MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Penn State Nittany Lions finished the regular-season sixth in the Big Ten standings earning themselves a date with the third-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers in a best-of-three quarterfinal series this weekend at 3M Arena in Minneapolis.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, March 8 | Saturday, March 9 | Sunday, March 10 (if necessary)
Place: Minnesapolis, Minn.
Time: 7 p.m. (ET) | 4:30 p.m. (ET) | 7 p.m. (ET)
TV: FS2 (All Games)
Streaming Video: Fox Sports App
Listen: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State | Minnesota
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- Minnesota finished the regular season third while Penn State finished sixth to set up this best-of-three quarterfinal matchup. This marks the second time the Gophers and Nittany Lions have met in a quarterfinal series since the conference changed the playoff format prior to the 2017-18 season. That year Penn State swept Minnesota in Hockey Valley by scores of 5-3 and 6-5.
- This marks the fourth time Penn State will meet Minnesota in the postseason with the last coming in the 2022 B1G Semifinals, a 3-2 win for the Gophers at 3M Arena. The two teams were set to meet in the 2020 B1G Semifinals prior to the Covid-19 pandemic cancelling the remainder of the 2020 postseason.
- Minnesota holds the 27-18-1 all-time advantage in the first 46 meetings including the 16-7-0 mark in Minneapolis. The Gophers won the season series this year taking 9-of-12 points including all six last month at 3M Arena with a pair of 3-0 victories. Penn State, however, holds the 3-1-0 all-time playoff record against Minnesota.
- Senior goaltender Liam Souliere has been strong in postseason play throughout his career posting a 4-5-0 record with a .934 save percentage and a 2.20 goals-against average in over 545 minutes of action between Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament play. Souliere posted a program-best 55 saves during a 2-1 overtime victory against Ohio State in game two of the 2023 B1G Quarterfinals in Columbus last year.
- Senior Christian Sarlo leads all current Nittany Lions with five goals and three assists for eight points in 13 career games against the Gophers. Junior Ryan Kirwan has added five goals of his own to go along with two assists for seven points in 12 career games.
BRIGHT LIGHTS, B1G STAGE
- Penn State ranks only behind Minnesota in Big Ten semifinal appearances with eight in the 10 previous tournaments while the Gophers have nine semifinal appearances with the only season Minnesota failed to reach the semifinals coming in 2018 when Penn State swept the Gophers during a best-of-three quarterfinal series at Pegula Ice Arena on March 2-3, 2018.
- Penn State's semifinal lost last season to Ohio State snapped a conference-best streak of seven-straight semifinal appearances and was the first quarterfinal loss for the Nittany Lions since the Big Ten adopted the best-of-three quarterfinals for the 2018 postseason. The only other year Penn State failed to reach the semifinals was in 2015 when the Nittany Lions fell 3-1 to Ohio State in the quarterfinals back when the tournament was single elimination.
- Penn State is 7-4-0 all-time in the best-of-three quarterfinals sweeping Minnesota in 2018, beating Wisconsin in three games in 2019 and then beating Ohio State in three games in 2022 prior to losing in three games to the Buckeyes last season. The Nittany Lions had a bye to the semifinals in 2020 and the 2021 tournament was reverted back to the one weekend, single-elimination format.
- The Nittany Lions have played a Big Ten record 25 tournament games since the league's inception prior to the 2013-14 season and with a 14-11-0 record, Penn State has the second-most Big Ten Tournament wins all-time while Michigan leads the way with 17 and Ohio State has 13. Minnesota has 12 tournament victories to its credit. PSU is 12-8 in its last 20 Big Ten Tournament games dating back to the 2016-17 season.
- Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky's 14 Big Ten Tournament wins are the most all-time one clear of OSU's Steve Rohlik with 13.
- Penn State is 5-1 all-time in overtime games during the Big Ten Tournament with the lone loss coming in the 2020-21 semifinal round against Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions have also played in the three longest games in tournament history.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
- The Gophers are 11-4-1 since the calendar flipped to January and prior to last Saturday night had an eight-game home winning streak the Michigan snapped with a 6-5 overtime victory.
- Minnesota ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring offense averaging 3.53 goals per game a mark good for 10th in the nation while allowing just 2.56 goal per game a mark that ranks second in the conference and15th in the nation.
- Goaltender Justen Close has started all but one game for the Gophers this season posting a 19-8-5 record with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage to rank second and third in the conference, respectively, for each and top-20 nationally.
