It's not just any old weekend at Pegula Ice Arena when the historic Notre Dame Fighting Irish descend upon Hockey Valley. Sporting their famous gold helmets, the Fighting Irish looked to extinguish the No. 6 ranked Nittany Lions and gain more traction in the contested Big Ten standings.
However, Penn State was ready for the battle that ensued when linesman Tommy George dropped the puck and center Ture Linden won the draw back to his defenseman.
Linden, alongside linemate forwards Danny Dzhaniyev and Ashton Calder stole the show for Penn State Friday night spending most of their time on the ice in the offensive zone and generating several scoring chances.
"That line as a whole has just been working really well together, they have good chemistry, obviously, and they were bringing it shift after shift tonight," senior alternate captain Tyler Gratton said.
They finally broke the ice for the Nittany Lions when Dzhaniyev found a rebound and rocketed one past Fighting Irish goaltender Ryan Bischel in the waning moments of the first frame.
"They've been generating a ton of chances... If they keep doing that they're going to score. I know that Danny did tonight, and Danny did last game," Gadowsky said. "I look forward to the night the flood gates open for them."
Dzhaniyev during the Nittany Lions' last five games has been spectacular. Although far from the biggest player on ice, Dzhaniyev plays with a heart and intensity that eclipses many of his peers and speed that blows them away. Not to mention his silky-smooth hands which often find themselves deciphering defenses and leaving defensemen in disarray.
"His growth has been more mental than physical... he's actually a really powerful athlete, extremely quick, great shot, and the thing that I love about him is if you give him direction, he will really really work at it hard," Gadowsky said of Dzhaniyev.
The humble Dzhaniyev shrugs the praise off with a smile.
"My confidence level right now is at its highest, I'm playing with two great guys, Ture Linden and Ashton Calder, it's not that hard to play with them. All I have to do is give [the puck] to them or they give it back to me. It has been fun playing together," Dzhaniyev said.
Despite the effort from the Nittany Lions on night one, Bischel stood tall between the pipes for the Irish stopping 52 of the 53 shots that came his way.
"He played extremely well... I like the chances that we had, give him (Bischel) credit he played great, but I'm sure there's a couple forwards who would like those chances back," Gadowsky said.
"53 shots is an impressive number, they do a really good job of blocking shots, so to still get 53 shots on net is incredible. I think we need to do a better job of getting to the second or third pucks but give their goalie (Bischel) credit he stood on his head tonight," said Tyler Gratton.
On the other end of the ice, junior goaltender Liam Souliere turned aside 22 of the 24 shots that were flung his way by the Fighting Irish. It was a weird night for Souliere as much of the game's action came at the other end of the ice.
"I thought he was really good, that's a tough game he played. In the first period we had so many really good chances and we finally scored on one, so it's sometimes tough when you don't see a lot of action, but I thought he hung in there really well," Gadowsky said.
Freshmen defensive pairing Carter Schade and Jarod Crespo started night one on the blue line for the Nittany Lions and stole the show over the weekend protecting the Penn State zone and creating chances on the other end. They add to the young core of Nittany Lions looking to continue the winning mentality Gadowsky has bestowed upon the program.
"There's three young freshmen defensemen that we have (Schade, Crespo, and Dylan Gratton) all three of them have been afforded a lot of opportunity to play in different situations and they've all come a long way in a short time," Gadowsky said. "What it means is that the future looks bright because they are so important right now. All three are going to be great defensemen in the Big Ten."
Crespo himself has seen his fair share of difficulties but has finally found his footing in the new year. He supplies the Nittany Lions with a jump breaking out of their own zone and attacking the other. His shot from the point Friday night sparked the lone Nittany Lion goal when Dzhaniyev found the puck off Bischel's pad and wristed it home.
"He has come a long way," Gadowsky said. "He is not only an excellent player, but he has a presence about him. He is really good for giving the team confidence as well as how he plays. I think that he's (Crespo) really good offensively and really tough defensively. He's going to be an absolute dynamite defenseman in this league."
Schade had several flashes of brilliance during the weekend but none more important than a multitude of night two puck handling clinics that began rushes and established a Penn State offensive zone presence.
"We knew he was a tough kid and hard to play against but were very pleasantly surprised with how well and safely he moves the puck," Gadowsky said.
Following the night one loss, Penn State recognized that Notre Dame was now gaining ground in the Big Ten standings while the Nittany Lions were losing ground. A tough series in East Lansing the weekend before saw Penn State drop the first game in overtime and tie the next game against Michigan State. The Nittany Lions needed a win to remain tied with Ohio State in second while Notre Dame was flirting with overtaking Michigan State for fourth.
