Men's Hockey Closes First Half with Capital Hockey Classic Tilt Against Army in DCMen's Hockey Closes First Half with Capital Hockey Classic Tilt Against Army in DC

Steven Walter

Men's Hockey Closes First Half with Capital Hockey Classic Tilt Against Army in DC

The Penn State men’s ice hockey team looks to go into the holiday break with momentum as they close out the first semester of play with a single contest against Army West Point at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. as part of the first-ever Capital Hockey Classic on Thursday.

Penn State vs. Army West Point
Capital One Arena | Washington, D.C.

Penn State vs. Army West Point

Penn State
Penn State

6-9-0 | 0-8-0 B1G

Vs.
Army West Point
Army West Point

5-10-0 | 5-7-0 AHA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Penn State men’s ice hockey team looks to go into the holiday break with momentum as they close out the first semester of play with a single contest against Army West Point at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. as part of the first-ever Capital Hockey Classic on Thursday.

Follow the Action

Follow the Action

Dates: Thursday, December 12
Place: Washington, D.C.
Time: 8 p.m.
TV: Monumental Sports 2 (DMV Area)
Streaming: Monumental Sports App (DMV Area)

Series Breakdown

THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP

  • This week marks the fifth meeting of the current era between Penn State and Army with the Nittany Lions having won the previous four contests, including the first-ever game at Pegula Ice Arena on October 11, 2013. Army did secure a pair of wins against Penn State as part of the first varsity era in 1944 and 1947.
  • This game marks the first neutral site contest between the two programs as the first four meetings were split evenly between Pegula Ice Arena and Tate Rink.
  • Penn State is 17-12-1 all-time in games played in NHL venues including a 9-0-1 record in the last 10.
  • This marks the first game for the Nittany Lions in an NHL venue since a 6-4 victory over North Dakota as part of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on October 30, 2021.
  • Capital One Arena marks the eighth different NHL barn the Nittany Lions have competed in joining Gila River Arena (2-0-0), PPG Paints Arena (5-5-0), Joe Louis Arena (3-1-0), Madison Square Garden (1-2-0), Wells Fargo Center (3-2-1), Xcel Energy Center (2-2-0) and Bridgestone Arena (1-0-0).
  • Penn State erased a four-goal deficit to secure a 7-6 victory last January in Hockey Valley as the four-goal comeback was the largest in program history surpassing the previous record of three goals, which the Nittany Lions had accomplished twice before.
  • Penn State is 49-16-2 all-time against Atlantic Hockey opponents with this marking the first of three games against AHA teams this season.
  • Army is the seventh-oldest team in the country with an average age of 22 years and 10 months while Penn State is the 12th-youngest with an average age of 21 years and nine months.

SCOUTING ARMY

  • Army enters the contest coming off a bye weekend after falling 4-0 to Sacred Heart last Tuesday. The Black Knights are just 5-10-0 on the year and have lost four-straight with their last win coming nearly one month ago against RIT on November 16 which completed the series sweep.
  • Army is paced offensively from the back end as Mac Gadowsky leads the team with 10 points on four goals and six assists. Nik Hong and Barron Woodring join Gadowsky for the team lead with four goals of their own.
  • The Black Knights have struggled to put the puck in the back of the net this season ranking tied for last in the AHA and 56th of 64 nationally averaging just 2.0 goals per contest. Army has scored more than three goals in a game just three times this season and have been shutout on four occasions.
  • The Army powerplay has also struggled this season converting just four times on 51 chances (7.8 percent) to rank dead last in the country. The Black Knights are just 1-for-32 with the man-advantage over their last 10 games.
  • More successful on the penalty kill, Army is 32-for-39 (82.1 percent) a mark good for second in the Atlantic and 25th nationally. The Black Knights have allowed just three man-advantage tallies over their last eight games.
  • Between the pipes freshman JJ Cataldo has taken the reigns from senior Evan Szary and has started seven of the last eight games and nine overall posting a 4-5-0 record with a .937 save percentage to rank first in the AHA and ninth nationally and a 1.91 goals-against average which also tops the Atlantic and is tied for 16th in the nation. Cataldo was named Atlantic Hockey American Rookie of the Month for the month of November.
  • Army is sacrificing the body at a high clip with 230 blocked shots on the year to rank 11th in the nation while its 15.33 blocks per game are good for second nationally behind only the 16.94 of Northern Michigan.
COACH_(SR_A_23) copy

A FAMILY AFFAIR

  • For the second-consecutive season, Thursday’s contest will mark a Gadowsky Family Reunion as head coach Guy Gadowsky’s eldest son, Mac, is a sophomore defenseman at Army.
  • Gadowsky registered an assist in last year’s contest and is currently leading the Black Knights with 10 points on four goals and six assists. Gadowsky had a mini three-game goal scoring streak and four-game point streak heading into Thanksgiving, but is since scoreless in the last two games.
  • Gadowksy was an Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year Finalist and was named to the All-Rookie Team a season ago after finishing fourth on the team with 23 points on four goals and 19 assists.

