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Craig Houtz

No. 18 Men's Hockey Battles No. 12 Michigan in Ann Arbor This Weekend

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions close out a four-game road swing in the state of Michigan with a pair of Big Ten contests in Ann Arbor against the 12th-ranked Wolverines on Friday and Saturday.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates Friday, November 17 | Saturday, November 18
Place: Ann Arbor, Mich.
Time: 7 p.m. | 7 p.m.
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 43rd and 44th meetings all time between Penn State and Michigan with the Wolverines holding the 26-15-1 edge in the series including the commanding 14-3-0 record at Yost Ice Arena where they have won 13 of the last 14 meetings. The lone win for the Nittany Lions during that stretch and Penn State's last victory at Yost came on December 7, 2019, a 3-1 victory.
  • Last season Penn State won the opening game of the season series, 3-0, at Pegula Ice Arena when Michigan was ranked No. 1 in the nation. It marked the first win for the Nittany Lions over the top team in the nation and was the first of back-to-back weekends where PSU defeated the top team in the land as they went on to defeat Minnesota the following week when the Gophers were No. 1. However, Michigan won the next four meetings, two in overtime, including the Allentown Regional Final in overtime to end the season for the Nittany Lions. Aside from the 3-0 win for the Nittany Lions and a 7-3 victory for the Wolverines, five of the last seven meetings in the series have been decided by a single goal.
  • After scoring a goal last weekend in East Lansing, senior Xander Lamppa now has 11 career goals with 10 having come in Big Ten play. Of those 10, five have come against Michigan each coming last year as Lamppa scored five of his six goals in 2022-23 in his five games against the Wolverines. Lamppa leads all current Nittany Lions with eight points in 10 games against Michigan adding three assists to those five goals.
  • The Wolverines have started the fight early in all but three games this season scoring the opening goal in nine of 12 games posting a 5-3-1 record in such contests while going 0-2-1 when the opponent scores first. Penn State has yet to score the opening goal of the game in each of its four Big Ten games this season after tallying the first score in five of the first seven games of the year. The Nittany Lions are 4-1-0 when scoring first.
  • Penn State remains the least penalized team in the Big Ten and the sixth least penalized team nationally averaging just 7.5 PIM's per game while Michigan is the most penalized team in the Big Ten and ninth-most in the nation averaging 13.8 PIM's per game, nearly double the Nittany Lions.
  • Penalties could be a huge factor in determining the outcome of this series as Michigan boasts the best powerplay in the nation converting at a 40 percent clip (20-for-50) through the first 12 games scoring at least one powerplay goal in 9-of-12 games with a 5-2-2 record when doing so and an 0-3-0 record when not scoring on the man-advantage. On the other side of the coin, the Wolverines boast the worst penalty kill in the Big Ten and the 10th worst nationally killing just 72.9 percent (35-for-45) of opponents powerplay chances and posting a 2-4-2 record when allowing a powerplay goal.
  • Penn State has been inconsistent in both aspects of special teams this season ranking middle of the pack on both the powerplay (18.4 percent) and the penalty kill (74.1 percent). The Nittany Lions are just 1-for-12 on the powerplay since Big Ten play began including an 0-for-8 mark over the last three games and are just 8-for-12 on the penalty kill having allowed multiple powerplay goals in two of their four Big Ten games this season.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN

  • Michigan finished second in the Big Ten regular season last year before defeating Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game for the second-straight year. The Wolverines finished the 2022-23 campaign 26-12-3 making it to their second-straight Frozen Four before being defeated by eventual National Champion Quinnipiac.
  • The Wolverines are without the services of each of their top-3 scorers from last season including All-Americans Adam Fantilli and Luke Hughes who are both playing in the National Hockey League this season. Fantilli was the 2022-23 Hobey Baker Award winner after scoring 30 goals with 35 assists for 65 points to lead the nation. Hughes added 48 points from the blueline with Mackie Samoskevich collected 20 goals and 43 points of his own.
  • Michigan still has a star-studded lineup from top to bottom led by a pair of first-round draft picks in Rutger McGroarty and Frank Nazar, who are two of just 14 first rounders in all of college hockey this season. In total, 11 of Michigan's 26 rostered players have been selected in the NHL Draft. U-M's 11 total draft picks are tied for the seventh-most in the NCAA.
  • McGroarty leads the Wolverines with 18 points on six goals and 12 assists while fellow sophomore Gavin Brindley paces the team with nine goals to lead the Big Ten and rank second in the nation just one shy of Denver's Jack Devine for the national lead. Nazar and T.J. Hughes have each added six goals of their own with Dylan Duke and Garrett Schifsky tallying five each.
  • Michigan leads the Big Ten and ranks second nationally scoring 4.6 goals per game behind only Denver at 5.2. The 55 goals scored by the Wolverines this season lead the nation, one clear of in-state rival Michigan State.
  • Between the pipes is a new face to Ann Arbor, but not to college hockey as Canisius transfer Jake Barczewski joins the Wolverines to take the vacant spot left by Eric Portillo. Barczewski is the NCAA's active career leader in saves and sits just five shy of reaching the 3,000 save mark currently sitting at 2,995. Barczewski has faced the Nittany Lions once in each of the past two seasons posting a 1-1-0 record with a .940 save percentage and a 2.54 goals-against average securing a 4-1 victory at Pegula Ice Arena in 2021 before dropping a 5-2 decision last season in Hockey Valley.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGS

