MADISON, Wis. – The No. 17 Penn State Nittany Lions conclude the first semester of play with a trip to Madison for a top-20 Big Ten hockey clash with the sixth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers on Friday and Saturday evening.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, December 8 | Saturday, December 9
Place: Madison, Wisconsin
Time: 9 p.m. (ET) | 8 p.m. (ET)
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State | Wisconsin
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- Wisconsin is Penn State's most common opponent as this weekend marks the 50th and 51st meetings all-time between the two programs with the Nittany Lions holding the 27-19-3 advantage. The teams have evenly split the 22 previous matchups in Madison with each winning 10 to go along with a pair of ties. In those ties the shootouts were also split with each team winning one.
- Penn State swept Wisconsin in Madison last season winning 2-1 in the opening game and a 4-0 shutout the following night. The Nittany Lions have won three-straight games at the Kohl Center dating back to a 5-4 overtime win nearly two years ago to the day on December 11, 2021.
- Including that overtime win in 2021, Penn State is 6-1-0 in its last seven games against the Badgers, however, Wisconsin snapped a six-game losing skid in the last meeting between the two schools last season, a 2-1 victory for the Badgers in Hockey Valley on February 25.
- This weekend marks just the sixth series that both teams have been ranked and the first since Halloween weekend 2019, a series sweep for the Nittany Lions at Pegula Ice Arena. Penn State is 7-2-2 all-time against the Badgers while both teams are ranked in the top-20 including a 2-1-1 record in Madison. Five of the previous 11 meetings with both teams ranked came during the 2016-17 season with Penn State going 4-1-0 including a 2-1 double OT victory in the Big Ten Tournament Championship.
- Wisconsin is tied with Michigan State as the youngest team in the Big Ten and fourth youngest in the nation with an average age of 21 years and 4 months. Penn State is the oldest team in the Big Ten with an average age of 22 years 2 months.
- Junior Danny Dzhaniyev has had good success in his career against the Badgers as he leads Penn State with seven points on four goals and three assists in eight games while classmate Ryan Kirwan has added a team-best four goals with two assists for six points in eight games against Wisconsin.
- Senior goaltender Liam Souliere has seen his best success against the Badgers posting a 4-2-0 record in six starts with a 1.85 goals-against average and .938 save percentage.
- After last Saturday's 6-3 victory against Minnesota, sophomore goaltender Noah Grannan has now started at least one game against each Big Ten team except for the Badgers. The Germantown, Wisconsin native should cross that off the list in at least one of the games this weekend in Madison.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
- The Badgers enter the weekend 12-4-0 and ranked sixth in the nation. Wisconsin is 6-2-0 in Big Ten play after a sweep against Ohio State last weekend and sit just one point behind Michigan State for first in the Big Ten standings.
- Wisconsin is under the direction of new head coach Mike Hastings this season after parting ways with Tony Granato last spring. Hastings joins the Badgers after serving as Bench Boss for Minnesota State for the past 11 seasons guiding the Mavericks to eight NCAA Tournaments, two Frozen Fours and advancing all the way to the National Championship game in 2022. Hastings eclipsed 300 NCAA wins earlier this season and currently ranks as the 49th winningest coach in Division I history and the 14th among active coaches with 311 victories while his .720 winning percentage is the best among active coaches and ranks third all-time.
- Wisconsin has lost just once on home ice this season and that came two weeks ago at the hands of Alaska-Anchorage, a common non-conference opponent between the two teams. The Badgers enter the weekend 7-1-0 at the Kohl Center this season and winners of three-straight.
- The Badgers have surrendered just 1.69 goals per game this season to lead the nation and have allowed just two goals over the past four games with a pair of shutouts from senior goaltender Kyle McClellan.
- McClellan, who transferred in last season from Mercyhurst, leads the nation with a 1.74 goals-against average and ranks second with a .934 save percentage which tops the Big Ten. McClellan has started 15 of the 16 games this season after taking the starting reigns from the departed Jared Moe who started 28 of Wisconsin's 36 games a season ago.
