UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lions bring an end to the opening semester of action for the 2021-22 season with a trip to Madison to battle the Wisconsin Badgers in Big Ten Conference action on Friday and Saturday evening.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, December 10 | Saturday, December 11
Place: Kohl Center | Madison, Wisconsin
Time: Fri: 8:00 p.m. (ET) | Sat: 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State | Wisconsin
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- Penn State will once again to battle against its most common opponent when the Nittany Lions travel to Madison this weekend to conclude the opening semester of play against the Wisconsin Badgers. This marks the 42nd and 43rd meetings all-time with Penn State holding the 21-17-3 advantage.
- During a span of three seasons from the start of the 2014-15 season culminating with Penn State's first-ever Big Ten Tournament Championship in 2017, the Nittany Lions won 12-of-14 games between the two schools, however, since that double-overtime victory Wisconsin has evened the playing field holding the 9-8-3 edge over the last 20 meetings including a 4-1-0 record against Penn State last season. The Badgers also hold the 9-7-2 record at home.
- Senior Paul DeNaples leads all current Nittany Lions with seven points on two goals and five assists in 16 career games against Wisconsin while junior Connor McMenamin and Kevin Wall along with senior Clayton Phillips have each added a pair of goals against Wisconsin in their careers and have registered six, five and four points, respectively.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
- Wisconsin (4-11-1) has already lost more games this season in just 16 games than they did all of 2020-21 when they finished the year 20-10-1 and captured the Big Ten regular season championship with a 17-6-1 record in conference play.
- Following splits against No. 2 Michigan and No. 5 Minnesota in consecutive weekends, the Badgers are currently on a seven-game winless streak (0-6-1) and also dropped a single exhibition game against the USNTDP last Thursday. During this current winless streak, Wisconsin is averaging just one goal per game and has been shut out twice, with an additional shutout in the exhibition contest against the U-18's.
- Wisconsin lost its top-4 scorers from last season's team including first-round draft picks Cole Caufield and Dylan Holloway. Caufield was the 2020-21 Hobey Baker winner after leading college hockey with 30 goals and 52 points in 31 games played.
- The Badgers are also without starting net-minder Robbie Beydoun, as Minnesota transfer Jared Moe and sophomore Cameron Rowe have split action on the ice this season. Moe leads the team having started 9 of the 16 games so far this season posting a 2-6-1 record with a .924 save percentage and a 2.54 goals-against average. Moe ranks tied for third in the Big Ten and 13th nationally in save percentage while his goals-against average is good for sixth in the conference.
- Senior Brock Caufield leads the team with seven points on three goals and four assists over 16 games played this season while classmate Tarek Baker paces the Badgers with four goals.
- The Badgers are scoring just 1.56 goals per game ranking last in the Big Ten and only ahead of Alaska nationally.
- Wisconsin is ranked second in the Big Ten for blocked shots with 211 total and an average of 14.07 per game.
- Wisconsin ranks second in the Big Ten behind only Ohio State in faceoff winning percentage, winning 482 of 906 faceoffs (53.3 percent).
- The Badgers are also dead last in the Big Ten on the powerplay converting just 11.3 percent of their chances (6-for-52) to rank 53rd nationally. The PK is even worse ranking only ahead of Ohio State in both the Big Ten and the nation stopping just 63.6 percent of chances against.
SECOND-YEAR SUCCESS
- Led by Tyler Paquette, the Nittany Lion sophomore class has tallied eight of the last 23 goals scored by Penn State over a six-game stretch. The second-year players also added 15 assists during that time and have now registered 45 points (16G, 29A) over 17 games this season already surpassing their freshmen total of 37 points (12G, 25A) in 22 games last season.
- Paquette is currently riding a career-best four-game point streak (3-2-5). The second-year forward was named the Big Ten Second Star of the Week two weeks ago just a week after sophomore classmate Jimmy Dowd Jr. earned Third Star accolades.
- Dowd Jr.'s 12 points (1G, 11A) this season rank fourth on the team as he has already surpassed his season total of 10 from his freshman campaign. His 12 points are tied for fourth in the Big Ten among defensemen and good for 19th nationally while his 11 assists place him second in the Big Ten among defensemen behind only Michigan's Owen Power and tied with teammate Ben Copeland for eighth among all players in the conference
- Sophomore Chase McLane has registered points in back-to-back games for just the second time in his career after scoring a goal and tallying an assist last weekend against Michigan State. McLane now has points in four of his last six games.