  • Junior Dylan Lugris has already reached a new career-high with seven points in 11 games this season and has scored a goal in four of his last five games and now has a new career-best with five goals this season to lead the team and rank tied for 11th in the Big Ten.
  • Each of Lugris' five goals this season have come in clutch situations either tying the game or giving Penn State the lead. He paces the Nittany Lions and ranks tied for third in the Big Ten and 12th nationally with three powerplay goals. He has also scored two extra-attacker goals this season.
  • Penn State had just one extra attacker goal last season after not recording a single extra-attacker goal during the 2021-22 season. The Nittany Lions haven't had multiple extra-attacker goals in a season since 2019-20 when they had three.

BONUS HOCKEY

  • For just the fifth time in Penn State history and third time in Big Ten play, the Nittany Lions had a series where both games went to overtime two weeks ago against Notre Dame and it marked the first time in program history that both games advanced to a shootout.
  • The Nittany Lions kept with the trend in their opening game last weekend in East Lansing coming back from three goals down to force overtime and eventually a shootout marking three-straight games with a shootout for the first time in program history.
  • Prior to the past couple weekends, Penn State had just one game advance all the way to a shootout over the past three seasons. The Nittany Lions have competed in multiple shootouts in a season for just the third time in program history and first since the 2019-20 season. Penn State advanced to a program-record five shootouts during the 2017-18 season.
  • Penn State is now 7-10 all-time in shootouts and have multiple shootout victories in a season for just the second time in program history (2017-18).

CARDIAC CATS

  • In back-to-back games over the past two weeks, Penn State erased multi-goal third period deficits to force overtime and eventually win in a shootout.
  • The Nittany Lions scored three goals over the final 23 minutes last Friday against Michigan State erasing a three-goal hole just five days after erasing a two-goal deficit against Notre Dame with an extra attacker goal in the final minute.
  • The three-goal comeback ties the mark for largest comeback in program history although technically the game resulted in a tie and not a true victory. It was the first time Penn State erased a three-goal deficit since a 4-3 overtime loss to Michigan back on November 5, 2022, when they scored three goals in just four minutes late in the third period to force the extra frame. Penn State's last victory when trailing by three goals came against Arizona State on December 13, 2020.

XANDER LIGHT THE LAMPPA

  • Senior Xander Lamppa has five points in his last four games on a pair of goals and three assists he has also gone 2-for-2 in shootout situations scoring the lone goal in a three-round shootout against Notre Dame two weeks ago. He then extended the shootout last Friday against Michigan State before Ryan Kirwan ended it in the fourth round.
  • Lamppa becomes the first Penn State skater since Andrew Sturtz in 2017-18 to score multiple shootout goals in the same season. Sturtz went 2-for-5 that season.
  • Lamppa is currently third on the team with nine points on two goals and a team-best seven assists through 11 games.

BIG JIM

  • Senior defenseman Jimmy Dowd Jr. tallied an assist in each game last weekend against Michigan State giving him 43 assists and 52 points in his Nittany Lion career.
  • Dowd is now tied for seventh with Vince Pedrie on the Nittany Lion scoring list for defensemen with his 52 points while his 43 assists are tied for fifth with Trevor Hamilton and Kris Myllari.
  • The senior skated in his 100th career game last Saturday in East Lansing becoming the third different Nittany Lion to hit that milestone this year (Berger, Palocsik).

THE B1G GADOWSKY

  • In his 12th season behind the Nittany Lion bench, head coach Guy Gadowsky enters the week with 199 victories at Penn State. Under his guidance PSU has posted five 20+ win seasons and reached the NCAA Tournament on three occasions with a pair of Big Ten Championships mixed in.
  • With 372 total wins in his 24-year coaching career, Gadowsky ranks 35th among Division I coaches all-time and tied for 11th among active NCAA Division I coaches with Bemidji State bench boss Tom Serratore.

NEXT UP

  • Penn State returns home next weekend and takes a break from Big Ten action as the Nittany Lions host Lindenwood for a pair of non-conference matchups on Friday and Saturday following the Thanksgiving holiday. Puck drop for both games is 4 p.m. and tickets are still available HERE!

For more information on the 2023-24 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.