UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lions conclude the home portion of their 2023-24 schedule with a pair of games against No. 6 Wisconsin this weekend in Hockey Valley.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, February 23 | Saturday, February 24
Place: University Park, Pa.
Time: 7 p.m. | 6 p.m.
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
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 52nd and 53rd meetings all-time between the two programs with the Nittany Lions holding the 27-21-3 advantage.
- The Badgers swept Penn State in Madison back in December, just the fourth sweep for Wisconsin in the all-time series and the first since November 23-24, 2020. Penn State has swept Wisconsin seven times including four times at Pegula Ice Arena where the Nittany Lions hold the 15-7-1 all-time advantage.
- Junior Danny Dzhaniyev has had good success in his career against the Badgers as he leads Penn State with seven points on three goals and four assists in 10 games while classmate Ryan Kirwan has added a team-best four goals with two assists for six points in 10 games against Wisconsin.
- Senior goaltender Liam Souliere has seen his best success against the Badgers posting a 4-3-0 record in seven starts with a 2.03 goals-against average and .930 save percentage.
- 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.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
- The Badgers enter the weekend 22-8-2 and ranked sixth in the nation, however, they were sweptby the Buckeyes last week in Columbus losing the opening night 3-2 in overtime followed by a 3-1 loss on Saturday. Wisconsin is 13-6-1 in Big Ten play and sit four points behind Michigan State for first in the Big Ten standings with two weekends remaining in the regular-season.
- 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 48th winningest coach in Division I history and the 14th among active coaches with 321 victories while his .719 winning percentage is the best among active coaches and ranks third all-time.
- The Badgers have surrendered just 1.94 goals per game this season to lead the Big Ten and rank third in the nation.
- Goaltender Kyle McClellan, who transferred in last season from Mercyhurst, leads the Big Ten with a .929 save percentage and a 1.96 goals-against average ranking third and fifth in the nation, respectively, in each category. His 22 wins also pace the conference and are tied for second nationally while his six shutouts are the most in the nation, two clear of his nearest competitors. He has allowed more than three goals in a game just four times all season.
- The Badgers are paced offensively by Cruz Lucius with 26 points on 10 goals and 16 assists while Simon Tassy leads the team with 12 goals and has added 12 assists for 24 points. Owen Lindmark and Carson Bantle have each added 11 goals for Wisconsin.
- Wisconsin's strong defense has translated well to specialty teams as the Badgers have the top-rated penalty kill in the Big Ten at 88.1 percent (89-for-101), a mark good for second in the nation.
- Offensively the Badgers are averaging 3.28 goals per game to rank fifth in the Big Ten and 19th nationally while converting just 23-of-125 powerplay chances (18.1 percent) to rank last in the Big Ten and 40th in the nation.
I'M A SOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL MAN
- Senior goaltender Liam Souliere started his 76th game, seventh-straight, as a Nittany Lion last Saturday moving past Matthew Skoff '16 for second all-time behind the 133 games started by Peyton Jones '20. His 78 appearances are also second-most all-time behind Jones.
- Souliere's 37 wins rank second all-time behind Jones' 76 while he recently moved into second all-time in minutes played with 4466:28 for his career.
REESE'S PIECES
- Freshman Reese Laubach earned Big Ten Third Star of the Week accolades following back-to-back multi-point games including his first career multi-goal game last weekend against No. 14 Michigan.
- Laubach led the Big Ten with three goals in the two games while his four points were also tops in the conference over the weekend and tied for the fifth most in the nation.
- Laubach's 10 goals this season are tied for the third most on the team and rank fourth in the Big Ten among freshmen. He's added nine assists for 19 points a mark that's good for sixth on the team and 10th in the conference for rookie scoring.
PACKING THE PEG
- Once again Penn State leads the nation with a 110.3 attendance capacity percentage with 13 of its 17 home games this season reaching more than 6,000 patrons in the 5,704-seat Pegula Ice Arena.
- The Nittany Lions have averaged 6,294 fans per home game this season including a Pegula Ice Arena record of 6,578 on January 27 against Ohio State. It marked the second-straight season that Penn State has set an attendance record during its annual Wear White game.
- Penn State saw the second largest crowd in building history during Saturday's 4-2 victory over No. 14 Michigan as 6,571 fans filed into Pegula.
- Along with the top two attended games in program history, six of the top-10 attended games all-time have come this season.
FRESHMAN PHENOM
- Freshman Aiden Fink is a three-time B1G Hockey Star of the Week, a Hobey Baker Nominee and is on the Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year Watch List.
- Fink leads the team with 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists in 30 games this season. His 33 points and 15 goals both pace the Big Ten for freshmen and rank seventh and tied for sixth, respectively, as he is just four points and three goals off the conference lead in both categories.
- Fink's 33 points are the eighth-most among rookies across the nation while his 15 goals rank fifth among first-year players nationally.
- Fink holds the Penn State single-season record for powerplay tallies with eight to his credit following three such goals against Ohio State three weeks ago. He ranks second in the Big Ten and tied for sixth in the country for man-advantage goals this season.
HE IS HIM
- Senior defenseman Jimmy Dowd Jr. had an assist in each game last weekend against Michigan to move past Luke Juha '16 for fourth on the all-time Nittany Lion scoring list for defensemen with 61 points. The assists also move him past Erik Autio '18 for second on the all-time assist list for Penn State blueliners with 51 for his career.
HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS
- Earlier this month junior Dylan Lugris was named one of five finalists for the 2024 Hockey Humanitarian Award becoming just the second Nittany Lion to be named a finalist for this prestigious award joining former captain David Goodwin '17 who was a finalist back in 2017.
- Lugris came up with the idea for the Penn State Sled Hockey Classic last January. His mission is to grow the game of hockey while bringing awareness and knowledge to the sport of sled hockey and to provide the State College Coyotes the means necessary for organizational growth.
- Since the initial Penn State Sled Hockey Classic in February 2023 to now, following the second-annual event at the beginning of the month, the Coyotes have more than doubled in roster size and are proud members of the Northeast Sled Hockey League competing in multiple games per month thanks in large part to the near $50,000 Dylan and his Penn State teammates have raised for the Coyotes organization over the past year.
NEXT UP
- Penn State concludes the regular-season with a trip to Columbus to battle Ohio State next 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.