Jan. 8, 2015
| PENN STATE vs. OHIO STATE | |
| 9-6-2 (3-1-0-0 B1G) | 6-9-2 (1-2-0-0 B1G) |
| Friday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10 at 3 p.m. | |
| PEGULA ICE ARENA | UNIVERSITY PARK | |
| GAME DAY CENTRAL |
| TELEVISION: MeTV (Johnstown-Altoona-State College) |
| CW 15 (Harrisburg-Lancaster-York-Lebanon) |
| MyTV 22 (Pittsburgh) & FOX56 (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) |
| FRIDAY: BTN2Go | Live Audio ($) | |
| FRIDAY RADIO: Penn State Sports Network |
| SATURDAY: BTN2Go | Live Audio ($) | |
| SATURDAY RADIO: Penn State Sports Network |
| Men's Hockey Blog | 2014-15 Yearbook |
| Follow Us: @PennStateMHKY | Facebook | Instagram |
| TEAM STATISTICS Penn State | Ohio State |
| PROMOTIONS Friday: Gadowsky 200th Win Celebration Sunday: Student Hockey Mask Giveaway // Costume Contests --> |
| TICKET EXCHANGE Buy & Sell Tickets to PSU Men's Hockey Games |
| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | OSU | |
| 9-6-2 | Overall Record | 6-9-2 |
| 3-1-0-0 | Conference Record | 1-2-0-0 |
| 55 | Goals Scored | 46 |
| 47 | Goals Allowed | 53 |
| 3.2 | Goals Scored/gm. | 2.7 |
| 2.8 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 3.1 |
| 664 | Shots | 493 |
| 39.1 | Shots/gm. | 29.0 |
| 84 | Assists | 79 |
| 16-67 | Power Plays | 10-68 |
| .239 | Power-Play Pct. | .147 |
| 44-55 | Penalty Kills | 44-56 |
| .800 | Penalty-Kill Pct. | .786 |
| 468 | Saves | 493 |
| 0 | Shutouts | 1 |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State men's hockey team returns to Pegula Ice Arena for the first time in 70 days when it welcomes Ohio State in a Big Ten series beginning Friday at 7 p.m. The series will conclude at 3 p.m. with both games being televised by American Sports Network.
Penn State is coming off a disappointing showing at the Three Rivers Classic, which resulted in a fourth-place finish behind losses to Robert Morris and Western Michigan. Ohio State enters the weekend off 1-0-1 series at Mercyhurst where the Buckeyes beat the Lakers, 6-3, before coming from behind to salvage a 2-2 tie.
PEGULA ICE ARENA BAG POLICY
Fans attending Penn State men's hockey games at Pegula Ice Arena will have to comply with the updated Penn State University Bag Policy. Fans are advised that no backpacks or briefcases may be brought into the arena. For more information visit the Safety Policy SY44 Page or Penn State's Bag Policy Page.
PARKING & TRAFFIC INFORMATION
Parking for the games is $5 in the Jordan East and Stadium West Lots if you do not have a parking permit that came with your season tickets. Fans without tickets can log on to the Penn State Ticket Exchange for purchases.
HONORING GADOWSKY FRIDAY NIGHT
Prior to puck drop, Penn State will honor head coach Guy Gadowsky for picking up his 200th career win earlier this season at No. 4 UMass Lowell. Gadowsky has a career record of 203-244-41 (.458) in 15 collegiate season as a head coach. At Penn State, Gadowsky is 30-46-4.
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State (6-9-2, 1-2-0-0 Big Ten) enters Friday's game coming off a 1-0-1 series win over Mercyhurst on the road. The Buckeyes were led by this week's Big Ten First Star in senior forward Matt Johnson, who scored four goals with a hat trick in Friday's 6-3 win.
Johnson has eight goals this season and is riding a five-game point streak with six goals and an assist during that stretch. Anthony Greco has eight goals to match Johnson's total and each have dished two assists. Tanner Fritz (6g, 7a) and Nick Schilkey (4g, 7a) top the team in points with 13 and 11, respectively.
The Buckeyes manage 2.7 goals per game, while giving up 3.1 per game. The power play has converted 14.7 percent of its opportunities while the penalty kill has given up 21.4 percent. By period, the Buckeyes have deficits in the first (18-13) and second (17-12), while out-scoring opponents 20-17 in the third.
