UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lions continue their non-conference schedule with a home-and-home series this week against in-state foe, Mercyhurst. The teams will battle inside Pegula Ice Arena on Thursday before concluding the season series the following night in Erie.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Thursday, October 13 | Friday, October 14
Place: THU: Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa. FRI: Mercyhurst Ice Center | Erie, Pa.
Time: THU: 7:00 p.m. | FRI: 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: Thursday
Streaming Video: Thursday | Friday
Listen: Thursday | Friday
Live Statistics: Thursday | Friday
Game Notes: Penn State
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This weekend marks just the fourth and fifth meetings all-time between the two programs and the first since a two-game series in Hockey Valley back on November 3-4, 2017. Penn State holds the 2-1-0 advantage after the two teams split back in 2017 each scoring seven goals in their respective wins.
- Friday marks the first-ever meeting between the two programs at the Mercyhurst Ice Center as the last time the Nittany Lions traveled to Erie at the beginning of the 2016-17 season the game was played at Erie Insurance Arena, a contest Penn State won 7-0.
- Penn State is averaging 6.00 goals per game against the Lakers in the brief three-game history of the series with seven goals in each victory, however, no current Nittany Lion has played against Mercyhurst.
- Following last weekend's sweep of Canisius, Penn State is now 43-15-2 all-time against teams from Atlantic Hockey and averages 4.33 goals per game in those contests.
SCOUTING MERCYHURST
- The Lakers finished the 2021-22 season 16-19-4 after bowing out to eventual Atlantic Hockey Champion AIC in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
- Mercyhurst is without the services of two of its top three scorers and three of its top six from a season ago, however, they do return Rylee St. Onge who paced the Lakers with 15 goals a season ago and Carson Briere who was second on the team with 27 points. Briere, the son of 17-year NHL veteran Danny Briere, leads the team with one goal and two assists for three points through the first four games this season.
- The Lakers also lost starting goaltender, Kyle McClellan, to Wisconsin through way of the transfer portal this off-season. McClellan paced Atlantic Hockey with a .932 save percentage during the 2021-22 season, a mark good for sixth in the nation while posting a 12-13-2 record.
- Matt Lenz, who appeared in just one game with 9:56 of ice time last season returns along with Vermont transfer, Tyler Harmon as the duo looks to replace the void left by McClellan. So far this season Harmon has three starts to one for Lenz with the latter holding strong numbers with a .930 save percentage and a 2.66 goals-against average in just over 90 minutes of playing time.
- Ranking just behind Canisius, Merychurst is the second oldest team in NCAA hockey this season with an average age of 23 years 1 month.
- Head coach Rick Gotkin is the longest tenured coach in the NCAA as he has been guiding the Lakers since 1988 and is the only head coach to take a program to the NCAA tournament at all three levels. His 401 career victories rank 26th all-time and are currently the ninth most among active coaches. Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky ranks 13th among active coaches with 347 career victories.
- Graduate transfer Brendon Michaelian has 211 career blocks and leads the team so far this season with 10.
- The Lakers are one of 11 teams in the early going who have yet to light the lamp during the powerplay as they are 0-for-13 through four games this season. The most attempts and games without a man-advantage tally of the 11 teams. Last season Mercyhurst thrived on the man-advantage ranking second in Atlantic Hockey and 19th nationally at 22.1 percent (30-for-135).
HOT START
- Entering its 11th season at the Division I level, Penn State has been keen to quick starts as the Nittany Lions now boast a 41-14-4 record in the month of October including an impressive 18-2-0 mark over the past four-plus seasons (Note: the 2020-21 season began November 19). Penn State went 6-1-0 last October including a victory over No. 6 North Dakota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game in Nashville.
- The 12 goals scored last weekend against Canisius marks the second most all-time by the Nittany Lions during a season opening series just shy of the 13 they put on the board in a sweep against Sacred Heart to begin the 2019-20 season (8-2, 5-4).
OCTOBER, HOME OF THE GOOD BERGER
- Junior Christian Berger popped in a powerplay goal during last Saturday's 7-5 victory over Canisius marking his third career goal, each of which have come during the month of October. In his career, Berger has 18 points, eight of which, including all three of his goals, have come over his last eight games during the month of October.
