UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 17 Penn State Nittany Lions begin Big Ten Conference play this weekend as they welcome the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to Hockey Valley for a Saturday-Sunday series at Pegula Ice Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates Saturday, November 4 | Sunday, November 5
Place: University Park, Pa.
Time: 7:30 p.m. | 4:30 p.m.
Tickets: Saturday | Sunday
Streaming Video: Saturday | Sunday
Listen: Saturday | Sunday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State | Notre Dame
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This weekend marks the 32nd and 33rd meetings all time with Notre Dame leading the series 19-9-3 including a 10-4-1 mark over the last three seasons even though the teams evenly split the season series last year.
- Notre Dame is 8-4-2 all-time at Pegula Ice Arena with eight of those games being decided by one goal or less and five going into overtime.
- Penn State is 6-4-0 all-time in Big Ten openers with five of those six wins turning into series sweeps including last year at Wisconsin.
- The Nittany Lions are opening Big Ten play at home for the first time since the 2019-20 season when they swept Wisconsin on Halloween Weekend. Penn State is 3-1-0 all-time when beginning Big Ten play at home and 7-1-0 all-time in those complete series.
- This marks the first time in Big Ten Conference history that the Nittany Lions and Fighting Irish have opened Big Ten play against each other. Penn State has now begun conference play against each of the other six Big Ten teams at least once.
SCOUTING THE IRISH
- Notre Dame is 4-3-0 and coming off a weekend split of Mercyhurst which followed an up-and-down 2-3-0 stretch to open the season including a 3-0 loss in its lone road game so far at RIT three weeks ago. In their four wins this season the Fighting Irish are allowing just a single goal per game with a pair of shutouts by goaltender Ryan Bischel.
- Bischel, the reigning Big Ten Goaltender of the Year, returns between the pipes for the Irish after posting a 16-16-4 record with a Big Ten best .931 save-percentage which tied for second nationally a season ago. Bischel has started each of the team's seven games this season posting a .928 save percentage and 2.20 goals-against average.
- The Irish are paced offensively by Landon Slaggert who has goals in five of Notre Dame's first seven games including multi-goal games in each contest last weekend against Mercyhurst. Slaggert's seven goals are tied for the Big Ten lead with Michigan's Gavin Brindley and rank second nationally just one shy of Boston University's Macklin Celebrini. His seven goals already match his total from the entirety of last season where he skated in 35 games. No other Irish skater has more than two goals this season. Maddox Fleming leads the team with six assists.
- Notre Dame is averaging 2.71 goals per game this season which is tied for the Big Ten basement with Ohio State and ranks middle of the pack nationally.
- The Irish have been strong on the penalty kill so far this season killing off 20-of-23 (87 percent) penalties against to rank third in the Big Ten and 21st nationally.
- Notre Dame has been strong on draws so far this season ranking second in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation winning 54.7 percent of its faceoffs.
- Like teams of the past, the Irish continue to be one of the nation's leaders in blocked shots averaging 14.1 per game.
GUY'S OUR GUY
- 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 11th among active NCAA Division I coaches, one win clear of Bemidji State bench boss Tom Serratore.
DANNY DANGLEZ
- Junior Danny Dzhaniyev has scored a goal in three-straight games for the first time in his career, his three-game point streak is just one shy of his career long.
- Dzhaniyev leads the team with eight points through the first seven games of the season. His eight points are good for 13th in the Big Ten as he is already nearly halfway to his career-high of 18 points from his freshman season.
FRESHMAN FINK
- Freshman Aiden Fink is averaging a point per game early in his career with at least one point in five of his first seven collegiate games including a pair of multi-point efforts. Fink leads the Nittany Lions with six assists which rank tied for ninth in the Big Ten. Fink is also tied for third on the team with a plus-3 rating.
WE'VE GOT THE POWER
- Penn State is off to a strong start with the man-advantage this season having powerplay tallies in six of its first seven games as the Nittany Lions are converting at 23.1 percent (6-for-26) to rank second in the Big Ten and 12th in the nation. Michigan leads the Big Ten at an eye-popping 41.5 percent (17-for-41). Notre Dame is fifth in the Big Ten at 19.2 percent (5-for-26).
PLAYING CLEAN
- Penn State is the least penalized team in the nation over the first month of the season averaging just two penalties per game. Last Thursday against Alaska-Anchorage Penn State did not take a single penalty en route to its 2-1 victory.
SOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL
- Senior goaltender Liam Souliere secured career win No. 31 two weeks ago against AIC placing him just one shy of Matt Skoff '16 for second all-time at Penn State. Peyton Jones '20 is Penn State's all-time wins leader with 76.
THE GRANIMAL
- Sophomore Noah Grannan got his first start of the season last Thursday backstopping the Nittany Lions to a 2-1 victory stopping 25-of-26 shots.
- In two appearances this season Grannan has allowed just two goals on 34 shots registering a .941 save percentage and a 1.41 goals-against average.
NEXT UP
- Penn State hits the road for four-straight in the state of Michigan taking on Michigan State next weekend before a trip to Ann Arbor to battle the Wolverines.
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.