No. 18/17 Men's Hockey Travels to No. 1/1 Michigan State for Crucial B1G SeriesNo. 18/17 Men's Hockey Travels to No. 1/1 Michigan State for Crucial B1G Series

Kylie Barton

No. 18/17 Men's Hockey Travels to No. 1/1 Michigan State for Crucial B1G Series

Sitting at 8-1-1 in its last 10 games and winners of four-straight the No. 18/17 Penn State men’s ice hockey team looks to keep the momentum going as the Nittany Lions hit the road for a pair of conference tilts against No. 1/1 Michigan State on Friday and Saturday evening at Munn Ice Arena.

No. 18/17 Penn State at No. 1/1 Michigan State
Munn Ice Arena | East Lansing, Mich.

No. 18/17 Penn State at No. 1/1 Michigan State

No. 18/17 Penn State
No. 18/17 Penn State

16-11-3 | 7-10-3 B1G

at
No. 1/1 Michigan State
No. 1/1 Michigan State

22-5-3 | 13-4-3 B1G

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Sitting at 8-1-1 in its last 10 games and winners of four-straight the No. 18/17 Penn State men’s ice hockey team looks to keep the momentum going as the Nittany Lions hit the road for a pair of conference tilts against No. 1/1 Michigan State on Friday and Saturday evening at Munn Ice Arena.

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Dates: Friday, February 21 | Saturday, February 22
Place: East Lansing, Mich.
Time: 6 p.m.

Series Breakdown

THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP

  • This week marks the 49th and 50th meetings all-time between the two programs with Penn State holding the slim 21-20-7 edge in the series.
  • MSU holds the 12-9-3 record at Munn Ice Arena where, excluding empty-net goals, eight of the last nine meetings have been decided by a single goal with four advancing to extra time including two shootouts. Those four games have been split evenly with both teams having one overtime win and one shootout win.
  • Since the start of the 2022-23 season, The Spartans hold a 6-1-3 record against the Nittany Lions having won each of the past two season series including last year’s series taking 10-of-12 points after winning the final three contests outright including a sweep in Hockey Valley as MSU outscored Penn State 12-3 in those two games. MSU won the series opener this season, 6-4 before the teams skated to a 2-2 tie the following night with Penn State taking the extra point in a shootout.
  • Michigan State enters the weekend ranked No. 1 in both national polls just as they did back in January in Hockey Valley. Penn State is 2-6-1 all-time against the top team in the country and became the only team in the history of college hockey to defeat separate No. 1 teams in back-to-back weeks when they downed Michigan and Minnesota to open the month of November in 2022.
  • Michigan State ranks second in the Big Ten and seventh in the nation averaging 3.57 goals per game with the Nittany Lions not far behind averaging 3.47 goals per game, good for third in the conference and eighth in the nation.
  • Graduate Students Jimmy Dowd Jr. and Tyler Paquette pace the Nittany Lions offensively against Michigan State registering 11 and seven points, respectively, against the Spartans with Dowd collecting one goal and 10 assists in 17 career games against MSU and Paquette adding a pair of goals and five assists in 14 games. Senior classmates Danny Dzhaniyev and Ben Schoen have each chipped in one goal and six assists for seven points in 13 and eight games, respectively, while sophomore Aiden Fink has four goals in six games against Sparty.

 

YOUTH OF THE NATION

  • Michigan State is the youngest team in the Big Ten and the fifth youngest in the nation with an average age of 21 years and five months while Penn State is the fourth youngest team in the conference and 12th-youngest in the nation with an average age of 21 years and nine months.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE

  • The Spartans enter the weekend ranked No. 1 in both polls, and are coming off a bye week after splitting their last two Big Ten series against Ohio State and Michigan.
  • At 22-5-3, MSU is currently tied for the fewest losses in program history, set by the 2001-02 squad (33-5-4). The Spartans enter the weekend with a 13-4-3 record in Big Ten play (43 points), atop the Big Ten standings by three points.
  • Sparty is paced offensively by Isaac Howard with 43 points, right behind Penn State’s Aiden Fink for second in the nation while his 22 goals are tied with Fink for tops in the Big Ten and second nationally. Howard scored four goals in a 6-4 victory at Penn State back in January and added a fifth goal of the weekend during a 2-2 tie the following night.
  • Daniel Russell ranks second on the team with 12 goals while Joey Larson has added 10 as the Spartans have just three players with double-digit goal totals to Penn State’s Each team has at least 18 players who have registered a goal on the season.
  • Blueliner Matt Basgall is tied for third on the team in points (22) and has career bests in all three offensive categories, tied for third among Big Ten defensemen in points (22), third in assists (17), and fourth in goals (5).
  • The Spartans are peppering opponents nets this season averaging 36.9 shots per game to lead the nation paced by Howard with a Big Ten best 136 shots, good for fourth in the nation.
  • Between the pipes MSU has Richter Award semifinalist, Trey Augustine who won his second consecutive IIHF World Junior Gold Medal with Team USA last month and ranks tied for second in the Big Ten and 12th in the nation with a .926 save percentage while his 2.07 goals-against average places him second in the conference and is good for 11th nationally.
  • The Spartans are allowing just 2.03 goals per game, the least in the Big Ten and sixth fewest in the nation.