- The Badgers return three of their top-5 scorers from a season ago including leading scorer Cruz Lucius who paces Wisconsin once again with eight goals and six assists for 14 points a year after scoring 11 goals while adding a team-best 23 assists for 34 points. Mathieu De St. Phalle led the Badgers with 13 goals in 2022-23 and has contributed five goals and seven assists for 12 points so far this season. Owen Lindmark is second on the team with a career-best seven goals in just 11 games this season.
- Wisconsin's strong defensive start to the season has translated well to specialty teams as the Badgers have the top-rated penalty kill in the Big Ten at 89.8 percent (53-for-59), a mark good for fifth in the nation.
CAN'T SCORE IF YOU PASS
- Penn State has won four of its last five games scoring at least five goals in each win. The Nittany Lions are currently tied with Michigan for second in the Big Ten and fourth in the nation in scoring offense averaging 4.0 goals per game.
- The Nittany Lions have scored 68 goals through the first 17 games of the season to rank third in the Big Ten behind Michigan and Michigan State and fifth in the nation.
GET AHEAD, STAY AHEAD
- Penn State has opened the scoring in four-straight games after going six-straight without the opening goal. Penn State is 7-2-0 in such games this season after going 17-7-1 when scoring first last season.
- Wisconsin has scored first in 10 of its first 16 games this season with a perfect 10-0-0 record when doing so.
- Both teams are also unbeaten when leading after two periods as Penn State stands at 7-0-1 and the Badgers are a perfect 7-0-0.
FIVE IN FOUR
- After starting the season with goals in four-straight games, junior Ryan Kirwan was held without a goal for nine game in-a-row, before snapping that streak with a multi-goal effort in a 9-3 victory over Lindenwood two weeks ago.
- Kirwan added his second multi-goal effort in the past four games in last Saturday's 6-3 victory over Minnesota and the junior has now scored in three of his last four games with five goals during that stretch.
- Kirwan's nine goals are already more than he had last season while his 17 points in 17 games this season match his 2022-23 total which he achieved in 28 games.
- Kirwan is tied with freshman Aiden Fink for the team lead with his nine goals which rank tied for fourth in the Big Ten and 18th nationally.
- Penn State is 23-2-0 all-time when Kirwan scores a goal including a 14-0-0 mark over the past two seasons with a 7-0-0 record so far this year in such games.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
- Penn State's "Kid Line" consisting of Aiden Fink, Reese Laubach and Matt DiMarsico has paced the Nittany Lion offense over the last month netting 15 goals with 21 assists for 36 points and a plus-19 rating in 10 games.
- In the eight Big Ten games, the kids have scored 10 goals while adding 13 assists for 23 points and are a plus-7. The 10 goals account for 37 percent of Penn State's goals in Big Ten play.
THE DANE TRAIN
- Freshman Dane Dowiak is beginning to find his footing with goals in three-straight series openers for the Nittany Lions.
A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER
- Last Friday, freshman Aiden Fink was named the Hockey Commissioners Association National Division I Rookie of the Month for November. He became just the second Nittany Lion ever to earn HCA laurels joining Evan Barratt who was named the Co-Player of the Month for his play during the month of November as a sophomore in 2018.
- The Calgary, Alberta native registered at least one point in six of eight games throughout the month, finishing November on a career-best five-game heater (7-6—13) including four-straight multi-point efforts.
- Fink paced the Big Ten and tied for the national lead in goals and assists during the month of November with eight and 14, respectively, while his five-game goal and point streaks were both career-bests. The rookie averaged 1.00 goals per game and 1.75 points per game in eight games in November.
- Fink is currently tied for second in the Big Ten with 22 points to lead all conference rookies while ranking tied for seventh in the nation and third among first-year players. His nine goals lead all Big Ten rookies and are tied for fourth in the conference and 18th in the nation, fifth among freshmen.
NEXT UP
- Penn State takes the next month off for final exams and the holidays before returning to Hockey Valley on January 6 to conclude non-conference play with a single contest against Army West Point. Ticket are 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.