UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 20 Penn State Nittany Lions resume Big Ten Conference play with a series against No. 8 Michigan State this weekend in Hockey Valley.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, January 12 | Saturday, January 13
Place: University Park, Pa.
Time: 7 p.m. | 4:30 p.m.
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State | Michigan State
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- This week marks the 45th and 46th meetings between the two schools with Penn State holding the 21-17-6 all-time edge including a 12-5-3 record at Pegula Ice Arena.
- The Spartans, however, are 4-1-2 in the last seven meetings including taking four-of-six points earlier this season in East Lansing following a 3-3 tie and 5-3 victory.
- Senior Jimmy Dowd Jr. leads all Nittany Lions with nine points in 14 career games against Sparty on one goal and eight assists while senior captain Christian Berger has added two goals and five assists for seven points in 14 career games against MSU.
- Senior net-minder Liam Souliere has a 2-4-1 record in eight career starts against the Spartans posting a .873 save percentage to go along with a 3.63 goals-against average. Sophomore Noah Grannan started his first career game against the Spartans back in November allowing three goals on 35 shots while securing the shootout victory.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
- The Spartans enter this weekend with a 13-4-3 record and ranked eighth in the nation. Michigan State is 7-1-2 in Big Ten play, ranking second in the conference just five points behind Wisconsin but with two games in hand. MSU's only official Big Ten loss came against Minnesota. Michigan State is unbeaten (7-0-1) at home this season, but just 3-4-1 in true road games.
- More than half of the Michigan State roster is new from last year after the Spartans lost 16 players from the 2022-23 roster, they have replaced that with 15 newcomers including 10 freshmen to go along with five transfers.
- The Spartans are averaging 4.2 goals per game this season to lead the Big Ten and rank third in the nation behind Denver (5.3) and Quinnipiac (4.4). MSU's 83 goals this season are tied for the second most in the nation behind only the 105 Denver has scored.
- Sophomore transfer Joey Larson leads the team with 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points while four others are tied for second with 20 points led by Karsen Dorwart and Red Savage with eight and seven goals, respectively, and Isaac Howard and Artyom Levshunov who are tied for the team lead with 15 assists each.
- Freshman Trey Augustine will make his return between the pipes for the Spartans after leading Team USA to the Gold Medal at the World Junior Championships in Sweden. Augustine has started 17 games this season for the Spartans posting an 11-3-2 record with a 2.97 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.His save percentage ranks third in the Big Ten and tied for 19th nationally.
- Michigan State's 259 penalty minutes over the first 20 games of the season leads the Big Ten and ranks eighth in the nation as the Spartans are averaging 12.95 penalty minutes a game ranking second in the Big Ten behind Michigan's 14.0 for most in the conference. MSU's 12.95 PIM's per game are the 12th most in the nation.
- Although undisciplined at times, the Spartans have done well killing off all those penalties ranking second in the Big Ten and 22nd nationally with an 81.9 percent (68-for-83) penalty kill. The Spartans also lead the Big Ten and are tied for fourth in the nation with five shorthanded goals including one against the Nittany Lions earlier this season in East Lansing.
- Michigan State has also excelled on the man-advantage ranking second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally converting at a 28.1 percent clip (16-for-57).
CARDIAC CATS
- Penn State has found itself trailing in the third period on numerous occasions this season most notably three-straight games to open conference play where the Nittany Lions erased two-goal third period deficits in each to force overtime and eventually a shootout, including the first game this season against the Spartans.
- The Nittany Lions have actually trailed more than midway through the game in five of their 10 wins this season.
- Last Saturday the Nittany Lions faced their biggest deficit to date trailing Army 6-2 late in the second period before rattling off five-straight goals including a natural hat-trick by junior Ryan Kirwan to secure the 7-6 victory.
- The four-goal comeback is the largest in program history surpassing the previous record of three goals, which had been accomplished twice before.
NON-CONFERENCE DOMINATION
- With last Saturday's victory, Penn State concludes the 2023-24 non-conference slate with an 8-2-0 record.
- Penn State has now registered at least eight non-conference victories eight times and have a 75.2 percent all-time winning percentage in regular-season non-conference games since the Big Ten's inception prior to the 2013-14 season.
- The Nittany Lions are an eye-popping 45-6-1 in regular-season non-conference games since the start of the 2018-19 season including an 18-2-0 mark over the past two seasons.
SEVENTH HEAVEN
- Penn State scored seven or more goals for the 31st time in program history last Saturday and the third time this season after reaching that mark twice last season.
- The Nittany Lions have now scored seven or more goals in a game at least once in 10 consecutive seasons with a record seven such games during the 2018-19 season when they paced the nation with 4.54 goals per game.
