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Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics

No. 11/10 Men's Hockey Closes Out Regular-Season Against No. 18 Minnesota This Weekend


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 11 Penn State welcomes No. 18 Minnesota to Pegula Ice Arena for a pair of Big Ten Conference games this weekend to close out the regular season with a battle for first-place as both teams sit tied atop the conference standings with 36 points.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, February 21 | Saturday, February 22
Place: Pegula Ice Arena
Time: Friday at 8:30 p.m. | Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
TV: Big Ten Network
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 30th and 31st meetings all-time between Minnesota and Penn State with the Gophers holding the slim 15-14-0 series advantage, however, the Nittany Lions are 8-6-0 against Minnesota at Pegula Ice Arena including six-straight victories in the building dating back to the end of the 2017-18 campaign.
  • Ever since a 4-3 double-overtime victory in Detroit during the 2017 Big Ten Tournament semifinals, Penn State has controlled the series with an 11-2-0 record including its first-ever sweep of Minnesota at Mariucci back in November outscoring the Gophers 14-5 in the two game series.
  • Penn State is outscoring Minnesota 63-36, averaging 4.85 goals per game, during this current 13-game stretch including a 34-15 advantage during its current six-game home winning streak against the Gophers.
  • Both teams are currently tied atop the Big Ten standings with 36 points, three points clear of Michigan in second and five points ahead of Michigan State and Ohio State as first through fifth are separated by just five points.Minnesota and all teams not named Wisconsin each have two games in hand on Penn State as the Nittany Lions wrap up their regular season with these games this weekend.
  • Junior Alex Limoges leads all active Nittany Lions with 16 points on nine goals and seven assists against Minnesota as the BFL Line has dominated the Gophers over the past three seasons with Liam Folkes adding 13 points (5G, 8A) and Evan Barratt collecting 12 points in just eight games with four goals and eight assists. Senior classmates Denis Smirnov and Nate Sucese have added 15 and 14 points, respectively, each having scored seven goals against the Gophers in their careers.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA

  • Since play resumed following the holiday break, Minnesota has lost just twice having gone 9-2-1 over its last 12 games, including a 7-2-1 mark in the Big Ten to jump into a first-place tie with Penn State at 36 points.
  • The Gophers are paced by last season's Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Sammy Walker with 27 points on 10 goals and 17 assists this season. Walker is currently riding a six-game point-streak (3-8-11) and has registered five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in 12 games since the beginning of the Mariucci Classic at the end of December. His 16 points over this two-month stretch are the second most in the Big Ten just a single point shy of Michigan's Jake Slaker. Walker's 27 points are tied for the seventh most in the Big Ten.
  • Scott Reedy leads all Gophers with 15 goals, nine of which have come since the start of the semester including five in his last five games. Both Reedy and Blake McLaughlin have added 21 points for the Gophers while Brannon McManus and Ben Meyers have 23 and 22, respectively. Sampo Ranta ranks second on the team with 11 goals.
  • Between the pipes, Minnesota has split time between transfer Jack LaFontaine and freshman Jared Moe with each registering seven wins while Moe has the slightly better numbers with a 2.46 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.
  • The Gophers have struggled on the power-play all season ranking last in the Big Ten and 42nd nationally with just 16 goals on 100 chances (16 percent) while the PK has been slightly better at 81.8 percent (72-for-88) to rank tied for 22nd nationally and third in the Big Ten.

ALEXANDRE THE GREAT

  • Last Friday night junior Alex Limoges became the fastest player in program history to reach 100 career points securing the feat in just his 103rd career game, one game faster than Andrew Sturtz (104th game).
  • Limoges and linemate Liam Folkes also became the first two Nittany Lions to register their 100th career points on the same play as Limoges set up Folkes for the goal. The pair became the seventh and eighth players in Penn State history to hit the 100-point mark.
  • Limoges is currently riding a five-game point streak (3-5-8) and has taken over the Big Ten scoring lead with 23 points in 20 conference games on nine goals and 14 assists. Overall, Limoges has 11 goals and 21 assists for 32 points ranking tied for third in the conference and 21st nationally a year after leading the nation in points with 50.
  • The junior's 103 points are good for the most in the Big Ten among juniors and ranks second nationally for third year players behind only Quinnipiac's Odeen Tufto with 117 points. Limoges is tied for 22nd among all active players throughout the country and sixth in the Big Ten, as Penn State represents six of the top-nine active scoring leaders in the Big Ten.

THAT'S ALL FOLKES

  • Senior Liam Folkes became the seventh or eighth (depending how you score it) Nittany Lion in program history to reach 100 career points last weekend with his first goal on Friday at Wisconsin. Junior Alex Limoges assisted the goal and also reached 100 career points in the process.
  • The senior may very well have played against Wisconsin for the final time in his career last weekend and we're pretty sure the Badgers are okay with that. In 17 career games against Wisconsin, Folkes has 12 goals and nine assists for 21 points, 20.5 percent of his total points and 25 percent of his total goals have come against the Badgers including four of his seven career multi-goal games.
  • Folkes has also ended Wisconsin's season twice in overtime over the past three years including the "Golden Goal" to win the 2017 Big Ten Tournament Championship in double-overtime at Joe Louis Arena.
  • The senior currently ranks eighth on the Penn State all-time scoring list and fifth on the all-time goals list.

CLASS ACT

  • Saturday's contest marks the final regular-season home game for 10 seniors, the largest class in program history and arguably one of the most decorated senior classes throughout the nation.
  • Entering the weekend, the senior class has accounted for 84 victories over their four years, just two shy of the most-ever by a single class, a distinction held by the class of 2019 with 86 wins.
  • The group boasts four of the top-10 scorers in program history led by Penn State's all-time leading scorer, Nate Sucese with 137 points and followed by Denis Smirnov (115), Brandon Biro (113) and Liam Folkes (102) in fourth, fifth and eighth, respectively. The group also features Peyton Jones, the most decorated goalie in program history who holds nearly every single-season and career goaltending record at Penn State.
  • The 2020 senior class has played in a total 1,133 games entering the weekend having registered 630 points on 257 goals and 373 assists and has four 100-point scorers.

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 +39 ranking first and second in the Big Ten at +22 and +17, respectively, as Penn State actually has the top-five players in relation to plus/minus in the Big Ten. Hults' +22 rating is tied for fourth nationally.
  • In 63 career games as D partners dating back to last season the duo is a combined +63. 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.
  • DeNaples also scored on an absolute blast last Friday and now has a new career-high with 3 goals this season.

KILL OR BE KILLED

  • Last weekend the Penn State power-play was kept off the board for just the second time all-season going 0-for-4 in the series, but still leads the Big Ten and ranks second in the nation converting 27.4 percent (29-for-106) of its man-advantage opportunities.
  • The Nittany Lion PK remains atop the Big Ten as well, ranking sixth nationally, at 87.0 percent (94-for-108) joining only Minnesota State for having both specialty units in the top-10 nationally. Over the last 15 games, Penn State is 38-for-41 (.927) on the PK, ranking first in the nation during that span.
  • Senior Denis Smirnov and junior Evan Barratt each scored on the man-advantage during a 6-3 victory over Ohio State two weeks ago 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.

NEXT UP

  • The Nittany Lions have the final weekend of the regular season off and will await seeding to see where and who they may play in the Big Ten Tournament, which begins March 6-8 with the best-of-three quarterfinal round. If Penn State earns the No. 1 seed, they won't play again until the Big Ten semifinals on March 14.

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.