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Craig Houtz

Men's Hockey Welcomes 12th-Ranked and Big Ten Leading Ohio State to Town


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lions conclude their brief four-game homestand with a pair of contests against Big Ten leading and 12th-ranked Ohio State on Friday and Saturday evening.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, January 28 | Saturday, January 29
Place: Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa.
Time: Fri: 7:00 p.m. | Sat: 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 36th and 37th meetings all-time with Ohio State holding the 19-13-3 edge including an 8-5-1 mark at Pegula Ice Arena.
  • The Buckeyes swept the earlier series between the two teams back in November scoring seven of their nine goals over the two games in the third period en route to 5-2 and 4-1 victories.
  • Last season the series was split 1-1 with the final two contests being canceled due to Penn State's COVID-19 pause late in the season. Penn State won the season series in 2019-20 with a record of 2-1-1 taking seven of the possible 12 points en route to its first Big Ten regular season championship.
  • Junior Kevin Wall leads all current Nittany Lions with five points in eight career games against the Buckeyes with three goals and two assists as only four current Penn State players have registered goals against OSU. Sophomore Jimmy Dowd Jr. has chipped in five points as well in four career games against Ohio State on one goal and four assists while junior Connor MacEachern tallied a goal in each game earlier this season in Columbus for his first two points in eight career games against the Buckeyes.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE

  • The Buckeyes enter the weekend having won nine of their last 11 games including three-straight and are ranked No. 12 in the latest DCU/USCHO.com poll. OSU is currently tied atop the Big Ten standings with Michigan as both teams have 33 points and are a full six points clear of third place Minnesota.
  • Freshman Georgii Merkulov leads the team with 14 goals and 27 points ranking 12th and 20th in the nation, respectively, and second and fourth in the Big Ten. For first-year players, Merkulov ranks first and second in the nation for goals and points.
  • Another freshman, Mason Lohrei, is second on the team with 22 points on two goals and 20 assists. His 20 assists are tied for the national lead among all freshman and are first among rookie defensemen while ranking tied for ninth nationally and second among blue-liners.
  • A third freshman, Cam Thiesing, ranks third on the team with 21 points on seven goals and 14 assists.
  • The Buckeyes also have a strong freshman between the pipes as Jakub Dobes has started 24 of the teams 26 games played to this point posting a 17-6-1 record. The 17 wins are the third-most in the nation and first among rookie net-minders while his .932 save percentage is good for second in the Big Ten and fifth nationally and his 2.07 goals-against average ranks third in the Big Ten and tied for 12th in the nation.
  • Ohio State leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth nationally winning 54.4 percent of its faceoffs led by Merkulov at 61.1 percent placing him second in the Big Ten and eighth in the nation for players who have taken at least 150 draws. Patrick Guzzo ranks third in the Big Ten and 11th in the nation at 60.6 percent.
  • The Buckeyes rank second in the Big Ten and eighth in the nation scoring 3.62 goals per game while only allowing 2.15 goals by the opposition to rank second in the conference and ninth across the country.
  • For such a talented offensive team, Ohio State ranks last in the Big Ten in powerplay efficiency converting just 16.5 percent of its man-advantage opportunities placing them 40th in the nation.

FANTASTIC FRESHMAN

  • Freshman Ryan Kirwan is currently riding a six-game point-streak (4-5-9) to tie his career-best from earlier this season. The rookie has registered at least one point in 12 of his last 14 games.
  • Kirwan paced the Big Ten last week with four goals tallying a pair of goals in each game including a string of three-straight goals from Friday into Saturday marking the first two multi-goal games of his career. The freshman was rewarded as the Big Ten Second Star of the Week for his efforts.
  • Last weekend, Kirwan became the first Nittany Lion to register back-to-back multi-goal games since Alex Limoges '21 accomplished that feat during the Big Ten Quarterfinals on March 8-9, 2019, also against Wisconsin.
  • Kirwan is now third on the team with 20 points and nine goals marking the most points by a Nittany Lion freshman since the 2017-18 season when Limoges registered 21 points. His nine goals are also the most by a Penn State freshman since Evan Barratt scored 11 during that same 2017-18 campaign.
  • Kirwan's 20 points are tied for the 11th most in program history for a freshman while his nine goals place him ninth for rookies in Penn State history. His 20 points are also tied for ninth in the country and 6th in the Big Ten among freshmen while his nine goals are tied for fourth and second, respectively.
  • Penn State is now 12-1-0 this season when a freshman scores a goal including a perfect 7-0-0 when Kirwan lights the lamp.