- Penn State is currently averaging 3.95 goals per game in 2023-24 to rank third in the Big Ten behind MSU (4.15) and Michigan (4.00) and sixth in the nation.
STARRY-EYED
- Junior Ryan Kirwan was recently named the Big Ten Hockey Second Star of the week following his first career hat-trick and a career-best four-point effort in a come-from-behind victory over Army West Point on Saturday.
- Kirwan scored three-straight goals for the natural hat-trick in just a 4:33 span between the second and third periods scoring goals two and three just 57 ticks apart early in the third period to tie the score at 6-6.
- It was the first hat-trick of Kirwan's career and the 13th in program history while he joins Aiden Fink and Jacques Bouquot as the third Nittany Lion to register a hat-trick this season marking the first time in program history Penn State has had three hat-tricks in a single-season.
- For Kirwan it marked his third multi-goal game of the season and the sixth of his career while also marking his sixth multi-point effort of the season and the 15th of his career. His 12 goals are now just one shy of his career-best 13 scored during his freshman campaign in 2021-22 and are good for third in the Big Ten and tied for 12th nationally while his 21 points are good for seventh in the conference.
- Penn State is 24-2-0 all-time when Kirwan scores a goal including a 15-0-0 mark over the past two seasons with an 8-0-0 record in such games so far this season.
FRESHMAN PHENOM
- Freshman Aiden Fink picked up the second half of the season right where he ended the first netting a pair of goals, including the game-winner, to go along with one assist for three points last Saturday against Army.
- Fink's 26 points lead the Big Ten and rank tied for seventh in the nation and are second among rookies behind only presumed 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini who has 27 points.
- Fink is averaging 1.30 points per game to rank second in the Big Ten and 15th in the nation. His 1.30 PPG average is currently the second-best single-season points per game average in program history behind only Evan Barratt's 1.34 points per game average from the 2018-19 season.
- Fink's 11 goals are tied for third in the Big Ten and lead all freshmen in the conference while ranking tied for third among rookies nationally.
- Fink's 26 points are already tied for the fifth-most by a freshman in a single-season in program history and are just one shy of tying Casey Bailey and current assistant coach Andrew Sturtz for third. His 11 goals are tied for the eighth-most by a Penn State rookie while his 15 assists place him sixth.
- Against Michigan in November, Fink registered the 11th hat-trick in program history, however, it was just the second all-time on the road and just the fourth against a Big Ten opponent.
ARE YOU KID-DING ME?!?
- Freshman Reese Laubach continued his career-best point streak, which now stands at four games, with a two-point effort (1G, 1A) last Saturday against Army while classmate Matt DiMarsico added a pair of assists to go along with Fink's three-point effort.
- Combined the "Kid Line" has registered 18 goals with 29 assists for 47 points and a plus-16 rating in 13 games (3.62 points per game) since being put together at the beginning of November.
- The "Kid Line" has been Penn State's most dynamic line since Evan Barratt, Alex Limoges, and Liam Folkes joined forces in 2017 to form a line commonly referred to as the "BFL Line" that wreaked havoc across the Big Ten for three years finishing with an eye-popping 109 goals, 145 assists and 254 points over 86 games (2.95 points per game) together including the 2018-19 season where they combined for 123 points in 31 games (3.97 points per game) on 53 goals and 70 assists.
- PSU's five-member freshman class has combined for 25 goals and 39 assists for 64 points (30 percent of total offense) so far this season.
- DiMarsico's 19 points are tied for the third most on the team and currently rank tied for second in the Big Ten with MSU's Artyom Levshunov for freshmen scoring only trailing Fink's 26. DiMarsico ranks tied for 11th in the nation among freshmen with his 19 points.
- Laubach is currently tied for sixth on the team in scoring with 13 points on six goals and seven assists, however, he has registered at least one point in seven of his last eight games with four goals and five assists for nine points during that stretch.
MACK ATTACK
- Junior Simon Mack tallied one goal and one assist against Army last Saturday marking his second multi-point effort of the season and the third of his career. Mack leads all Nittany Lion defensemen in goals with three.
- Mack has registered at least one point in six of his last nine games scoring once while adding seven assists for nine points during that span.
- Mack along with his defensive partner Dylan Gratton are a combined plus-25 this season playing all 20 games together.
KEEPIN' IT 100
- Senior alternate captain Xander Lamppa will skate in his 100th career game on Friday night becoming the fifth Nittany Lion this season to reach the 100-game milestone.
- Lamppa is currently tied for sixth on the team with 13 points on a pair of goals and 11 assists.
NEXT UP
- Penn State hits the road as Big ten play rolls along with a trip to South Bend to battle Notre Dame next Friday and Saturday evening.
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.