HOCKEY VALLEY'S NEW TURE GUIDE
- Senor Ture Linden impressed many during his first weekend in Hockey Valley registering back-to-back multi-point efforts including his first Nittany Lion goal to go along with a pair of assists to tie his career high with three points in Saturday's 7-5 victory.
- Linden's four assists on the year are tied for second in the Big Ten and the nation and are the most among players with just two games played. The senior's five points are also tied for second in the Big Ten and fifth nationally.
- Linden was also strong in the faceoff dot winning 66.7 percent (30-for-45) of his draws to rank fifth in the Big Ten among centermen.
MID-ATLANTIC MAGIC
- Linden, who's from Virginia, lined up with New York natives Ryan Kirwan and Kevin Wall last weekend to form a line that combined for six goals, 15 points and a plus-18 plus/minus. The trio combined for 50 percent of Penn State's goal scoring over the weekend and just under 50 percent of its total offense.
- With five points each through two games this season the trio is tied for second in the Big Ten and fifth nationally in scoring.
- Like Linden, sophomore Ryan Kirwan collected back-to-back multi-point efforts to open the season including a career-high three points on two goals and one assist on Saturday, his third career multi-goal game. Kirwan was named the Big Ten Third Star of the Week for his efforts as his three goals this season are currently second in the Big Ten and fourth nationally.
- Wall also notched a career-high on Saturday with four points and three assists to go along with the eventual game-winning goal, a goal that landed at No. 9 on SportsCenter's top-10 on Sunday morning.
- With a plus/minus of plus-6, the trio are each tied for the national lead in plus/minus entering the weekend.
STREAKING THROUGH THE OFF-SEASON
- Sophomore Ben Schoen tallied one assist in each game this past weekend running his point streak that has carried over from the end of last season to a career-best five games. The sophomore now has assists in five-straight games, which is also a career-best, however, he has failed to find the back of the net in 13 consecutive games dating back to January 28, 2022, against Ohio State where he scored in regulation to tie the contest before potting the shootout winner.
- Senior Connor MacEachern has also tallied points in four-straight games dating back to last season and is just two games shy of his career-best six-game streak from last winter. With assists in each of those four games as well, MacEachern is one game off his career-best assist streak of five games.
IRON MAN
- Senior Paul DeNaples, who is using his extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic, returns as Penn State's captain making him just the second Nittany Lion in program history to don the 'C' for more than one season as he joins Tommy Olczyk.
- DeNaples currently holds the Penn State plus/minus record with a plus-52 rating, a mark good for third among active players nationally. The senior also ranks eighth on the all-time scoring list for Nittany Lion defensemen with 34 points.
- DeNaples hasn't missed a game since stepping foot on campus in the fall of 2018 playing in 135-straight as he looks to skate down Chase Berger's Iron Man streak of 154 consecutive games played.
THE B1G GADOWSKY
- Now in his 11th season in Hockey Valley, head coach Guy. Gadowsky is 174-152-24 behind the Penn State bench.
- The 2014-15 Big Ten Coach of the Year registered his 300th career victory in 2019-20 and sits just three shy of 350 ranking 38th among Division I coaches all-time and is currently 13th among active NCAA Division I coaches with 347 wins.
PARKING INFORMATION
- Like last season, parking for Penn State men's ice hockey games at Pegula Ice Arena will be available at the following locations beginning two hours prior to the start of the game: Stadium West, Jordan East and Porter North.
- There is no charge for those patrons will a valid Penn State parking permit.
- Prepaid parking is available through the ParkMobile App for $5.50 through midnight the night before the event or for $10 on the day of the event. Season parking packages are also available for $100 through October 6.
- For Men's Hockey games that overlap with Bryce Jordan Center events, day-of-event payment may be as high as $30 for those without a permit or prepayment. There are also $1 per hour parking options available at the East Deck for most games.
- ParkMobile prepayment availability ends at 11:59 p.m. the night before each event. Events will not be selectable on the site after that time, and payment must then be made on site upon arrival to event parking staff (cash only).
NEXT UP
- Penn State returns home for a Thursday-Friday series against St. Thomas.
For more information on the 2022-23 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.