Men's Hockey Welcomes No. 14 Michigan to Hockey Valley Over THON WeekendMen's Hockey Welcomes No. 14 Michigan to Hockey Valley Over THON Weekend

Men's Hockey Welcomes No. 14 Michigan to Hockey Valley Over THON Weekend

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lions return home for a series against No. 14 Michigan this weekend in Hockey Valley.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, February 16 | Saturday, February 17
Place: University Park, Pa.
Time: 7 p.m. | 7 p.m.
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State | Michigan

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 45th and 46th meetings all time between Penn State and Michigan with the Wolverines holding the 27-16-1 edge in the series. The teams have evenly split the previous 19 games contested at Pegula Ice Arena with nine wins each and one tie. The Nittany Lions took four of the six points in Hockey Valley last season with a 3-0 win followed by an overtime loss the next night.
  • The two teams split the series in Ann Arbor back in November with Michigan taking game one 6-4 and the Nittany Lions returning the favor the next night with a 5-3 victory highlighted by an Aiden Fink hat-trick and four assists from Matthew DiMarsico.
  • Senior Xander Lamppa has 12 career goals including five 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 12 games against Michigan adding three assists to those five goals.
  • Both Fink (4G, 2A) and DiMarsico (1G, 5A) had six-point weekends against the Wolverines back in November including career-best four-point efforts in the 5-3 victory. The pair earned Big Ten second and third star of the week accolades, respectively, following the series.
  • The hat-trick for Fink was the first of three Nittany Lion hat-tricks this season and the 11th in program history. The hat-trick was just the second on the road in program history, first against a B1G opponent away from Pegula Ice Arena, as he joined Liam Folkes '20 who scored three times at Merrimack back on November 29, 2019. The hat-trick was also just the fourth for a Nittany Lion against a Big Ten opponent all-time and the second recorded against Michigan as Evan Barratt scored his hat-trick against the Wolverines back on November 17, 2018.
  • DiMarsico's four assists tied the program record for assists in a single game as he became the first Nittany Lion to reach that mark since Connor McMenamin did so against Wisconsin on January 22, 2021.
  • The Wolverines have started the fight early in all but six games this season scoring the opening goal in 22 of 28 games posting a 13-6-2 record in such contests while going just 1-4-1 when the opponent scores first. Similarly Penn State is 9-5-0 when scoring first this season and just 3-8-3 when allowing the opening goal.

THON PARKING

  • Due to THON 2024 and other events taking place at the Bryce Jordan Center and with both events each day, fans can anticipate heavy traffic and fulllots. Fans are encouraged to purchase their single gameearly on ParkMobile for the Stadium West lot and to arrive early to each game! Event parking is $5.50 on ParkMobile through Thursday, Feb. 15 at 11:59 p.m. for Friday's game and Friday, Feb. 16 at 11:59 p.m. for Saturday's game.
  •  lots for hockey open at 5 p.m. Doors to Pegula Ice Arena open at 5:30 p.m. each game with puck drops slated for 7 p.m. THON starts at 6 p.m. Friday evening.
  • Prepayment will also be available for $10 on the day of each game until 5 p.m. For fans who have not prepaid by that time and do not have a valid Penn State permit,parking will be $10 (cash only) upon entrance to the lot.
  • Hourly parking will also be available in the East Deck for $1 per hour.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN

  • The Wolverines enter the series after being swept by Michigan State last weekend including a 3-2 loss in the Duel in the D in Detroit. Michigan is 14-11-3 on the year and 7-9-2-0-1-1 in Big Ten play sitting in fifth, eight points ahead of Penn State in sixth.
  • Rutger McGroarty leads the Wolverines with 36 points, tied for 11th in the nation, on 10 goals and 26 assists in 23 games played. McGroarty exited the opening game against Penn State in Ann Arbor early after a hit from Reese Laubach and missed the second game of the series back in November. McGroarty was named the HCA National Player of the Month for January after recording 16 points in six games on three goals and 13 assists and a 2.67 points per game average.
  • Michigan boasts the top six scorers in the league, led by McGroarty at 1.57 points per game. His points-per-game average tops is good for fourth in the nation. He is followed by Gavin Brindley (1.30), Dylan Duke (1.21), T.J. Hughes (1.21), Seamus Casey (1.21) and Frank Nazar III (1.21).
  • With six players averaging more than a point per game, Michigan's scoring offense leads the Big Ten and ranks second in the nation scoring 4.40 goals per game. The Wolverines also lead the nation in powerplay percentage converting at a 36.1 percent (39-for-108) clip, however, they went just 1-for-9 against the Nittany Lions back in November including a 0-for-5 clip in the 5-3 loss.
  • Michigan is second to only Denver (4.8) in goals per game and total goals with 124 to Denver's 135. Of The 124 Wolverine goals, 31.5 percent have come on the man-advantage.
  • Gavin Brindley and Dylan Duke are tied for the team lead with 17 goals, a mark that's tied for second in the Big Ten and tied for 11th nationally. Duke has scored 10 of his 17 goals on the powerplay ranking first in the Big Ten and fifth in the nation.
  • Jake Barczewski has started all but three games between the pipes for the Wolverines posting a 12-10-3 record with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.
  • Michigan remains one of the least disciplined teams in the nation ranking second in the Big Ten and fifth in the nation averaging 14.0 penalty minutes per game and they kill off just 78.8 percent of those penalties to rank 41st nationally in penalty killing.

THE KID'S ARE ALRIGHT

  • Freshman Aiden Fink is just the third Penn State rookie to hit the 30-point mark and the first since the 2016-17 season when both Denis Smirnov '20 (47 points) and Nate Sucese '20 (36 points) reached that mark. His 32 points lead the team and are just four shy of Sucese for second on the Penn State freshman scoring list while his 15 goals stand alone in fifth.
  • Classmate Matt DiMarsico ranks second on the team with 24 points on six goals and a team-high 18 assists. His 24 points are currently the ninth-most by a Penn State freshman while his 18 assists are good for third in a single-season among rookies.
  • Only once in the 12-year NCAA history of Penn State Hockey has a pair of rookies led the Nittany Lions in scoring and that was all that way back during the inaugural season in 2012-13 when Casey Bailey (14-13--27) and David Glen (16-9--25) paced the offense.

JACQUES JAMS

  • Graduate transfer Jacques Bouquot has registered at least one point in all but six games this season including three-straight.
  • Bouquot's 10 goals, 13 assists, and 23 points this season are all already career-highs.

NEXT UP

  • Penn State wraps up its 2023-24 home slate as the fourth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers visit Pegula Ice Arena for a Big Ten series on Friday and Saturday.

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.