SEVENTH HEAVEN

  • On Saturday Penn State racked up seven goals in a game for the first time since beating Michigan 9-5 on December 3, 2020.
  • All-time Penn State has now scored seven or more goals on 25 occasions including seven times in Big Ten contests. Twice each now against Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan and once against Notre Dame.

WELCOME BACK CONNOR MACEACHERN

  • After missing the series at Michigan, junior Connor MacEachern returned to the lineup last weekend and stretched his point streak to a career-long six games in the process.
  • MacEachern potted his 12th goal of the season on Saturday night moving him into sixth in the Big Ten.
  • MacEachern now has five powerplay tallies on the year a mark good for second in the Big Ten, behind Michigan's Matty Beniers with eight, and tied for 11th in the nation.
  • The five man-advantage scores for MacEachern are tied for the fifth-most in a single season in Penn State history just one shy of the program record held by four different players.
  • MacEachern's powerplay goal was of the 5-on-3 variety giving Penn State it's third such goal this season after going all of the 2020-21 season without a 5-on-3 goal.
  • Kirwan's first goal on Friday was also a 5-on-3 goal for Penn State marking the first time in the history of the program that the Nittany Lions have scored a 5-on-3 goal in back-to-back games.

SECONDARY SCORING

  • Six of Penn State's 11 goals last weekend came from players outside the top-5 for scoring on the team.
  • Junior Connor McMenamin snapped a 13-game goalless drought with a pair of scores on Friday while freshman Ben Schoen added two goals of his own on Saturday along with goals from Danny Dzhaniyev, just his fourth of the season and second in Big Ten play, and Tyler Gratton adding his seventh of the season.
  • Dzhaniyev is currently riding a career-long three-game point streak while sophomore Christian Sarlo also has points in three-straight games to tie his career-long streak.

PAULY DEFENSE

  • Senior Paul DeNaples collected an assist on Saturday night giving him 32 points in his career breaking a tie with Connor Varley for the eighth-most all-time at Penn State for defensemen.
  • DeNaples was also a +3 for the weekend moving into the top spot all-time at Penn State for career plus/minus at +52 for his career.
  • DeNaples is +13 this season while his defensive partner Clayton Phillips is +14 for a combined +27, the highest mark among a defensive pair in the Big Ten.

COPESLICE

  • Senior Ben Copeland collected a trio of assists over the weekend giving him 16 for the season a mark tied for fifth in the Big Ten. Copeland has added five goals for 21 points, good for the third most on the team.
  • The senior is currently riding a mini three-game point streak and has registered at least one point in four of his last five games.

JDJ #DODAMAGE

  • Sophomore Jimmy Dowd Jr. registered a career-best three assists last Saturday against Wisconsin tying his career-high with three points.
  • Dowd is currently in the middle of a career year with three goals and 15 assists for 18 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 18 points are tied for fourth in the Big Ten among defensemen while his 15 assists are the third most among blue-liners in the conference.
  • Dowd's 18 points are also the 10th-most by a defenseman in a single-season in Penn State history while his 15 assists are tied with Erik Autio '18 for the ninth most in a single-season. With 24 career assists, Dowd now ranks ninth all-time at Penn State for defensemen while his 28 career points are just one shy of Nate Jensen '15 for 10th all-time.

NEXT UP

  • Penn State hits the road for a two-game Big Ten series in South Bend against the 11th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish next Friday and Saturday.

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.