No. 15 Men's Hockey Closes Regular-Season Against No. 2 Minnesota in Hockey ValleyNo. 15 Men's Hockey Closes Regular-Season Against No. 2 Minnesota in Hockey Valley
Mark Selders

Kylie Barton

No. 15 Men's Hockey Closes Regular-Season Against No. 2 Minnesota in Hockey Valley

Riding a six-game unbeaten streak and having secured 17-of-18 points the past three weekends, No. 15 Penn State looks to play its way to home ice in the opening round of the B1G Tournament as the Nittany Lions host No. 2 Minnesota on Friday and Saturday evening at Pegula Ice Arena.

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No. 15 Penn State vs. No. 2 Minnesota
Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa.

No. 15 Penn State vs. No. 2 Minnesota

No. 15 Penn State
No. 15 Penn State

17-11-4 | 8-10-4 B1G

vs.
No. 2 Minnesota
No. 2 Minnesota

23-7-4 | 14-5-3 B1G

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Riding a six-game unbeaten streak and having secured 17-of-18 points the past three weekends, No. 15 Penn State looks to play its way to home ice in the opening round of the B1G Tournament as the Nittany Lions host No. 2 Minnesota on Friday and Saturday evening at Pegula Ice Arena.

Follow the Action

Follow the Action

Dates: Friday, February 28 | Saturday, March 1
Place: University Park, Pa.
Time: 8:30 p.m. | 8 p.m.
TV: B1G Network

Series Breakdown

THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 51st and 52nd meetings all-time between Penn State and Minnesota with the Golden Gophers holding the 31-18-1 edge including a 16-4-0 mark over the past four-plus seasons with two of the last three Nittany Lion campaigns coming to an end at the hands of the Gophers in the Big Ten Tournament (2022 semifinals and 2024 quarterfinals).
  • The games at Pegula Ice Arena have been relatively equal with the Gophers holding the slim 11-10-1 edge and a 6-3 victory for Penn State in the finale last year snapped a five-game win streak for the Gophers in Hockey Valley.
  • This weekend pits two of the winningest coaches of all-time against each other as Minnesota’s Bob Motzko ranks eighth among active coaches and 24th all-time with 435 victories and Guy Gadowsky sits 12th among active coaches and tied for 30th all-time with 399 wins. Gadowsky is tied with long-time Maine Bench Boss Shawn Walsh and just one win shy of 400 for his career. Gadowsky sits behind only Jeff Jackson (599) and Motzko (435) in the Big Ten.
  • Only seven current Nittany Lions have found the back of the net against the Gophers with only Jimmy Dowd Jr., Danny Dzhaniyev, Reese Laubach and Tyler Paquette having scored multiple goals in their careers against Minnesota. Dowd Jr. leads the way with seven points on two goals and five assists in 17 games while Dzhaniyev has three goals and three assists for six points in 16 games.
  • With Minnesota ranked No. 2, this marks the second-straight series and fifth-overall this year that Penn State is facing a top-5 opponent. The Nittany Lions are just 8-36-4 all-time against top-five ranked teams with last Saturday’s win at No. 1 Michigan State marking the first top-5 victory for the Nittany Lions in over two years since defeating No. 1 Minnesota on November 10, 2022.
  • Penn State (21 years, 10 months) is the 3rd-youngest team in the Big Ten and 12th nationally while Minnesota (21 years, 6 months) is the 2nd-youngest team in the conference and 6th in the country.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA

  • The Gophers enter the weekend coming off a sweep against No. 7/6 Ohio State with convincing 4-1 and 6-3 victories as they control their own postseason fate sitting atop the Big Ten standings with 46 points, two clear of Michigan State, in the race for the regular-season crown and automatic bye to the Big Ten Semifinals that comes with it.
  • Minnesota is leading the Big Ten and ranks second nationally averaging 3.97 goals per game this season while allowing just 2.35 goals per game, the second-lowest total in the Big Ten and 13th-lowest nationally.
  • Jimmy Snuggerud leads the Gopher offense with 43 points, to rank third in the Big Ten and tied for fifth nationally, on 21 goals and 22 assists as his goal total is the third highest in the conference and tied for the fourth-most in the nation.
  • Minnesota has lit the lamp an NCAA-best 135 times this season with 20 different players scoring at least one goal, including six that have eclipsed double-digit goals. A total of 14 players have surpassed double-digit points, while six have 25 or more.
  • Brody Lamb ranks second on the team behind Snuggerud with 16 goals, half of which have come on the powerplay to tie Fink for the conference lead, ranking tied for fifth in the nation for PPG’s.
  • Connor Kurth and Matthew Wood each have 33 points behind Snuggerud’s team lead with the former ranking third on the team with 15 goals.
  • Defenseman Sam Rinzel leads the Big Ten and is tied for fourth nationally for points by a defenseman with 27 on nine goals and 18 assists as his goal total is also tops in the conference for blueliners while ranking sixth in the nation.
  • Minnesota ranks second in the nation behind Michigan State in shots per game averaging 35.4 this season while the Gopher powerplay is converting at 22.9 percent (24-for-105) a mark good for fourth in the conference and 17th nationally, however, Minnesota has scored just three powerplay goals in its last 10 games following a three goal outburst in a 6-1 victory at Ohio State on January 11. The Gophers are an eye-popping 14-for-42 (33.3 percent) on the road with the man-advantage.
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WEAR WHITE FRIDAY

