No. 13/10 Men's Hockey Welcomes No. 1/1 Michigan for B1G SeriesNo. 13/10 Men's Hockey Welcomes No. 1/1 Michigan for B1G Series
Mark Selders

No. 13/10 Men's Hockey Welcomes No. 1/1 Michigan for B1G Series


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 13th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions open their Big Ten home slate as the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines travel to Hockey Valley for a pair of games this weekend. This marks the first time in over eight years that the No. 1 ranked team in the nation will visit Pegula Ice Arena.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, November 4 | Saturday, November 5
Place: Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa.
Time: FRI: 8:00 p.m. | SAT: 7:30 p.m.
TV: FRI: B1G Network
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State | Michigan

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 38th and 39th meetings all-time between the two schools with Michigan holding the 22-14-1 advantage including a 12-5-1 mark since the start of the 2017-18 season. The Wolverines swept the season series last year outscoring the Nittany Lions 18-8 over the four games. The teams are even at games played at Pegula Ice Arena where the series sits at 8-8-1 all-time.
  • This weekend marks the sixth time Penn State has opened its home conference slate against the Wolverines and the third-straight season in doing so. The Nittany Lions are just 2-3-0 with three-straight losses in B1G home openers against Michigan.
  • Michigan enters the weekend ranked No. 1 in both national polls marking the first time the Nittany Lions have faced the top-ranked team in the nation since a 6-3 setback against No. 1 Denver in the 2017 Midwest Regional Final in Cincinnati, Ohio. Penn State has played the No. 1 team in the land just once during the regular season dating back to a series against No. 1 Minnesota on January 12-13, 2014, at Pegula Ice Arena. The Gophers won both those games 3-2 and 5-2. Penn State is 0-3-0 all-time when playing the top team in the country.
  • This weekend features the high-flying offense of the top two scoring teams in the nation as Michigan leads the way with 42 goals and a 5.25 goals per game average while Penn State ranks second with 37 goals and a 4.63 goals per game average.
  • The teams have combined for 263 goals over the previous 37 matchups in the series averaging 7.11 goals per game with the Wolverines at 4.14 and Penn State at 2.97.
  • Senior Kevin Wall is one of just eight current Nittany Lions that have scored against Michigan as he leads Penn State with one goal and four assists for five points in eight career games against the Wolverines. Senior Ben Copeland scored twice against Michigan last year while sophomore Ryan Kirwan added three assists in four games played last season.
  • Junior goaltender Liam Souliere has just one career start against the Wolverines coming last season in Hockey Valley, a 6-2 loss for Penn State. Souliere allowed six goals on 33 shots in the setback.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN

  • The Wolverines are ranked No. 1 in the nation entering the week at 7-1-0 and coming off a sweep against No. 17 Western Michigan last weekend.
  • Michigan is without six of its top seven scorers from a season ago, four of which are currently playing in the NHL in Matty Beniers, Owen Power, Kent Johnson and Nick Blankenburg with the other two, Brendan Brisson and Thomas Bordeleau, not far behind in the AHL. Beniers paced the Wolverines last year with 43 points on 20 goals and 23 assists while Brisson led the team with 21 goals and was second with 42 points.
  • The Wolverines do return a pair of first round picks in Luke Hughes and Mackie Samoskevich with the addition of first rounders in freshmen Frank Nazar and Rutger McGroarty who were taken 13th and 14th overall this past summer. Hughes had 17 goals and 22 assists for 39 points from the blueline last year as the leading scoring defenseman in the nation.
  • Michigan is currently paced by Adam Fantilli, the projected No. 2 overall pick for the 2023 draft, who leads the nation with 18 points on a Big Ten best eight goals and 10 assists to rank third and second in the nation, respectively, in each category. Samoskevich is second on the team with 12 points on six goals and six assists while McGroarty has added four goals and six assists for 10 points. T.J. and Luke Hughes have nine and eight points, respectively, with the former ranking third on the team with five goals.
  • Erik Portillo returns between the pipes for Michigan and while he has a 7-1-0 record his numbers have dipped a bit as he currently has a 2.74 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage to rank just sixth in the Big Ten in each category.
  • The Wolverine powerplay has been lethal once again converting 14-of-44 opportunities for a Big Ten best 31.8 percent conversion rate to rank fifth in the nation. Four of Fantilli's eight goals have come on the man-advantage.
  • On the other hand, Michigan has struggled to stay out of the box averaging a Big Ten worst 6.63 penalties per game with opponents converting 21.4 percent (9-for-42) on the powerplay. Michigan's 14.6 penalty minutes per game are the most in the Big Ten and rank 11th nationally.
  • Michigan has also struggled at the faceoff dot this season ranking middle of the pack nationally at 49.5 percent to rank sixth in the Big Ten ahead of only Ohio State's 49 percent

