UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lions are back on the road this weekend as they travel to Ann Arbor for a Big Ten weekend series against No. 4 Michigan on Friday and Saturday evening inside Yost Ice Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, January 14 | Saturday, January 15
Place: Yost Ice Arena | Ann Arbor, Mich.
Time: Fri: 7:30 p.m. | Sat: 7:00 p.m.
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State | Michigan
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This weekend marks the 36th and 37th meetings all-time with Michigan leading the series 20-14-1. Michigan swept the Nittany Lions at Pegula back in November following a series 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 2020-21 season series at Yost were canceled due to Penn State's COVID-19 pause.
- It has been 770 days since Penn State last played a game at Yost Ice Arena dating back to a 3-1 victory on December 7, 2019. Prior to that win, Penn State had been 0-9-0 in its last nine games in the building with its last win coming on November 21, 2014, a span of 1,843 days between victories. All-time the Nittany Lions are just 3-10-0 at Yost being outscored 56-22 in those games.
- Senior Ben Copeland registered goals in each game against the Wolverines earlier this season in his first two career games against Michigan after transferring from Colorado College. Junior Kevin Wall picked up a pair of assists in the two-game series at Pegula and now leads all current Nittany Lions with four points against the Wolverines, all assists, in six career games.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
- The Wolverines retained 9 of their top-12 scorers from a team that finished the 2020-21 season 15-10-1. Michigan is coming off a series sweep last weekend against No. 10 UMass and are now 16-6-1 this season and ranked No. 4 in the latest USCHO.com poll.
- Michigan made history this summer 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 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.
- Both Kent Johnson and Brendan Brisson are coming off five-point weekends against the Minutemen with the latter being named the Big Ten's Second Star of the Week following his three goal and two assist weekend. Johnson leads Michigan and the Big Ten with 28 points, good for fourth in the nation while is 23 assists are tops in the country. Brisson's 14 goals are tied for the top spot in the Big Ten while ranking tied for fourth nationally. Matty Beniers has added 12 goals and 26 points to rank tied for 15th and ninth in the nation, respectively, while Owen Power's 23 points and 20 assists are the most in the country for defensemen.
- Between the pipes, Erik Portillo has been solid as the successor of former Big Ten Goaltender of the Year and current member of Team USA for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Strauss Mann. Portillo has started all 23 games this season posting a 16-6-1 record with a .920 save percentage and a 2.29 goals-against average. His 16 wins lead the Big Ten and rank second in the nation behind the 20 of Minnesota State's Dryden McKay. Portillo's .920 save percentage ranks just sixth in the Big Ten but is good for 17th in the nation while his 2.29 goals-against average is good for fifth in the Big Ten and 19th in the nation.
- Michigan is averaging 3.87 goals per game to pace the Big Ten and rank fourth nationally while its 89 goals scored this season is the second highest total in the country only behind the 97 scored by Minnesota State.
- The Wolverine powerplay also sits atop the Big Ten converting at a 25 percent clip (21-for-84) to rank seventh in the nation. The PK has also been strong ranking second in the Big Ten and 19th nationally at 84.5 percent (73-for-87).
DOWD AND IN
- Sophomore Jimmy Dowd Jr. scored twice during a 5-4 overtime loss to Notre Dame last Saturday marking his first career multi-goal game.
- Dowd is currently in the middle of a career year with three goals and 11 assists for 14 points surpassing each of his totals from a season ago when he scored twice while adding eight assists for 10 points as a freshman.
- Dowd's 14 points are tied for fifth in the Big Ten among defensemen while his 11 assists are tied for the fourth most among blue-liners in the conference.
- Dowd already has three multi-point games to his credit this season after just two as a freshman and he had a career-best three-game point streak back in November during a stretch where he had points in five of six games from November 19 through December 4.
PHILLY SPECIAL
- Senior defenseman Clayton Phillips is also in the middle of a career year with five goals and five assists for 10 points and a plus/minus rating of +9 to tie for the team lead.
- As well as being a career-high, the senior's five goals this season place him tied for fourth in the conference among defensemen and tied for 11th nationally. His 10 points are also tied for his career-best from his sophomore season in 2018-19 and are tied for 13th among Big Ten blue-liners.
- Prior to his goal last Saturday, Phillips hadn't registered a point in five-straight games and hadn't found the back of the net in seven-straight.
BLUE-LINE BEAUTIES
- Paced by both Dowd and Phillips, Nittany Lion defensemen scored four of the six goals over the two-game series last weekend against Notre Dame after having just nine goals over the previous 19 games combined.
- Penn State has three defensemen with double-digit points having career seasons in 2021-22 as along with the Dowd and Phillips, sophomore Christian Berger has added two goals and eight assists for 10 points.
- Berger also leads the team with 35 blocked shots a total good for third in the Big Ten.
WALL-TO-WALL COVERAGE
- Junior Kevin Wall tallied his team-best 13th goal last Saturday and he currently ranks third in the Big Ten just one goal shy of Notre Dame's Max Ellis and Michigan's Brendan Brisson for the conference lead. His 13 goals are also tied for seventh in the nation.
- Wall has now scored a goal in three of his last four games while his 20 points are tied with classmate Connor MacEachern for the team lead. The duo is tied for seventh in the Big Ten and 41st nationally with their 20 points which is a career-best mark for both.
PAQ MAN
- Sophomore Tyler Paquette continued his strong season last weekend collecting points in both games including his seventh goal of the year on Friday night. Paquette is currently riding a three-game point streak which is just one game shy of his career-long achieved earlier this season. The sophomore has collected points in seven of his last nine games.
NEXT UP
- Penn State returns to the friendly confines of Pegula Ice Arena to begin a four-game homestand with a Big Ten series against the Wisconsin Badgers next Friday and Saturday night.
For more information on the 2021-22 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: 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.