- Jaxson Nelson is coming off a six-point weekend against Michigan where he scored five goals, including his first career hat-trick on Friday night. Nelson is now the eighth Gopher this season to eclipse 20 points.
- Minnesota is paced offensively by Rhett Pitlick with 33 points while Bryce Brodzinski has 32 and Jimmy Snuggerud and Oliver Moore each have 31. Snuggerud leads the Gophers and ranks third in the Big Ten with 19 goals while Pitlick ranks fifth with 17. Nelson now has 14 goals after his five-goal outburst last weekend and Brodzinski has 13.
- Freshmen Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel pace the Gophers with 22 and 25 assists, respectively while ranking tied for third and fifth on the team with 32 and 26 points to rank second and fifth in the Big Ten for rookie scoring.
- Minnesota's powerplay ranks third in the conference at 23.8 percent (25-for-105), a mark good for 14th in the nation.
- Minnesota is the least penalized team in the nation averaging just 2.74 penalties and 6.5 penalty minutes per game.
THE GREAT DANE
- Freshman Dane Dowiak is coming into his own over the last three weeks of the regular season registering half of his goals and nearly half of his points over the last five games with three goals, including two game-winners, along with two assists during that stretch which also included his first career multi-goal game last Saturday.
- Dowiak has at least one point in four of his last five games and is currently riding a career-long three-game point streak.
REESE'S PIECES
- Another freshman who has come on late in the season is Reese Laubach who has registered multiple points in three of his last six games played including his first career multi-goal game last month against Michigan.
BLUE LINE BEAUTIES
- Junior Simon Mack leads all Nittany Lion defensemen with four goals and 12 assists for 16 points, each statistic serving as a career-high. His defensive partner Dylan Gratton also has career numbers across the board with 13 points on three goals and 10 assists while his 58 blocked shots rank third in the Big Ten.
- Senior Jimmy Dowd Jr. battled injuries early this year, but has returned to form with 12 points on one goal and 11 assists. With an assist last Friday at OSU Dowd moved into a tie with Kris Myllari '20 for second on the Nittany Lion scoring list for defensemen with 62 points.
ROOKIE SURGE
- Penn State's five-member freshman class paces the Nittany Lions with 38 goals accounting for 35 percent of goal scoring this season. The 38 goals scored by the rookies are the most a freshman class has accounted for since the 2016-17 season when PSU's 11-member class contributed 64 goals and 157 points.
- The 92 total points registered by the freshmen this season are also the most by a rookie class since that 2016-17 season which had double the number of first-year players.
- Aiden Fink leads the team with 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists in 32 games this season. His 33 points and 15 goals both pace the Big Ten for freshmen.
- Fink has also set the Penn State single-season record for powerplay tallies with eight to his credit this season while his 33 points are the third-most by a freshman in a single-season in Penn State history while his 15 goals place him fifth.
- Matt DiMarsico leads the team in assists with 19 while adding six goals for 25 points to rank tied for fourth on the team. His 25 points are tied for the ninth most by a Nittany Lion freshman all-time while the 19 assists are the second-most all-time by a Penn State rookie.
- 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.
- Reese Laubach has added 10 goals with 11 assists for 21 points. His 10 goals are tied for the 10th most by a Penn State rookie as he and Fink are two of just 11 Nittany Lion freshmen to reach double-digit goals in their rookie seasons.
- With Fink and Laubach reaching double-digit goals it marks the fourth time Penn State has seen multiple freshmen in the same season accomplish that feat, however, the Nittany Lions have never had three freshmen hit double-digit goals.
- Between Fink, Laubach and DiMarsico each having 20-plus points it marks the fourth season Penn State has had three or more freshmen reach the 20-point mark and the first since the 2017-18 season which was the last of three-straight years the Nittany Lions accomplished this feat including a record four freshman with 20-plus points during the 2015-16 season.
SWEEP YOU VERY MUCH
- Last weekend's sweep of Ohio State was the first ever for Penn State in Columbus and it marked just the third time in program history the Nittany Lions have won all four games of a season series against one singular opponent and the first time against the Buckeyes.
- It was the first time Penn State swept a season series since beating Michigan State all four games in 2016-17 with the other occurrence coming against Wisconsin during the 2014-15 campaign.
- It was also the first time in a season that Penn State has beaten the same Big Ten opponent in four-straight games since four consecutive wins against Minnesota to close out the 2017-18 season and begin the playoffs.
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.