UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's ice hockey team hits the road for the first time this season as they travel to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee to take on the University of North Dakota in the 2021 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Saturday, October 30
Place: Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, Tenn.
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET | 7:00 p.m. CT
Streaming Video: NCHC.TV ($)
Listen: Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State | North Dakota
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This weekend marks the first-ever meeting between Penn State and North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks are the second of four brand new opponents on the Nittany Lions' schedule this season. Penn State swept LIU to begin the year and have a pair of games each against St. Thomas on the road and Maine at home remaining on the schedule.
- Penn State is 0-3-0 all-time against teams from the NCHC having lost twice to Denver in the NCAA Tournament and once to Western Michigan during the Three Rivers Classic in 2014. The Nittany Lions are being outscored 15-5 in those three contests.
- Senior classmates Ben Copeland and Clayton Phillips are the only two Nittany Lions to have played against North Dakota prior to transferring to Penn State. Copeland has a career 1-9-0 record against the Fighting Hawks with one goal and a pair of assists to his credit. Phillips has one career game against UND as he was a member of the Minnesota Gophers during the 2018 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game in Las Vegas, Nevada. North Dakota won that contest 3-1.
- North Dakota is 7-3-1 all-time in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game dating back to its first appearance in 1978 when they lost to Minnesota, 5-3. The Fighting Hawks have won seven-straight U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame games with their last loss coming in 2001 against Minnesota, a 7-5 defeat.
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA
- The Fighting Hawks, currently the No. 6 ranked team in the country, lost seven of their top-10 scorers including each of the top-five from a team that finished the 2020-21 season 22-6-1 bowing out of the NCAA Tournament in a 5OT thriller against Minnesota-Duluth in the Midwest Regional Final.
- In total, UND had eight players sign NHL contracts following the conclusion of the 2020-21 season and have 14 newcomers (five transfers, nine freshmen) on its roster this season.
- UND's highest scoring returner is sophomore Riese Gaber who finished out his freshman season in 2020-21 with 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points. Also returning are Jake Sanderson and Mark Senden after 15- and 14-point seasons, respectively.
- Aston Calder, a transfer from Lake Superior State, has begun his North Dakota career with four goals and seven points over the opening six games to pace the Fighting Hawks. In three seasons with Lake State, Calder scored 33 goals while adding 46 assists for 79 points.
- North Dakota also enters the 2021-22 campaign without the services of its top two highest saving goalies in Adam Scheel (.931 save percentage) and Peter Thome (.872 save percentage). Bemidji State transfer Zach Driscoll has guarded the net in all six games played this season posting a 4-2-0 record with a 2.49 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage.
- North Dakota is currently averaging 3.7 goals per game while allowing 2.5 and the Fighting Hawks powerplay ranks 16th in the nation converting at 25 percent (4-for-20). The UND penalty kill is 24-for-27 (88.9 percent), good for 15th in the country.
- Though they are only averaging 25.2 shots per game to Penn State's 40.3, the Fighting Hawks lead the nation in shooting percentage converting shots into goals 14.6 percent of the time.
- North Dakota is 3-0-0 this season when scoring four or more goals and are 44-3-2 since 2018-19 when hitting that mark.
YOU'RE MY WONDERWALL
- Junior Kevin Wall paced the nation in goals last weekend with five in a series sweep against Niagara. Wall earned Big Ten First Star of the Week honors following his breakout weekend marking the first time in his career he has been named First Star.
- Wall scored a pair of goals during Thursday night's 4-0 victory before completing the hat-trick the following night with a penalty shot tally. The hat-trick was the first of his career and the tenth in program history and first in almost two years dating back to November 29, 2019, when Liam Folkes '20 scored three times at Merrimack.
- Wall leads Penn State in scoring with his six goals and seven points and is now second in the Big Ten in goals and tied for fourth in the country just one behind a trio of national leaders who each have seven.
- Of the 10 Hockey Valley Hat-Trick's, nine have occurred on home ice with eight taking place at Pegula Ice Arena. Penn State has had at least one hat-trick in eight of its first 10 seasons as an NCAA Division I program, failing to register one during the 2013-14 season and last season in 2020-21. The Nittany Lions have had multiple hat-tricks in a single-season twice in program history in 2017-18 and 2019-20.
- Wall's penalty shot marked the first for Penn State in over three years dating back to February 3, 2018, when Andrew Sturtz was stopped by Cale Morris in overtime. The last player to convert a penalty shot prior to Wall was Brandon Biro on the road at Wisconsin on January 27, 2018.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
- One Nittany Lion could have a little home cooking on his side this weekend as sophomore Chase McLane, a seventh-round selection by Nashville in the 2020 NHL Draft, will skate at Bridgestone Arena for the first time since being drafted by the Predators.
ALL THE WAY TUNED UP
- Senior goaltender Oskar Autio earned his fourth career shutout against Niagara last Thursday to tie Peyton Jones '20 for the all-time program record.
- Autio currently ranks fourth in the Big Ten with a .938 save percentage, a mark good for tenth in the nation while his 1.50 goals-against average is good for second in the Big Ten and sixth in the nation.
I CAN FEEL IT COMING IN THE 'SUUL-EE'-AIR TONIGHT
- Sophomore goaltender Liam Souliere had another strong showing between the pipes last Friday improving to 2-0-0 on the year with a 33-save effort against Niagara.
- Souliere's .945 save percentage is good for second in the Big Ten, behind only Michigan State's Drew DeRidder at .947, and sixth in the nation while his 2.00 goals-against average ranks fifth in the Big Ten and 21st nationally.
IF YOU AIN'T FIRST, YOU'RE LAST
- Penn State has scored the opening goal of the game in five out six games so far this season with a record of 5-0-0 when doing so. Over the past five seasons, the Nittany Lions are now 72-17-9 when scoring first.
- Penn State has also held the lead when entering the third period in all five of those games improving to 132-12-10 all-time when leading after 40 minutes.
- Penn State is outscoring its opponents 8-2 in the first period this season having scored at least one first period goal in five of six games.
KILL OR BE KILLED
- Penn State went a perfect 11-for-11 on the penalty kill against Niagara last weekend after going 10-for-10 against Canisius. In total, the Nittany Lions have now killed off 23-straight penalties and lead the Big Ten and rank fourth in the nation at 96.4 percent (27-for-28).
WELCOME TO GOOD BERGER, HOME OF THE GOOD BERGER
- Sophomore Christian Berger collected just one point in 22 games played during the 2020-21 campaign but is currently second on the team with six points on two goals and four assists through the first six games this season.
- Berger, whose older brother Chase was a two-year captain and is Penn State's all-time leader in games played, is currently riding a career-best three-game point streak (1-4-5).
ROOKIE RAMPAGE
- Penn State's freshmen are off to a hot start in Hockey Valley as the five-member class leads Penn State having registered 19 of the team's 61 points through the first six games of the season on seven goals and 12 assists.
- Penn State is 5-0-0 this season when a freshman scores a goal.
HOCKEY VALLEY FIVE-O
- Penn State hit its magic number of five goals during the series finale against Niagara improving to 85-1-2 all-time when scoring five or more goals. Penn State was 4-0-0 in such games during 2020-21 after going 11-0-0 when scoring five or more goals in 2019-20.
- The Nittany Lions have won 27-straight games when scoring five or more goals, including three so far this season, with the last and only loss coming at Wisconsin on December 1, 2018, an 8-5 defeat.
NEXT UP
- Penn State remains on the road to open Big Ten play with a two-game series at Ohio State next Friday and Saturday.
For more information on the 2021-22 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.