"That's definitely a game that we would like to have back. I think that as a team we played great tonight, but we need to take it with a chip on our shoulder tomorrow and show up for puck drop," said Tyler Gratton.
Nevertheless, the Saturday night wear white game was going to have major playoff implications for both squads. Each team knew this was not an opportunity they could squander.
"This team has done a pretty good job all year of getting ready, it's just another game," Gadowsky said. "When you say this may be the biggest game of the year, how many games do we have left? Nine? I think we're going to say that nine more times," said Gadowsky.
Saturday's game was different. The Penn State Whiteout, which is known for its popularity among Penn State football fans, was first introduced during a September matchup with Notre Dame in 2007. No. 14 Penn State beat the unranked Fighting Irish that afternoon 31-10, however the larger impact became the yearly tradition of a white out game. That football tradition has slowly bled over to other sports like hockey and basketball.
Towards the end of Friday night's matchup, Penn State's public address announcer Rodney Martin and his booming voice announced a new program attendance record. As the crowd roared in excitement over the new accomplishment, they knew their record would only stand for 24 hours.
The next night, 6,566 fans amassing a sea of white roared while Martin's booming announcement stated a similar sentiment. There was a new Pegula Ice Arena record yet again.
"The atmosphere at Pegula this weekend was absolutely unreal. The arena filled up so quick and broke the attendance record both nights which provided incomparable energy. Everyone at those games wanted to be there and it showed," said Penn State student and Roar Zone member Oliva Dunshee.
Gadowsky couldn't help himself but admire the community support both nights for his team. He led each post-game press conference with a thank you to everyone who made Pegula the "Best barn in college hockey." Especially the Roar Zone.
"I thought the crowd was absolutely incredible, the student section absolutely incredible, the support we get from the community and the students, the whole atmosphere was amazing," said Gadowsky.
"It's really special, we know we have the best fans in college hockey, maybe even hockey, the turnout is always fantastic. We had a sneaky suspicion that we would have a good turnout white out weekend but to see it both nights is incredible," said Chistian Sarlo who scored the game winning goal Saturday night.
"It's always fun to play in front of that crowd, when we stepped on the ice in that first period, we were like alright yeah this is it," said Dzhaniyev.
"They bring a lot of energy to the rink. Whenever they are inside the gate it really gets our team going," said Tyler Gratton.
"After spending so much time supporting this team, it means a lot to see them show their appreciation," said Dunshee. "Every year we spend hours in Pegula coordinating the banner and working with athletics to prepare for these big games and to see the team excited about it make it worth the time."
The hometown energy sparked the Nittany Lions all weekend as the team skated with purpose and emotion during a massive rivalry series. The forecheck both nights led by hard charging forwards Kevin Wall and Tyler Paquette coupled with young grinders Dzhaniyev and Chase McLane pinned the Fighting Irish in their own zone several times resulting in suffocating offensive pressure.
"A big thing that coach has been preaching this year is that we have a really deep team... every single guy is a great hockey player, and no matter what guys are on the ice or in the lineup, it's nice to see everyone contributing," said Sarlo.
"No one let down, everyone was flying, and it's great to see," said Gadowsky.
Saturday became a battle from the drop of the puck. Several scrums after whistles ended in a Notre Dame power play goal to put the Nittany Lions in an early 1-0 deficit.
"Tonight, we took a step back in our mental discipline and what it takes to win hockey games. Powerplays are massive, and Coach Fisher talked in between periods about when we were on a role the number of powerplays we gave up game after game, and it's vastly different than this weekend, "said Gadowsky.
However, after a second period penalty kill, Connor MacEachern shelfed the puck off a two-on-one opportunity with line mate Connor McMenamin to tie the game.
The tie was broken when Christian Sarlo jammed a puck home in front of the Norte Dame net which sent the record-setting crowd into a white out frenzy.
"I let the pass go to Lamps (Xander Lamppa) and I had a feeling he was going to give it back to me. When I went to stuff it, I tried to make it look like I was going far side and then sneak it through the five hole and it got through," said Sarlo.
As the final horn sounded and the Penn State faithful rose to their feet and applauded their team on a hard-fought win, it was only right to marvel at the spectacle of monochromatic mayhem inside Pegula Ice Arena and the effort that their Nittany Lions gave all weekend.
