lions return home to close out the regular season with a pair of games against the Minnesota Golden Gophers next Friday and Saturday evening. Both games will air nationally on the Big Ten Network at 8:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., respectively. Penn State has won six-straight against the Gophers at Pegula Ice Arena and are 11-2-0 in the last 13 all-time meetings between the two teams.

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.