CHASING 400

  • With 398 victories, Guy Gadowsky ranks 31st all-time and is currently 12th among active coaches just one win shy of current Bemidji State head man Tom Serratore and former Maine bench boss Tom Walsh.
  • Gadowsky sits behind only Jeff Jackson (598) and Bob Motzko (433) in the Big Ten.
MHKY_B1G_2Stars_Mack2

HEATER, CONFIRMED!

  • Penn State has caught fire since the calendar flipped to 2025 posting a 9-2-3 record including a pair of shootout victories. The Nittany Lions are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games and have won four-straight, securing back-to-back regular-season Big Ten true series sweeps for the first time in Program history the past two weekends.
  • Excluding playoff games, the nine second half wins are tied for the most all-time dating back to the 2014-15 season when Penn State went 9-9-2 after winter break. PSU also had nine second half wins (9-10-1) in 2015-16, one of which came during the B1G Tournament.
  • The most second half wins including playoffs came during the 2016-17 season when Penn State won the Big Ten Tournament advancing to its first-ever NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions finished the second half that season 12-11-1 with four of those victories coming in the postseason.

SIMON SAYS

  • With points in each game last weekend, including tying his career-best for points and assists with three helpers on Friday, senior captain Simon Mack extended his point streak to four games tying his career long.
  • Mack was named the B1G Second Star of the Week for his efforts against Notre Dame earning him his second weekly accolade this season and the ninth of the year for the Nittany Lions while marking the fourth-straight week Penn State has been represented and the fifth time in seven weeks since the calendar flipped to 2025.
  • Mack now has 59 points in his Nittany Lion career, the fifth-most by a defenseman in program history, while his 50 career assists are tied with Erik Autio ’18 for the third-most by a Penn State blueliner all-time.
  • The senior captain is having a career-year as his 23 assists and 24 points are both career highs while ranking as the most and sixth-most, respectively, in a single-season by a Nittany Lion defenseman all-time.
  • Mack’s 23 assists this season lead the Big Ten and are tied for the sixth-most nationally while ranking second in the nation among defenseman. His 24 points are the second-most among defensemen in the Big Ten, just one shy of Minnesota’s Sam Rinzel, and are tied for eighth in the nation among blueliners.
  • Mack’s plus-18 rating ranks fifth in the Big Ten among defensemen and 10th in the nation while ranking tied for sixth overall in the Big Ten and 18th in the nation.
MHKY-HobeyBaker-Fink

#FINKFORHOBEY

  • Aiden Fink is just the third Nittany Lion all time to reach 40 points and 20 goals in the same season joining Casey Bailey (22-18-40 in 2014-15) and Alex Limoges (23-27-50 in 2018-19).
  • Fink’s 22 goals are tied for the second-most in a single-season in Penn State history just one shy of Limoges’ program record of 23 while his 44 points are good for the third-most in a single-season behind only Denis Smirnov (47) and Limoges (50).
  • Fink is the only Nittany Lion to begin his career with back-to-back 30+-point seasons and becomes just the seventh all-time to have multiple such seasons following his 34-point freshman campaign. He is also the only Nittany Lion to record multiple hat-tricks in a career following his three-goal outing against Canisius last month.
  • Fink has 78 points in 64 career games for a 1.22 points per game average, currently the best mark all-time at Penn State as he sits just outside the top-10 for goals and points in Nittany Lion history.
  • Fink is currently averaging 1.47 points per game this season to lead the nation while his 44 points are also the top mark in the country with his 22 goals being tied for second.
  • Fink has seven powerplay tallies to go along with a pair of shorthanded markers to rank top-10 nationally in each category while his +18 rating if also top-10 in the nation among forwards while ranking sixth in the Big Ten, second among forwards.
  • His seven powerplay goals this season are one shy of his own single-season program record from last year while his 15 career PPG’s are already the program standard.