 

CHASING 400

  • Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky currently sits 34th on the college hockey all-time wins list with 388 for his career and he is just two wins shy of tying former Minnesota head man Doug Woog for 33rd.
  • Among active coaches, Gadowsky ranks 12th and sits behind only Jeff Jackson and Bob Motzko in the Big Ten.

NON-CONFERENCE DOMINATION

  • Penn State concluded 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 51-7-1 in regular-season non-conference games since the start of the 2018-19 season including a 24-3-0 mark over the past two-plus seasons.

 

SEVENTH HEAVEN

  • Penn State scored seven or more goals for the 32nd time in program history last Wednesday and the first time this season after reaching that mark three times a season ago, including in a 7-6 victory over Army.
  • The Nittany Lions have now scored seven or more goals in a game at least once in 11 consecutive seasons with a record seven such games during the 2018-19 season when they paced the nation with 4.54 goals per game.

 

POWERPLAY RESURGENCE

  • After just a 3-for-20 (15 percent) start to the season through the first seven games on the man-advantage the Nittany Lion powerplay has been on a role of late converting in six of the last eight games going 10-for-33 (30 percent) over that stretch with multiple powerplay tallies in four of those eight games.
  • For the season, Penn State is now 13-for-53 (24.5 percent) on the man-advantage and rank second in the Big Ten and 13th in the nation. The 13 powerplay goals are tied for third in the Big Ten and tied for 11th nationally.
  • Sophomore Aiden Fink leads the way with three powerplay tallies to rank tied for third in the Big Ten while his nine powerplay points are good for the top spot in the conference.

 

EXCEPTIONAL AT THE DOT

  • Penn State has been exceptional at the dot ranking second behind only Northeastern at 56.6 percent on faceoffs for the year led by freshman Charlie Cerrato who ranks second in the Big Ten winning 62.8 percent (145-for-231) of his draws on the year. Sophomore Dane Dowiak has also stepped up ranking third in the Big Ten at 60.5 percent (95-for-157).

 

SOPHOMORE SENSATION

  • Sophomore Aiden Fink has points in seven of his last eight games and is currently leading the Big Ten and ranks third nationally averaging 1.47 points per game while his 22 points pace the conference and are tied for third in the nation. Fink’s eight goals are tied for the sixth-most in the Big Ten while his 14 helpers are good for the top spot in the conference and tied for seventh in the nation.
  • Fink hit the 50-point mark for his career three weeks ago becoming the second fastest Nittany Lion to reach that milestone doing it in just his 45th career game. Denis Smirnov ‘20 hit the 50-point mark in his 41st collegiate game back in 2017.

 

JOHNNY B. GOODE

  • Junior goaltender John Seifarth was thrust into action two weeks ago against Colgate making the first two starts of his collegiate career since joining the Nittany Lions last spring after playing two seasons for the Penn State ACHA Division II club hockey program.
  • Seifarth was named Big Ten First Star of the Week after stopping 47-of-50 shots in the series sweep. He finished the week with a .940 save percentage and a 1.50 goals-against average and even appeared on Sportscenter’s Top-10 at No. 2 with a brilliant paddle save.
  • Seifarth, the fourth-different goaltender to be elevated from the club program since 2016, has appeared in five-straight games with four-straight starts for Penn State as he holds a 2-2-0 record with a 2.84 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.
  • Prior to last week the previous three club goaltenders, Matt Erlichman, Will Holtforster and Doug Dorr, played just 16:05 of combined game action with no games started making just five saves on six shots faced, Seifarth passed that in just his first appearance against Michigan three weeks ago logging 16:36 with eight saves two Saturdays ago.

 

WHAT’S UP, DOC?

  • Senior Simon ‘Doc’ Mack registered a career-best three points on three assists against Colgate two weeks ago and now has 12 points (1G, 11A) for the year to rank third in the Big Ten and 19th in the nation among defensemen while his 11 assists lead all Big Ten blueliners and are tied for fourth nationally.
  • Mack moved past Paul DeNaples ‘23 and into ninth on the Penn State all-time defenseman points list following as he now has 47 points for his career, five back of Vince Pedrie for eighth. He also moved past Pedrie and into eighth on the all-time defenseman assist list as he now has 38 for his career.

 

NEXT UP

Penn State has the next three weeks off for the holidays before returning to play on January 3 at Wrigley Field for the Frozen Confines against Notre Dame. The Nittany Lions and Irish will then conclude the series the following Sunday in South Bend.

For more information on the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey ticket page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Follow the Nittany Lions

Follow the Nittany Lions

Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State men's ice hockey. Fans can keep up to date with all things Hockey Valley on X and Instagram @PennStateMHKY, in addition to the team’s Facebook page at facebook.com/pennstatemenshockey.