UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Nittany Lions return to competition after a 34-day layoff due to positive COVID-19 results among Penn State's tier I personnel. Penn State will travel to South Bend for a pair of Big Ten Conference games to close out the regular season on March 5-6 against Notre Dame.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, March 5 | Saturday, March 6
Place: Compton Family Ice Arena | South Bend, Indiana
Time: FRI: 7:45 p.m. | SAT: 5:30 p.m.
TV: FRI: NBCSN | SAT: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This week marks the 21st and 22nd meetings all-time between the two programs with Notre Dame holding the 11-6-3 advantage including a 6-3-1 mark at Compton Family Ice Arena.
- The teams have been more even over the past two-plus seasons splitting four of the five series they played including each of the last two at Compton. 12 of the 20 games in the series have been decided by a goal or less with 17 of the 20 decided by two or less goals and seven games needing overtime.
- Only six current Nittany Lions have scored against the Irish led by Alex Limoges with five goals and one assist for six points in 14 games including the overtime game winner in the opening game of the season series back in January. Sam Sternschein has added three goals 15 games while both Aarne Talvitie and Tyler Gratton have added a pair in seven and five games, respectively.
- Junior Oskar Autio now has three appearances and a pair of starts against the Irish for his career with a .922 save percentage and a 2.22 goals-against average.
- The 34-day layoff between games for Penn State is tied for the longest in-season stretch without a game for the Nittany Lions since an identical 34 days between contests during the 2016-17 holiday season. The Nittany Lions split the ensuing series against Ohio State once returning to the ice losing 3-0 in the first game before securing a 4-2 victory in game two.
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
- Notre Dame swept Michigan State on the road last weekend with a pair of shutout victories and are 4-3-1 since last playing the Nittany Lions to close out January.
- The Irish are now 9-2-1 on the road this season, but just 3-10-1 at home and 1-8-1 in Big Ten games at Compton Family Ice Arena including an 0-6-1 mark in their last seven conference games on home ice. Notre Dame last won a Big Ten game at home on December 12 against Ohio State.
- Junior Alex Steeves leads an Irish offense that ranks fifth in the Big Ten averaging 2.65 goals per game with 28 points on 14 goals and 14 assists. His 28 points are good for the fourth most in the Big Ten while his 14 goals rank third. Steeves is currently riding a four-game point streak and has eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in his last 11 games.
- Senior Colin Theisen and freshman Landon Slaggert have each chipped in seven goals while Graham Slaggert has added six goals and a team-best 18 assists for 24 points.
- Senior Dylan St. Cyr has raised his save percentage nearly 30 points since last playing Penn State as he went 4-2-1 with a league leading .944 save percentage during the month of February while holding opponents to just 1.73 goals per game. St. Cyr was brilliant last week against the Spartans collecting back-to-back shutouts stopping all 56 shots he saw.
- The Notre Dame powerplay has improved slightly over the past month up to 18.2 percent (12-for-66), good for fifth in the Big Ten and tied for 25th nationally up 20 spots since these teams last met to close out January.
POSTSEASON WATCH
- The 2021 Big Ten Tournament is set to begin on Sunday March 14 with three quarterfinal games followed by the semifinals on Monday and the Championship on Tuesday. All games will be played at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend.
- With the conference deeming Big Ten winning percentage as the factor in determining seeding, Penn State can finish no lower than fifth and as high as third should the Nittany Lion sweep Notre Dame compiled with three-straight losses by Michigan to close out the regular season. Penn State is currently fifth and Notre Dame is fourth.
- The most likely scenario is Penn State finishing either fourth of fifth and returning in eight days for a rematch with the Irish in the Big Ten Quarterfinals
AND THE OSKAR GOES TO
- Junior goaltender Oskar Autio was hitting his stride and playing his best hockey leading into the pause as he was 6-3-0 with a .916 save percentage and a 2.31 goals-against average in nine games following the holiday break.
- Autio's 10 career victories tie him with PJ Musico for fourth on the Penn State all-time goalie wins list while his three shutouts are tied for second with Matthew Skoff.
A REAL C.L.A.S.S. ACT
- Nittany Lion Senior Alex Limoges was named one of 10 finalists for the 2021 Senior CLASS Award earlier this week after being recognized as an initial candidate back in February.
- The Senior CLASS Award is presented annually to an individual who excels on the field, in the community and in the classroom all while having strong leadership qualities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
- CLASS is an acronym which stands for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School" while the award takes a focus on the total student-athlete and his performances on and off the ice.
- Limoges is the fifth Nittany Lion all-time to be selected as a candidate and he is now the fourth to be named a finalist joining David Glen who won the award in 2016 as well as 2017 finalist David Goodwin and 2019 finalist Chase Berger.
- Not only has Limoges has only missed five games in his entire Penn State career he currently ranks fourth among all active players in the NCAA with 119 career points, a mark good for the most in the Big Ten while his 50 career goals are good for third among active players and tops in the Big Ten.
- Limoges currently ranks third all-time on the Penn State scoring list with his 119 points while his 50 goals and 69 assists are both good for fourth all-time. The senior's 13 power-play tallies are also tied for the program record with four other individuals.
BIG PHILLI STYLE
- In the first game of the series against Notre Dame at the end of January, senior Clayton Phillips scored just his third goal of the season, but it marked the first time in his career he had scored in back-to-back games. Phillips added an assist on Limoges game-winning goal in overtime marking his first multi-point effort of the season and just the fifth of his career.
- Phillips is currently second on the team in defenseman scoring with three goals and four assists for seven points. Jimmy Dowd Jr. leads all Nittany Lion defensemen with eight points on a pair of goals and six assists.
SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALRIGHT FOR HOCKEY!
- Penn State has played a game every day of the week this season, but has played just twice on Saturday winning both contests.
- Historically Saturday has been the most successful day for Penn State. Over the past four-plus seasons the Nittany Lions are now 40-21-6 in games played on Saturday following those victories back in January. PSU went 10-4-1 on Saturday last season including a 6-1-1 mark during the second half.
- Over the past four seasons, Penn State has won the Big Ten Tournament on a Saturday, won it's first-ever NCAA Tournament game on a Saturday and last season came-from-behind to defeat Minnesota, 3-2 on a Saturday in a game that became a defacto Big Ten regular-season championship game.
FREE HOCKEY!
- In its last series before semester break against Arizona State, Penn State won back-to-back overtime contests for just the second time in program history and first since the 2017 Big Ten Tournament semifinal and final that each went to double-overtime. It also marked the first time ever PSU has won two overtime games in the same series.
- After playing two more overtime games in the series against the Irish it marked the eighth time in program history that Penn State has played in back-to-back overtime games and just the fourth time both games of a series have gone into an extra session.
- The Nittany Lions' first-ever NCAA Division I series against AIC in 2012 saw both games decided in overtime with Penn State splitting the series with the Yellow Jackets while a 2016 non-conference series also in South Bend needed extra time in both games with the Nittany Lions tying the opening game before winning the series finale against the Irish on an Andrew Sturtz '20 goal.
- Penn State is now 19-10-22 all-time in overtime contests including a 5-2-2 mark in three-on-three overtime games. The Nittany Lions are just 4-8 in games that advance all the way to a shootout.
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.