No. 3 Men's Hockey Hosts Sixth-Seeded Minnesota in B1G Quarterfinals

THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP

• This week marks the 57th meeting all-time between the two programs with Minnesota holding the 33-22-1 edge in the series and Penn State holding the slim 13-12-1 mark in Hockey Valley.
• The Nittany Lions won the season series against the Gophers taking 9-of-12 points with a 3-1-0 record. The series victory was the first for Penn State over Minnesota since the 2019-20 season.
• Despite the series victory this year, since the start of the 2020-21 season, Minnesota is 18-7-0 against Penn State following a similar stretch of 12-2-1 by the Nittany Lions during a three-year period from 2017-2020.
• Wednesday marks the fifth time the two teams have met in the postseason and the third time it has been in the Big Ten Quarterfinals with each team sweeping a best-of-three series on home ice.
• The Gophers have won each of the last two postseason meetings, each coming at Mariucci, a 3-2 victory in the 2022 semifinals before a two-game sweep in the 2024 quarterfinals.
• Neither team has lost to each other during the postseason when on home ice as this marks the first meetings at Pegula Ice Arena since a two-game sweep for the Nittany Lions during the 2018 quarterfinals. That series concluded a stretch of four-straight victories in back-to-back weeks by Penn State over Minnesota, to knock the Gophers out of the NCAA Tournament and secure the second-straight NCAA berth for the Nittany Lions.
• The two teams were set for a Big Ten semifinal matchup in Hockey Valley in 2020 before the remainder of the postseason was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Junior Matt DiMarsico leads all Nittany Lions with five goals and three assists for eight points in 14 games against the Gophers while classmate Reese Laubach has added four goals and three assists for seven points in 14 career games. Junior Aiden Fink has seven assists in 12 games against Minnesota, however, the Gophers are the lone Big Ten team Fink has yet to score a goal against in his career, 33 of his 47 goals have come against the five teams in the Big Ten.
• Six of the seven programs in the Big Ten are ranked among the 20 youngest teams in the nation.
• Penn State is the fourth youngest team in the Big Ten and 13th youngest in the nation this season with an average age of 21 years and eight months while Michigan is the second youngest team in the Big Ten and seventh youngest nationally with an average age of 21 years and three months.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA

• Minnesota enters the postseason with just one win in its last eight games posting a 1-5-2 record during that stretch. The Gophers won just two additional games, a series sweep against Wisconsin, in the second half of the season posting a 3-11-2 record since January.
• The Gophers struggled offensively this season after losing each of their top-five scorers from the 2024-25 season including Jimmy Snuggerud who paced the team with 24 goals and 27 assists for 51 points in 2024-25 and is currently playing with the St. Louis Blues in the NHL.
• Minnesota is paced offensively by Brodie Ziemer with 36 points on 23 goals and 13 assists in 35 games. Ziemer’s 23 goals are tied for the Big Ten lead while ranking tied for fourth nationally. His 11 powerplay tallies lead the Big Ten and are tied for tops in the nation.
• Senior captain Brody Lamb has also been a driving force behind the Gophers’ offense, ranking second on the team with 30 points and 14 goals as both Ziemer and Lamb are the only two Gophers with double-digit goals.
• West Mifflin, Pennsylvania native LJ Mooney returns back to Pennsylvania leading Minnesota with 23 assists and tying Lamb for second in scoring with 30 points.
• Minnesota finished the regular-season last in the Big Ten averaging just 2.71 goals per game, a mark good for 42nd in the nation. The Gophers allowed the third most goals in the conference and the 15th most in the nation at 3.40. Minnesota’s 26.0 shots per game were also the least in the Big Ten and ranked 58th nationally.
• Between the pipes Michigan State transfer Luca Di Pasquo has taken the reigns from Nathan Airey in the second half of the season after splitting time in the fall. Di Pasquo has started each of the past 14 games after the two split the series in Hockey Valley at the beginning of January. Di Pasquo has a .912 save percentage and a 3.10 goals-against average and is responsible for eight of the teams 11 victories.
• The Gophers have struggled mightily on the penalty kill this season ranking dead last in the nation killing just 69.1 percent (65-for-94) of opponents powerplays. The powerplay has fared better converting at 27 percent (27-for-100), good for sixth in the Big Ten, but ninth nationally.
• The Gophers pace the Big Ten and rank second in the nation in blocked shots with 567.

PHENOMENAL FINK

• Fink is currently riding a six-game point streak (4-9--13) of his own, just one shy of his career-best.
• Even after missing eight games with a thumb injury, Fink is up to third on the team in scoring with 35 points (9G, 26A) on the year including 26 points on seven goals and 19 assists in 18 games this semester after returning to the lineup.
• Fink is currently in sole possession of fourth on the Penn State all-time scoring list with 122 points in his career while his 47 goals are just one shy of Liam Folkes ‘20 for sixth all-time and his 75 assists are now tied with Brandon Biro ‘20 for third all-time.
• Fink became the fastest Nittany Lion to 100 career points earlier this season doing so in just his 87th career game and he is now one of three Nittany Lions all-time to have three 30+ point seasons and just the second to have three such seasons in-a-row joining David Goodwin ‘17 who concluded his career with three-straight 30+ point campaigns. Fink is the first to do it from the start of his career. Program points leader Nate Sucese ‘20 missed the 30-point mark by just a single-point during his sophomore season and is the only other Nittany Lion with three seasons of 30+ points.

BLUELINE BEAUTY

• Freshman defenseman Jackson Smith has 11 goals on the year to lead all Big Ten defensemen and rank tied for fourth nationally among blueliners and first among rookies.
• Smith’s 11 goals are a new Penn State single-season record for goals by a defenseman and rank tied for eighth all-time.
• Smith’s 25 points are good for tops in the Big Ten for defensemen and tied for 13th in the nation, first among freshmen.
• Smith registered 17 of his 25 points in 24 Big Ten games to tie Wisconsin’s Ben Dexheimer for the most among defensemen in conference games. Smith’s nine goals in Big Ten play were top of the league for blue-liners.

CHASING 100

• Junior Matt DiMarsico became just the 11th Nittany Lion all-time to hit the 40-point mark in a season last week as he currently sits at 40 points on 17 goals and 23 assists this season ranking fifth in the Big Ten and tied for 17th in the nation in scoring.
• DiMarsico has 98 points for his career, just two shy of becoming the 10th different Nittany Lion to reach 100 career points. DiMarsico is already 10th on the all-time scoring list with his 98 points while his 41 goals are tied with Biro for 11th all-time.