A SPECIAL KIND OF SOMETHING

  • Penn State has scored at least one powerplay goal in nine of the last 11 games raising its conversion percentage to 21.4 percent while the 24 man-advantage tallies for the Nittany Lions are the second-most in the Big Ten behind Michigan’s 27 and rank tied for 10th in the nation. The 24 powerplay goals are also the eighth-most in a single-season in Penn State history and just two shy of last year’s total of 26 which was the most in a season since 2019-20.
  • The Nittany Lions have also had at least one shorthanded goal in each of the past three series with shortys in four of the last six games as Penn State leads the Big Ten with eight shorthanded tallies on the year, a mark good for second in the nation juts one shy of UConn’s nine.
  • With his second shorthanded goal of the season last Friday, Dane Dowiak tied Aiden Fink for the team lead with two as the pair are just one shorty shy of the Big Ten and national leads.
  • Fink and Dowiak are two of just seven Nittany Lions all-time to register multiple shorthanded goals in the same season and are now just one shy of tying the program single-season record of three held by a trio of Nittany Lions including current assistant coach Andrew Sturtz who scored three shortys in each of his three season’s in Hockey Valley.
  • The eighth shorthanded tallies are the most in a season for Penn State in eight seasons and are the third most all-time behind the nine in 2016-17 and the 12 recorded during the 2015-16 season. Entering this year Penn State had just six shorthanded goals combined over the past five seasons.

GET HOTT, STAY HOTT

  • Penn State has scored first in nine of its 14 games in the second half, including both last time out against Michigan State, and hold a 7-1-1 record in those games.
  • For the season, Penn State is 13-4-1 when scoring and a perfect 15-0-0 when leading after two periods.

REESE’S PIECES

  • Sophomore Reese Laubach has been on fire since returning from an injury sustained in South Bend back at the start of January and has six multi-point efforts in his last eight games earning a pair of B1G weekly accolades during this current stretch.
  • Laubach has career-highs across the board this season with 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 26 games as his 1.04 points per game are good for eighth in the Big Ten.

RUSSIAN MACHINE NEVER BREAKS

  • Junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev has a 9-2-3 record with a .921 save percentage and a 2.68 goals-against average since returning from injury to start the second half. His nine wins over that timeframe pace the Big Ten and are tied for the second most nationally while his save percentage is the second-best in the Big Ten during this current stretch.
  • Sergeev’s three second half shutouts are also the most in the Big Ten and tied for the national lead while his four shutouts this season are a Penn State single-season record and already tied with Peyton Jones ‘20 and Oskar Autio ‘22 for the Nittany Lion career standard.
  • Sergeev’s 13 wins this season are tied with Eamon McAdam (2015-16) for the sixth-most in a single-season in Penn State history while his 2.55 goals-against average and .916 save percentage rank third and fourth, respectively.

DIMINUTIVE DOMINANCE

  • While standing just 5’5” and with the distinction of the shortest player in college hockey, senior Danny Dzhaniyev has played much bigger than his stature during his four years in Hockey Valley.
  • Following his eight multi-point game of the season last Saturday, Dzhaniyev moved past Kevin Wall ‘23 for tenth on the all-time points list at Penn State with 88 now for his career. His 56 assists are also now tied with Evan Barratt for the ninth-most in Penn State history as he leaps ahead of Liam Folkes ‘20.
  • Dzhaniyev set career highs across the board in 2023-24 with nine goals and 20 assists for 29 points and is hot on the heels of those numbers already eclipsing his goal total with 10 now on the season to go along with 16 assists for 26 points so far this season.

DOMINATING THE DOT

  • Penn State continues to control the faceoff circle leading the nation at 55.7 percent.
  • Charlie Cerrato who went 31-for-43 (72.1 percent) against Notre Dame last weekend paces Penn State winning 60.2 percent (292-for-485) of his draws on the year, a mark good for second in the Big Ten and seventh in the nation among true centermen.
  • Penn State has only lost the faceoff battle seven times in 30 games this season, but is actually 6-1-0 in such games.

NEXT UP

  • Penn State returns home to conclude the regular-season with a Big Ten series against No. 5/4 Minnesota next Friday and Saturday in Hockey Valley with both games airing on B1G Network.
  • Friday night’s contest will serve as the annual ‘Wear White’ game at Pegula Ice Arena.

 

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.