UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 19th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions open their 2021-22 Big Ten home slate this weekend when the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines come to town for a pair of games on Thursday and Friday evening.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Thursday, November 11 | Friday, November 12
Place: Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa.
Time: Thu: 8:30 p.m. | Fri: 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: Thursday | Friday
TV: Thu: B1G Network | Fri: N/A
Streaming Video: Thursday | Friday
Listen: Thursday | Friday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This weekend marks the 34th and 35th meetings all-time with Michigan leading the series 18-14-1. The teams split last season at Pegula Ice Arena with the Wolverines winning the opening game 3-1 before Penn State rebounded in a big way for a 9-5 victory the following night. The final two games of the season series at Yost were canceled due to Penn State's COVID-19 pause.
- Senior Oskar Autio has made five appearances with four starts in his career against Michigan posting a 1-2-1 record with a 3.52 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage.
- Sophomore's Chase McLane, Jared Westcott and Jimmy Dowd Jr. each tallied their first career goals against Michigan last season during a 9-5 victory on December 3, 2020 and are the only current members of the Nittany Lions who have scored against Michigan in a Big Ten contest. Senior Ben Copeland also has one career goal against the Wolverines but that came when he was a member of Colorado College.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
- The Wolverines return nine of their top-10 scorers from a season ago including each of their top-4 in Thomas Bordeleau, Kent Johnson, Matty Beniers and Brendan Brisson.
- Michigan made history during the 2021 NHL Draft as four of the top-5 picks wear the Maize and Blue including No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks Owen Power and Matty Beniers. Luke Hughes and Kent Johnson went No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, while Mackie Samoskevich was selected No. 24 giving the Wolverines a record five first round picks in a single draft. Michigan currently has seven first round picks on its roster and 13 total draft picks on its 29-man roster.
- The Wolverines have a relatively new face between the pipes as Erik Portillo officially takes over the reins from former Big Ten Goaltender of the Year Strauss Mann. Portillo saw time in seven games last season with five starts compiling a 4-1-0 record with a .935 save percentage and a 1.67 goals-against average. So far this season the sophomore has started all 10 games and currently has a 2.20 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage to rank fifth in the Big Ten for each category.
- Michigan currently leads the Big Ten and ranks fourth in the nation scoring 4.10 goals per game while allowing 2.30 goals per game to rank third in the conference and 17th nationally.
- The Wolverines are paced on offense by Johnson who leads the Big Ten and is tied for fourth nationally with 14 points while Brendan Brisson and Owen Power are tied for third in the Big Ten and 17th nationally with 12 points. Brisson's seven goals tie Wall for tops in the Big Ten and eighth nationally. Johnson and Power have each added 10 assists on the season to tie for the Big Ten best and rank second in the nation.
- Michigan's seven first round picks have combined for 63 of the Wolverines' 113 points this season on 27 goals and 36 assists. That means they are combining for 55.7 percent of the team's total offense and 65.8 percent of the goal scoring.
- Michigan also tops the Big Ten in powerplay percentage ranking fifth nationally at 29.3 percent (12-for-41) while its penalty kill is middle of the pack both in the league and across the nation at 82.9 percent (34-for-41).
KECKS GON' GIVE IT TO YA
- Junior Connor MacEachern is currently riding a career-best three-game goal streak which also ties his career-long point streak. The junior has at least one point in five of his last six games with three multi-point games over that span including the first two multi-goal games of his career against Canisius and North Dakota.
- MacEachern's nine points are tied with Kevin Wall for the team lead and rank tied for ninth in the Big Ten while his six goals are currently tied for third in the Big Ten and 15th nationally, just one shy of Wall and Brisson for the Big Ten lead.
YOU'RE MY WONDERWALL
- Junior Kevin Wall scored five goals in a series sweep against Niagara three weeks ago including his first career hat-trick, the tenth in program history during the series finale.
- Wall scored his Big Ten best seventh goal of the season in the series opener against the Buckeyes in Columbus last week to run his point streak to four games, tying his career-best, however, the junior was held off the stats sheet in Saturday's finale bringing the run to an end.
- Wall's nine points are tied for tops on the team and rank ninth in the Big Ten. The junior is just one goal shy of his career-best eight from last season.
GET UP, STAY UP
- Penn State has scored the opening goal of the game in eight out of nine games so far this season and prior to last weekend against Ohio State were undefeated when getting on the board first, however, the Buckeyes came-from-behind in both games to sweep the Nittany Lions last week. Over the past five seasons, the Nittany Lions are now 73-19-9 when scoring first.
- Penn State is outscoring its opponents 12-3 in the first period this season having scored at least one first period goal in eight of nine games with multiple first period tallies in four of those games.
FALTERING FINISH
- Penn State was outscored 7-1 in the third period last weekend in Columbus and opponents are now outscoring the Nittany Lions 16-12 over the final 20 minutes this season. Ohio State scored three or more goals in the third period in each game last weekend and opponents have now scored at least three third period goals against Penn State three times this season.
NITTANY LION SPECIAL
- Penn State has scored at least one powerplay goal in all but three games this season including three of its last four and currently rank third in the Big Ten and 13th in the nation at 25.8 percent (8-for-31).
- The Nittany Lions PK has also been strong this season ranking second in the Big Ten and 17th nationally at 86.8 percent (33-for-38).
NEXT UP
- Penn State hits the road once again for a mini four-game road trip with a pair of games against Minnesota next Friday and Saturday followed by two games at St. Thomas on Tuesday and Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving.
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.