HOT START

  • Penn State is off to its best start in program history at 8-0-0. The eight-game win streak is the second longest in program history. The Nittany Lions won a program-best 11 games in-a-row during the 2016-17 season as part of a 13-game unbeaten streak en route to the first No. 1 national ranking in program history.
  • The Nittany Lions have also scored first in seven of its first eight games this season after doing so 21 times a season ago going 16-4-1 when lighting the lamp first in 2021-22.
  • When Wisconsin scored first last Friday it was the first time all season that Penn State had trailed in a game, and they did so for just 10:11 until Kevin Wall brought the game back even with his fifth goal of the season.

SCORING IN NUMBERS

  • Through the first eight games of the season Penn State has seen 17 different players score a goal and 23 different players register a point to lead the nation in both categories.
  • Michigan has 16 unique goal scorers and 20 players who have registered a point through its first eight games of the season.

I'M A SOUL-Y MAN

  • Junior goaltender Liam Souliere ended the month of October stopping 63-of-64 shots he faced to lead Penn State to a road sweep at Wisconsin to open Big Ten play including a 32-save shutout, the first of his career, during the series finale, a 4-0 victory last Saturday.
  • Souliere was named the Big Ten Second Star of the Week on Tuesday marking his first career weekly award and it was the first weekly award for a Penn State goaltender since Oskar Autio was named the B1G Third Star of the Week on January 6, 2021.
  • Souliere's .945 save percentage leads the Big Ten and is tied for fourth nationally while his 1.50 goals-against average also leads the Big Ten and ranks tied for fifth in the nation, but is the lowest goals-against average for net-minders with at least six starts.
  • Souliere's six victories this season are third in the nation behind Michigan's Erik Portillo and Ohio State's Jakub Dobes who each have seven.

MAC ATTACK

  • Senior Connor McMenamin scored the overtime winner two weeks ago against St. Thomas and also added the eventual game-winner last Saturday during a 4-0 win at Wisconsin. McMenamin now has eight game-winning goals in his career to tie for second all-time in Penn State history just two shy of Denis Smirnov's 10. Three of his GWG's have come during the extra session.
  • McMenamin has 18 career goals to his name meaning 44 percent of his goals have resulted in game winners.

LEADERS OF THE PACK

  • Senior Ture Linden leads Penn State with 10 points on three goals and seven assists, but has been held off the scoresheet in three consecutive games after beginning his Nittany Lion career with points in five-straight contests. Linden's 10 points and 7 assists this season are still good enough for tied third in the Big Ten and 14th nationally.
  • Sophomore Ben Schoen has chipped in with nine points (2G, 7A) to rank tied for eighth in the Big Ten and 27th nationally.
  • Senior Kevin Wall paces the Nittany Lions with five goals to rank tied for fourth in the Big ten and 12th in the nation.

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 hits the road to battle last week's No. 1 and current No. 3 team in the country, the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
  • The Nittany Lions trail the all-time series 21-16-1 and are just 6-13-0 on the wide ice at 3M Arena, however, Penn State has managed at least one win at Mariucci in five of the past six seasons including a series sweep in November 2019. The Gophers swept Penn State at home to open the 2020-21 season.

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.