UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lions return home after a four games in six nights trip to the Twin Cities as they resume Big Ten play against the Michigan State Spartans on Friday and Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, December 3 | Saturday, December 4
Place: Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa.
Time: Fri: 7:00 p.m. | Sat: 5:00 p.m.
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State | Michigan State
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This weekend marks the 35th and 36th meetings between the two teams with Penn State holding the 18-12-4 advantage including a 5-3-0 mark over the last two seasons. Penn State won the season series last year securing 8-of-12 points going 3-1-0 against MSU with two regulation victories and one overtime win. Penn State is 10-3-3 all-time against Michigan State at Pegula Ice Arena including a 9-2-1 mark since the beginning of the 2015-16 season.
- Senior Clayton Phillips leads all current Nittany Lions with five points on two goals and three assists in 13 career games against the Spartans while junior Connor MacEachern has chipped in four points (1G, 3A) in eight career games against Sparty.
- Senior goaltender Oskar Autio has had the most success in his career against Michigan State compiling a 3-0-0 record over four appearances with three starts registering a .953 save percentage and a 1.15 goals-against average. Autio recorded one of his four career shutouts last season at Michigan State in a 1-0 victory, the only game in 10 seasons of Penn State Hockey that the Nittany Lions have won by that score. Autio has allowed just four goals in over 200 minutes of ice time in his career against the Spartans.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
- Michigan State (8-5-1) has already won more games this season in just 14 games than they did all of 2020-21 when they finished the year 7-18-2.
- After losing four of five games at the end of October and beginning of November, MSU has rattled off four-straight victories with series sweeps against Ferris State and Wisconsin and enter the weekend after a bye week last week.
- The Spartans return seven of their top-10 scorers from a season ago including each of their top-three in Mitchell Lewandowski, Dennis Cesana and Josh Nodler.
- Michigan State also returns both net-minders who saw action in 2020-21 led by All-Big Ten honorable mention goaltender Drew DeRidder. DeRidder has started 10 of the 14 games so far this season posting a 6-3-1 record with a .943 save percentage and a 2.08 goals-against average to rank tied for first and third in the Big Ten, respectively, and tied for fourth and 14th in the nation in each category.
- Lewandowski leads the team with 13 points on five goals and eight assists in just nine games played this season. Lewandowski's 13 points are good for 13th in the Big Ten.
- Sophomore Jeremy Davidson leads the Spartans with seven goals on the year to rank tied for seventh in the Big Ten.
- The Spartans are both scoring 2.50 goals per game while allowing 2.50 goals per game. Their offense ranks only above Wisconsin in the Big Ten while their defense is fourth in the Big Ten and tied for 17th in the nation.
- Michigan State is converting 25 percent (11-for-44) of its powerplay chances to rank third in the Big Ten and tied for 12th in the nation. The Spartan PK has also been strong at 81.1 percent (43-for-53) to rank third in the Big Ten.
- More than half of the 35 Michigan State goals scored this season have come in the third period as the Spartans are outscoring their opponents 18-9 over the final 20 minutes of games.
SOPHOMORE SURGE
- Led by Tyler Paquette, the Nittany Lion sophomore class tallied six of the 16 goals scored by Penn State during its latest four-game road trip. The second-year players also added six assists and have now registered 34 points (14G, 20A) over 15 games this season which is just three points shy of their freshmen total of 37 points (12G, 25A) in 22 games last season.
- Paquette scored three goals during a series sweep over St. Thomas last week including his second multi-goal game of the season on Tuesday and his first-career game-winning goal on Wednesday.
- Paquette was named the Big Ten Second Star of the Week on Wednesday a week after sophomore classmate Jimmy Dowd Jr. earned Third Star accolades.
- Last week marked the first time in his career Paquette has registered points in back-to-back games while his five goals this season are good for third on the team and tied for 13th in the Big Ten. The sophomore registered just a lone assist in six games as a freshman.
- Dowd Jr.'s nine points are just one point shy of the 10 points he registered as a freshman in 2020-21 and are good for seventh in the Big Ten among defensemen.
GET UP, STAY UP
- Penn State has scored the opening goal of the game in 11 out of 15 games so far this season and are 8-3-0 when doing so. Over the past five seasons, the Nittany Lions are now 75-20-9 when scoring first.
ROOKIE RULES
- Penn State's five-member freshman class has tallied eight goals this season and the Nittany Lions are a perfect 7-0-0 when a rookie light's the lamp.
LINE CHANGE
- Head coach Guy Gadowsky made a line swap five games ago moving freshman Ryan Kirwan to the top line with senior Ben Copeland and junior Kevin Wall, and it is paying off in spades.
- Each player is riding a career-long point streak since the swap with Kirwan and Wall each at five games and Copeland at six games.
- The trio has combined for seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points and are a combined plus-7 in the five games. Copeland also leads Penn State with six powerplay points (2G, 4A) while Wall has five (2G, 3A).
- Wall paces Penn State with a career-best 10 goals which are tied for second in the Big Ten and eighth in the country while his 16 points are tied for seventh in the conference and 29th nationally.
- Copeland leads the Nittany Lions with 10 assists to rank sixth in the Big Ten while his 14 points are good for 12th in the conference. The senior has scored all of his 14 points over the last 11 games registering at least one point in 10 of those 11 games.
- Copeland's 1.08 points per game this season rank seventh in the Big Ten while Wall's 1.07 are good for eighth.
KECKS GON' GIVE IT TO YA
- Junior Connor MacEachern registered a point in three of the four games, all victories, during the Minnesota road trip. Penn State is now 7-2-0 this year when MacEachern gets on the statsheet.
- MacEachern's eight goals are a new career-best and nearly double the five he had during his freshman and sophomore seasons combined. The junior's eight goals are tied for fifth in the Big Ten and rank tied for 21st nationally.
NITTANY LION SPECIAL
- Penn State has scored at least one powerplay goal in all but six games this season including three of four on the Minnesota road trip and currently rank fourth in the Big Ten and 17th in the nation at 24.1 percent (13-for-54). The Nittany Lions are 8-1-0 when scoring a powerplay goal.
- Conversely, Penn State has struggled as of late on the penalty kill allowing at least one man-advantage goal in six-straight games and eight of nine overall after surrendering just one goal in 28 chances over the first six games to open the season. Six of the last nine goals the Nittany Lions have allowed have come on the powerplay.
- Senior goaltender Oskar Autio has been victim to 11 powerplay goals against out of his 25 goals surrendered this season. Factoring out the man-advantage, Autio has a .931 save percentage at even strength.
DRIVE FOR FIVE
- Penn State hit its magic number of five goals twice during its four-game road trip moving to 88-1-2 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 now won 30-straight games when scoring five or more goals, including all six 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 hits the road to conclude play this semester with a Big Ten series at Wisconsin 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.