  • Friday night marks the 11th installment of the annual display of Monochromatic Mayhem known as the Wear White Game
  • Penn State is just 4-5-1 all-time in such games, but have won three-straight with a 7-2 victory over Wisconsin in 2022, and a pair of thrilling victories the past two years with a 3-2 win against Notre Dame in 2023 and a 4-3 win over Ohio State last year.
  • This marks the first time since the inaugural Wear White game back on January 13, 2014, that Minnesota is the opponent. The Gophers won that contest 5-2.

STATE IS ON FIRE!

  • Penn State has caught fire since the calendar flipped to 2025 posting a 10-2-4 record including a trio of shootout victories. The Nittany Lions are 9-1-2 in their last 12 games and currently boast a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1), its best stretch of Big Ten play since going 4-0-3 from November 24, 2017, through January 12, 2018.
  • Excluding playoff games, the 10 second half wins are the most all-time. In 2016-17 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 wins in the postseason.
  • The .750 winning percentage in the second half is leaps and bounds the best second half showing all-time for the Nittany Lions.
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 23 goals are tied for the most in a single-season in Penn State history with Limoges while his 45 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 79 points in 66 career games for a 1.20 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 tied for the national lead with his 45 points while his 1.41 points per game mark is also tied for tops in the nation. His 23 goals are the best mark in the Big Ten and rank second in the nation.
  • Fink has eight powerplay tallies to go along with a pair of shorthanded markers to rank top-10 nationally in each category with his eight PPG’s tying for the Big Ten lead and just one shy of the national lead while his two shortys are one off the pace both in conference and nationally.
  • Fink’s eight man-advantage goals this season tie his own single-season record set last season while the 16 he has in his career continue to increase his own record which is now three clear of anyone else.

Vote for Hobey HERE!

START FAST, FINISH STRONG

  • Penn State has scored first in 11 of its 16 games in the second half, including all four against Michigan State, and hold an 8-1-2 record in those games.
  • For the season, Penn State is 14-4-2 when scoring and a perfect 16-0-1 when leading after two periods of play.

HELLO, OLD FRIEND

  • Penn State will see a familiar face between the pipes for the Gophers this weekend as Liam Souliere makes his return to Pegula Ice Arena in Maroon & Gold after donning the Blue & White for the past four seasons.
  • Now serving as the de facto starting netminder after splitting each series with sophomore Nathan Airey up until the end of January, Souliere has started the past seven games for the Gophers. In his lone start against Penn State back in November Souliere pitched a 28-save shutout in a 1-0 victory.
  • For the year, the former Nittany Lion net-minder is 12-5-2 with a .925 save percentage and a 2.05 goals-against average ranking tops in the Big Ten for both categories and tied for 13th and 11th nationally.
  • Souliere made 84 appearances with 82 starts for Penn State from 2020-24, the second-most ever by a Nittany Lion goaltender. He posted a 39-39-3 record for the Nittany Lions with a 2.95 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage. His 39 wins are the second-most among Nittany Lion net-minders all-time.

PHENOMENAL FRESHMAN

  • Freshman Charlie Cerrato has had an incredible year for the Blue and White ranking third in the Big Ten and tied for seventh in the nation for rookie scoring with 27 points while his 13 goals are tied for the most by a Big Ten freshman this season and rank tied for second in the nation among first year players.
  • Cerrato’s 27 points on the year are now tied for the fourth-most all-time with Casey Bailey and Andrew Sturtz for points by a freshman while his 13 goals are tied with Chase Berger and Ryan Kirwan for the seventh-most by a Nittany Lion rookie all-time.
  • Cerrato has also been excellent at the dot winning 59.5 percent (311-for-523) of his draws on the year, a mark good for third in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation among true centermen.

EVERYDAY A STAR IS BORN

  • Junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev was named the Big Ten First Star of the Week for the third time in the past seven weeks after helping Penn State secure 5-of-6 points against No. 1 Michigan State over the weekend stopping 78-of-82 shots he faced posting a .951 save percentage and a 1.92 goals-against average capturing a shootout win and regulation win.
  • Sergeev is 10-2-4 with a .925 save percentage since returning from injury to begin January and has the Nittany Lions on the cusp of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 10 wins lead the Big Ten and rank third in the nation over that span 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 second-most nationally during this stretch 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.
  • The Yaroslavl, Russia native is 14-6-4 this season with a .920 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average overall marking the sixth-most single-season victories in program history while his save percentage and GAA currently rank as the second and third best, respectively.

NEXT UP

  • Penn State awaits its fate in the best-of-three B1G Quarterfinals next weekend as the Nittany Lions are currently one-point behind Michigan for the fourth and final home ice spot and four points clear of Wisconsin in sixth.
  • The quarterfinal matchup is already set as the Nittany Lions will battle the Wolverines either at Pegula or Yost following the results of the weekend.

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.