UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Nittany Lions finish off a four in seven trip with a pair of games at Ohio State on Friday and Saturday evening before returning to Pegula Ice Arena for a six-game homestand beginning on January 15.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, January 8 | Saturday, January 9
Place: Value City Arena | Columbus, Ohio
Time: 5:30 p.m.
TV: BTN+
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State
PEGULA ICE ARENA FAN CUTOUTS
- The Penn State Hockey season is going to be like no other. It's not going to be the same without the strength of all our fans cheering from the stands. As we prepare for the 2020 season, Penn State fans still have the opportunity to make their mark in Pegula Ice Arena by purchasing a fan cutout!
- The cutouts are $45 and will be added to Pegula Ice Arena as purchased throughout the season. LINK TO BUY.
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This week marks the 32nd and 33rd meetings in the all-time series with Ohio State holding the 16-12-3 edge and the slim 7-6-2 mark at Value City Arena.
- Penn State has won the season series two of the last three years including last year taking seven of the possible 12 points with a 2-1-1-0 record.
- Only six current Nittany Lions have points against Ohio State in their careers with only three players having goals against the Buckeyes. Senior Alex Limoges leads all current Nittany Lions with five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 12 games. Senior Sam Sternschein and junior Aarne Talvitie are the only other two Nittany Lions with goals against OSU with two and one, respectively, while each have three points.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
- The Buckeyes struggled during Phase I of the 2020-21 schedule going just 3-6-1 over 10 games including three-straight losses to open the season.
- Ohio State is without the services of three of its top five scorers from last seasons roster including leading scorer Tanner Laczynski (11-23-34) and leading goal scorer Carson Meyer (17-14-31).
- Quinn Preston was second on the team last year with 15 goals and currently leads the team with four goals so far this season while adding three assists for seven points.
- Freshman Travis Treloar leads the Buckeyes with nine points on three goals and six assists through the first 10 games of the season.
- A mainstay between the pipes for the past three seasons, Tommy Nappier returns as a senior and has started all 10 games so far this season posting a .918 save percentage and a 2.75 goals-against average ranking third and fifth in the Big Ten, respectively.
- OSU has been solid on the powerplay this season ranking 15th nationally converting at 25 percent (8-for-32) while struggling slightly on the PK at 79.4 percent (27-for-34) to rank 30th in the nation.
- The Buckeye defense has sacrificed their bodies each night ranking fourth in the nation and second in the Big Ten with 146 blocked shots averaging 14.6 per contest.
AUTIO-MATIC
- Junior Oskar Autio secured his first shutout of the season on Sunday afternoon during a 1-0 victory over Michigan State.
- The shutout was the third of his career moving him into a tie with Matthew Skoff '16 for second on the Penn State all-time career shutouts list just one shy of Peyton Jones' '20 program record of four.
- The shutout was also Autio's first-ever against a Big Ten opponent and the first in conference for Penn State since December 2, 2017 against Ohio State. The 1-0 victory also marked the first time in program history that the Nittany Lions won a game with the final score being 1-0.
- After a slow opening month of the season, Autio has now won three-straight contests and has posted a .922 save percentage and a 2.23 goals-against average since the calendar turned to December ranking fourth in the Big Ten in each category during that stretch and third among goalies with multiple starts only behind Minnesota's Jake LaFontaine and Michigan State's Drew DeRidder.
FULLY CHARGED
- After going just 1-for-16 on the powerplay over the first five games of the season, including an 0-for-12 start, Penn State has regained its man-advantage swagger having scored at least one powerplay goal in four of the last five games going 7-for-14 in the process including a 4-for-6 mark against Michigan on December 3. Since December third, the 50 percent conversion rate leads the entire nation.
- Following the hot stretch, the Nittany Lion powerplay currently stands at 26.7 percent (8-for-30) and has jumped from near the bottom nationally to 7th out of the 50 teams who have played games so far this season. Even with such a strong stretch with the man-advantage, Penn State still only ranks third out of the seven Big Ten teams.
- Senior Alex Limoges has tallied a man-advantage goal in four of the last five contests moving into a tie with four other former Nittany Lions for first on the Penn State all-time powerplay goal list with 13 for his career.
- Limoges' four powerplay goals this season lead the Big Ten and are tied for third nationally while his six powerplay points are good for second in the conference and tied for 12th in the nation.
- For all the recent powerplay success, the penalty kill continues to struggle ranking last in the Big Ten and 46th nationally at just 70.4 percent (19-for-27). The Nittany Lions have allowed at least one man-advantage goal in seven of their 10 games played this season.
B1G AL
- Limoges leads all active Big Ten players in points with 113 for his career to rank third nationally. His 47 career goals are also the most among active players in the Big Ten and rank second nationally.
- After a slow start against Minnesota in the season opening series, Limoges has registered at least one point in six of the last eight games including four multi-point efforts.
- During this hot streak, Limoges has slowly moved up the PSU record books and now ranks sixth on the all-time points and goals lists and fifth on the all-time assists list.
COMEBACK KIDS
- The Nittany Lions got in a hole early against Arizona State in its last game before the holiday break as the Sun Devils scored three goals on three shots in a 69 second span early in the first period.
- The Nittany Lions never hung their heads coming all the way back to tie the contest just 4:21 into the second period and Penn State eventually won the game in overtime 5-4.
- The three-goal comeback victory ties the largest comeback in program history and it was the first time Penn State has comeback from a three-goal deficit since January 23, 2015 against Northern Michigan.
NEXT UP
- Penn State returns home to begin a six-game homestand with a series against Michigan State beginning on January 15.
For more information on the 2020-21 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.