Men's Hockey Travels to No. 8/9 Minnesota for Weekend SeriesMen's Hockey Travels to No. 8/9 Minnesota for Weekend Series
Alysa Rubin

Men's Hockey Travels to No. 8/9 Minnesota for Weekend Series

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Coming off a bye week following their first-ever sweep of Ohio State, the Penn State Nittany Lions resume Big Ten Conference play for the stretch run of the season with a trip to the Land of 10,000 Lakes to battle No. 8 Minnesota in a pair of televised contests this weekend.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, February 9 | Saturday, February 10
Place: Minneapolis, Minn.
Time: 7 p.m. (ET) | 4 p.m. (ET)
TV: Friday: FS1 | Saturday: B1G Network
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 45th and 46th meetings all-time between Penn State and Minnesota with the Gophers holding the 25-18-1 advantage including the 14-7-0 mark at 3M Arena, however, the teams have split the regular season series each of the past two seasons in Minneapolis.
  • Senior Christian Sarlo leads all current Nittany Lions with five goals and three assists for eight points in 11 career games against the Gophers but did not skate in either game back in December due to injury. Junior Ryan Kirwan has added five goals of his own to go along with two assists for seven points in 10 career games.
  • Minnesota is the ninth youngest team in the nation, but only the fourth youngest team in the Big Ten with an average age of 21 years and 7 months. Penn State is the oldest team in the Big Ten with an average age of 22 years 2 months.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA

  • The Gophers are 7-2-1 since the calendar flipped to January and are coming off a three-point weekend on the road in Madison winning in overtime before losing in a shootout the following night. Minnesota is 16-7-5 overall this year and 9-5-4 in the Big Ten sitting third with 29 points.
  • Minnesota ranks fourth in the Big Ten in scoring offense averaging 3.54 goals per game a mark good for 11th in the nation while allowing just 2.54 goal per game a mark that ranks second in the conference and 12th in the nation.
  • Goaltender Justen Close was named the Big Ten First Star of the Week this past week. Close has started all but one game for the Gophers this season posting a 15-7-5 record with a 2.41 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage to rank second and third in the conference, respectively, for each.
  • Close has held each of his last three opponents to just one goal as he has a 1.73 GAA over his last eight starts and holds a 6-1-1 record in that stretch.
  • The Gophers are paced offensively by Jimmy Snuggerud and Rhett Pitlick with 29 points each. Snuggerud leads the Big Ten with 18 goals while Pitlick is tied for fourth with 15. Bryce Brodzinki has added 13 goals and 27 points while Sam Rinzel leads Minnesota with 23 assists, a mark good for third in the conference.
  • Freshman Oliver Moore had a career-long eight-game point streak snapped last Saturday at Wisconsin. The streak was the longest for a Gopher this season as he tallied 15 points on five goals and 10 assists during that stretch. Moore currently ranks tied for third on the team with 27 points on seven goals and 20 assists.
  • Minnesota's powerplay ranks third in the conference at 25.3 percent (22-for-87), a mark good for 10th in the nation.
  • The Gophers were called for double-digit penalty minutes in three-straight games during the season's first month but have drastically changed that narrative over the last two months. Minnesota now leads the nation, averaging 6.7 penalty minutes per game, sitting in the box for six minutes or less in 11 of the last 12 contests.

FINK FOR HOBEY

  • 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 32 points on 15 goals and 17 assists in 32 games this season, half of those points have come in 16 Big Ten games where he is averaging a point per game with 10 goals and six assists for 16 points.
  • Fink's 32 points and 15 goals both pace the Big Ten for freshmen and rank tied for sixth and fourth, respectively, as he is just three points and three goals off the conference lead in both categories.
  • Both his point and goal totals rank in the top-20 nationally while his 32 points are the sixth-most among rookies across the nation and his 15 goals rank third most 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 two weeks ago. He ranks second in the Big Ten and tied for sixth in the country for man-advantage goals this season.
  • Fink's 10 goals in B1G play lead all freshmen and are tied for second in the conference behind the 12 of Rhett Pitlick while his six Big Ten powerplay tallies are tied for the most in the conference with Michigan's Dylan Duke.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

  • Fink along with classmates Matt DiMarsico and Reese Laubach form the "Kid Line". The trio has registered 23 goals with 35 assists for 58 points in 18 games (3.22 points per game) since being put together at the beginning of November.
  • As a whole, PSU's five-member freshman class has combined for 31 goals and 47 assists for 78 points (30.5 percent of total offense) so far this season.
  • Two weeks ago against Ohio State, Fink became 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 are now 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 Nittany Lion rookies all-time.
  • 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.

BREAK OUT THE BROOMS

  • Two weeks ago Penn State secured its first-ever sweep over Ohio State with a pair of 4-3 victories. The sweep was the first for the Nittany Lions in Big Ten play since a road sweep at Wisconsin on October 28-29, 2022.
  • Penn State is now 6-1-3 this season in games decided by one goal or less and excluding empty net goals, 12 of the last 14 meetings between the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes have been one goal contests.

HE IS HIM-MY DOWD JR.

  • Following a pair of assists two weeks ago against Ohio State, senior defenseman Jimmy Dowd Jr. moved past Kevin Kerr '19 and Erik Autio '18 for fourth on the Penn State all-time points list for defensemen as he now has 59 for his career while his 49 assists tie Kerr for third all-time by blue-liners.

BURSTING AT THE SEAMS

  • Once again Penn State leads the nation with a 109.8 attendance capacity percentage with 11 of its 15 home games this season reaching more than 6,000 patrons in the 5,704-seat Pegula Ice Arena.
  • The Nittany Lions have averaged 6,262 fans per home game this season including a Pegula Ice Arena record of 6,578 on Saturday against Ohio State. It marked the second-straight season that Penn State has set an attendance record during its annual 'Wear White' game.

WE'VE GOT THE POWER

  • A week after going 0-for-7 on the powerplay and a combined minus-4 on specialty teams at Notre Dame, the Nittany Lions turned things around in their sweep over Ohio State going 5-for-10 with the man-advantage and plus-4 on specialty teams.
  • Penn State went 3-for-8 on the man-advantage in Saturday's 4-3 victory over the Buckeyes and have now scored three powerplay goals twice this season. Prior to Saturday against Ohio State, Penn State hadn't scored three or more powerplay goals in a Big Ten game since scoring four in a 9-5 victory against Michigan on December 3, 2020.
  • The Nittany Lion powerplay is now up to 22.2 percent (22-for-99) ranking fourth in the Big Ten and 18th in the nation. The 22 man-advantage goals are already more than the 20 scored in 39 games last season and are the most in a single-season since the 29 registered during the 2019-20 season.

THE SPONGE

  • Sophomore Dylan Gratton leads the Nittany Lions with 43 blocked shots this season to rank seventh in the Big Ten, however, his 33 blocks in Big Ten play are tied for the second most in the conference just two shy of Minnesota's Ryan Chesley.

MACK ATTACK

  • Junior defenseman Simon Mack leads the Nittany Lions with a plus-11 rating this season and will be skating in his 100th career game on Friday night against the Gophers. Mack has missed just four games in his Penn State career.
  • Mack leads all Nittany Lion defensemen with four goals this season to tie his career-high established last year while his 11 points are one shy of his career-high 12 from the 2022-23 campaign.

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 returns home to begin a four-game homestand as the Nittany Lions host No. 11 Michigan during THON weekend in Hockey Valley.

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.