COLUMBUS, Ohio – The ninth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions look to rebound after a tough weekend as they travel to No. 13 Ohio State for a pair of crucial Big Ten Conference games as the battle for first place is on the line between the two top teams in the conference standings.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, February 7 | Saturday, February 8
Place: Value City Arena
Time: Friday at 7 p.m. | Saturday at 5 p.m.
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats (Both Games)
Game Notes: Penn State | Ohio State
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This weekend marks the 30th and 31st meetings between the two programs with Ohio State holding the 16-11-2 advantage following a series split at Penn State back in November. The Nittany Lions took the first game 5-4 before the Buckeyes secured the 4-3 victory the following night. OSU is 7-5-1 all-time against PSU at Value City Arena.
- With four weeks remaining in the regular season, both teams are currently tied atop the Big Ten standings with 29 points and identical 9-7-2-0 conference records. Michigan State, Notre Dame and Minnesota are each just a single point behind in a tie for third with 28 points.
- The teams faced off in Columbus three times in 2018-19. They split a series in Columbus Nov. 23-24, 2018, with a 4-3 PSU win and 5-2 Buckeye victory. The Nittany Lions won a Big Ten Tournament semifinal matchup, posting a 5-1 win March 17, 2019 in Columbus.
- The Buckeyes are 9-1-2 this season at Value City Arena, the best home winning percentage in the conference, and are unbeaten in their last ten home games (8-0-2). Ohio State is also 6-0-2 this season at home in Big Ten play. Penn State has had its most successful road season in program history to this point with a 7-4-0 record as the seven wins are a single-season program record for road wins.
- Senior Brandon Biro leads all current Nittany Lions with 14 points in 13 career games against Ohio State scoring six goals while adding eight assists. Junior Evan Barratt has added five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 11 career games against the Buckeyes. Junior Alex Limoges also has 12 career points against Ohio State on four goals and eight assists while senior Liam Folkes has added five goals and seven points.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
- The Buckeyes enter the weekend during a mini rough patch much like Penn State with wins in just two of their last seven games and have slipped to No. 13 in the latest uscho.com poll.
- Ohio State, 16-9-3 this season, is scoring 2.71 goals a game (34th nationally), while allowing 2.29 a night (14th in the nation). The power play is seventh in the nation, converting 25.7 percent (28-for-109) while the PK is 74-of-88 (84.1 percent).
- Senior Tanner Laczynski leads the team with 19 assists and 26 points while sophomore Gustaf Westlund has a team-best 12 goals and is second with 24 points. Sophomore Quinn Preston is second on the team with 11 goals, followed by senior Carson Meyer with 10. Meyer ranks third on the team with 20 points.
- In goal, junior Tommy Nappier has a 2.06 goals-against average and .929 save percentage, posting a 13-8-2 record in 24 games. Both his goals against average and save percentage rank third in the Big Ten and are good for 14th and 11th in the nation, respectively. Freshman Ryan Snowden has a 2.52 goals-against average and .905 save percentage, notching a 3-1-1 record, in five appearances.
- Gordi Myer leads all current Buckeyes with 15 career games played vs. Penn State. Junior Tanner Laczynski has a team-best 12 assists and 17 points vs. the Nittany Lions in 11 games. Laczynski and sophomore Gustaf Westlund (in seven games) each have five goals vs. PSU to lead the Buckeyes.
B1G MAN ON CAMPUS
- At 6'8" senior Nikita Pavlychev is one of three players in the NCAA that share the distinction of tallest player joining Stephen Mundinger of Maine and Keenan Suthers of St. Lawrence. There are then six players at 6'7".
- Last weekend against Notre Dame, Pavlychev scored in each game bringing his season goal total to six. With 35 career goals, Pavlychev ranks just outside the top-10 all-time at Penn State. It was the second time this season Pavlychev has scored in both games of a series each coming in the last month as his four goals since Christmas break lead the team.
- Pavlychev has found new chemistry with freshman Connor McMenamin since being paired together at the beginning of January and in eight games total as linemates since then, lines featuring the pair have combined for 11 of the 24 goals the Nittany Lions have scored in those contests including three of the five goals scored against the Irish last weekend.
STERN OFFENSE
- Although he has only three goals in his last 16 games, junior Sam Sternschein continues to lead the team with a career-high 12 tallies, tied for the third most in the Big Ten. The junior is also just one point shy of his career-high of 18 points registered last season. Penn State is 9-0-1 on the year when Sternschein scores.
NATIONAL NEMESIS
- Penn State senior Nate Sucese and Ohio State senior Tanner Laczynski have been battling back-and-forth this season for the active Big Ten career points lead which the latter currently holds at 135 points, three clear of Sucese with 132. The duo currently rank second and third in the nation for active scorers.
- Sucese, who has already set Penn State career records for goals (60) and points (132) this season leads all active Big Ten players with 60 career goals, a mark good for second nationally. His 72 career assists are tied for the second most in program history.
SPECIALTY UNITS
- Penn State has been excellent this season on special teams and is one of just three teams nationally to have two top-10 units joining Minnesota State and Clarkson. The Nittany Lion penalty kill leads the Big Ten and ranks seventh in the nation at 86.6 percent (84-for-97). Over the last 11 games, Penn State is 32-for-34 on the PK.
- Penn State's power-play also leads the Big Ten and ranks sixth in the nation converting 26.3 percent of the time (26-for-99). However, the Nittany Lions have been held without a power-play tally in four-straight games and have failed to convert on their last 10 man-advantage opportunities.
B1G MAC
- Freshman Connor McMenamin netted the overtime winner against Michigan State two weeks ago giving him three game-winning goals this season, each coming in the month of January, to tie for the team lead.
- The rookie saw his career-best four-game point streak snapped last Saturday as he was held off the scoresheet just one night after registering his first career multi-point game with a pair of assists during a 3-3 tie last Friday.
BLUE-LINE BEAUTY
- Junior Cole Hults currently leads the Big Ten with a +18 rating, a mark good for 11th nationally and sixth among defensemen. His 24 points are also the most among defensemen in the conference and tied for seventh overall while ranking tied for eighth in the nation for blue-liners.
- Hults, who hasn't missed a single-game in his career, has already set program records this season for points by a defenseman (72) and assists by a defenseman (58), a mark that is good for sixth overall at Penn State, while his 14 goals are the fourth-most all-time by a Nittany Lion defenseman.
- The junior's 72 points are tied for the most among active defensemen in the Big Ten and tied for the 12th most among active defensemen across the country. Hults is just four points shy of his single-season career-high achieved last season and sits only six points back of Vince Pedrie's single-season program record for points by a defensemen of 30 set during the 2016-17 season.
CHASING 100
- Both Liam Folkes and Alex Limoges have 96 career points to rank seventh on the Penn State all-time points list entering the weekend. Folkes has just one goal and five points in his last 14 games after registering a hat-trick against Merrimack on November 29.
NEXT UP
- The Nittany Lions continue their mini road swing with a trip to Wisconsin for a pair of Big Ten games next Friday and Saturday.
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.