TURN UP THE AUTIO
- With his 18th career victory last Friday against Michigan State, senior goaltender Oskar Autio moved into a tie with Eamon McAdam for third all-time at Penn State. The senior's .514 winning percentage also ranks third all time.
- Autio is just 74 saves shy of 1,000 for his career which would make him the fourth Nittany Lion netminder all-time to hit that milestone. Autio currently has a .903 save percentage and a 2.61goals-against average while his seven victories this year are just two shy of his career-high nine achieved last season.
PERFECT TEN
- Junior Connor MacEachern is currently riding a career-long four-game point streak and has tied his career-best with a three-game goal streak. MacEachern scored in each game last weekend giving him 10 goals on the year a mark that is double the number of goals he scored in both his freshman and sophomore seasons combined. The junior's 15 points are also a new career-best.
- MacEachern's 10 goals ties him with classmate Kevin Wall for the third most in the Big Ten and 11th most across the nation. Wall's 16 points are good for 13th in the Big Ten while MacEachern's 15 are tied with teammate Ben Copeland for 14th in the conference.
- The junior's four powerplay goals this season are tied for second in the Big Ten and 11th nationally and are already tied for the 10th most in a single-season in program history, just two shy of the Penn State single-season record of six held by four different individuals. MacEachern has added a shorthanded goal this season as half of his 10 goals have come as part of a specialty unit.
- MacEachern has now tallied at least one point in five of his last six games with goals in four of those games. Penn State is 8-3-0 this season when the junior gets on the statsheet.
SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS...EVERYBODY
- Penn State is averaging 37.47 shots per game which leads the nation paced by freshman Ryan Kirwan's national best 75 shots for an average of 4.41 per game. The rookie is on pace for 155 shots this season which would be the third most in a single-season in Penn State history.
- Kevin Wall ranks third in the nation with 68 shots for an average of 4.00 per game. Kirwan and Wall rank one and two in the Big Ten in shots per game while Danny Dzhaniyev and Connor MacEachern also crack the top-10 at 3.31 and 3.18, respectively.
YOU CAN'T SCORE IF YOU PASS
- Penn State is averaging 3.47 goals per game, a mark good for third in the Big Ten and 13th nationally. With 59 goals this season the Nittany Lions also rank third in the conference but are ninth in the nation.
- Each of Penn State's 10 wins this season have come when they have scored at least three goals including a perfect 9-0-0 record when scoring four or more goals. In 14 of the last 15 games between the Nittany Lions and the Badgers the winning team has scored at least four goals.
- Penn State also has 96 assists this season, a mark good for fourth in the Big Ten and tied for 12th in the nation.
FIVE KEEPS YOU ALIVE
- Penn State is 88-1-2 all-time when scoring five or more goals and have won 30-straight games when doing so, including all six so far this season, with the last and only loss coming at Wisconsin on December 1, 2018, an 8-5 defeat.
GET UP, STAY UP
- Penn State has scored the opening goal of the game in 12 out of 17 games so far this season and are 9-3-0 when doing so. Over the past five seasons, the Nittany Lions are now 76-20-9 when scoring first.
ROOKIE RULES
- Penn State's five-member freshman class has tallied 10 goals this season and the Nittany Lions are 8-1-0 when a rookie light's the lamp with their first and only loss in such games coming last Saturday against Michigan State.
NITTANY LION SPECIAL
- Penn State has scored at least one powerplay goal in 10-of-17 games this season and are 9-1-0 when scoring a powerplay goal. The Nittany Lions rank fourth in the Big Ten and 18th in the nation converting at 23 percent (14-for-61).
- Conversely, Penn State has struggled as of late on the penalty kill allowing at least one man-advantage goal in nine of its last 11 games after surrendering just one goal in 28 chances over the first six games to open the season.The Nittany Lion penalty kill ranks just fifth in the Big Ten and 39th nationally at 77.9 percent (53-for-68).
NEXT UP
- Penn State takes the next few weeks off for semester break before returning to Pegula Ice Arena to ring in the New Year against the Maine Black Bears on December 31 and January 1.
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.