In net, Matt Tomkins (4-5-1) and Christian Frey (2-4-1) have split time. Tomkins has a 2.82 GAA and .890 save percentage with a shutout, while Frey has a 3.39 GAA and .902 save percentage. Frey had the tie at Mercyhurst and Tomkins took home a win.
SERIES HISTORY WITH OHIO STATE
All-Time Series: Ohio State leads 3-2-0
PSU at home vs. OSU: 1-1-0
PSU Streak: 1 win
First Meeting: 12/29/12, PSU 5-4
Last Meeting: 3/15/14, PSU 4-2
Last PSU Win: 3/15/14, 4-2
Last OSU Win: 3/14/14, 4-2
Last Tie: n/a
Largest PSU Win: 4-2, 3/15/14
Largest OSU Win: 5-1, 1/31/14
NITTANY LION HOME COMING
Seventy days and nine games. That's how long it's been since Penn State played a game at Pegula Ice Arena where the Nittany Lions are 5-0-1.
Penn State played its first four Big Ten games on the road as well, spent Thanksgiving weekend in New York City and left shortly after Christmas for Pittsburgh before finally planting roots once again in Hockey Valley.
CAN I GET A WITNESS?
Penn State has received tremendous fan support at Pegula Ice Arena since its opening on Oct. 11, 2013.
Penn State has played to a sellout crowd in 21-of-24 home games, including five of six this season. More than 6,000 fans have filed into the arena on 12 occasions with a season-high 6,043 see Penn State beat Holy Cross, 3-1.
Currently, Penn State ranks sixth in average attendance (5,968) and lead the nation in building capacity percentage (103.2 percent). Only Quinnipiac (100.5) can boast a capacity percentage over 100.
Last season, 108,193 total fans packed Pegula Ice Arena during the facility's inaugural campaign, filling the 5,782-seat arena with an average of 6,011 fans per game.
SEE, WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS...
The Nittany Lions never found their stride in a pair of losses in the Three Rivers Classic hosted by CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh Dec 29-30.
Penn State fell, 4-2, to Robert Morris as the Colonials capitalized on a five-minute major with two power play goals. Scott Conway and Casey Bailey tallied goals for Penn State.
The next day, the Nittany Lions were again slow to start, fell behind early to Western Michigan, and by the time they scored it was already 3-0. Curtis Loik's third period tally gave PSU a glimmer of hope, but WMU shut the door with a late marker for the final 4-1 score line.
LOIK NAMED TO ALL-TOURNEY TEAM
One of the bright spots for the Nittany Lions was the play of forward Curtis Loik, who was named to the Three Rivers Classic All-Tournament Team (Dec. 30). Loik tallied an assist in the loss to RMU before scoring PSU's only goal the next night against Western Michigan. Loik had two points and a plus-two rating for the week.
IMPROVING IN BIG TEN PLAY
The Nittany Lions started 0-9-0-0 in Big Ten play last season, but finished the year going 3-7-1-0 down the stretch before going 1-1 in the Big Ten Tournament.
The sweep over Wisconsin upped PSU to 3-1-0-0 in the early going. The Nittany Lions have gone 7-9-1-0 vs. Big Ten competition since Feb. 8, 2014. Penn State sits in first in the Big Ten heading into January.
WEAPONS AT GADOWSKY'S DISPOSAL
The Nittany Lions saw the returns of Zach Saar and Connor Varley at the Three Rivers Classic following extended layoffs. Saar made his season debut against Robert Morris, while Varley played his first game since Halloween against Western Michigan.
Another key element to head coach Guy Gadowsky's arsenal is forward Eric Scheid who is slated to return to the lineup following a six-game absence. Scheid's seven goals remain second-best on the team despite the layoff.
BAILEY, HOLSTROM UP FOR HOBEY BAKER
The forward tandem of Casey Bailey and Taylor Holstrom were nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, as announced Wednesday, Jan. 7. Fan voting, which accounts for one percent of all voting, continues through March 8 before the finalists are named.
Bailey leads the Big Ten in goals (11), while Holstrom has the Big Ten lead in assists (14).
STRAIGHT BUTTER, BAILEY'S ON A ROLL
Behind a Big Ten-leading 11 goals, junior forward Casey Bailey has regained his scoring form from 2012-13 that saw him tally 14 goals during his freshman campaign. Last season, Bailey tallied nine goals in 32 games.
Bailey is first on the team with six multi-point games this season and has 14 in his Penn State career. He has tallied a point in 12 of 17 games this year.
FIRE AWAY!
Penn State likes to shoot the puck. A lot. The Nittany Lions lead NCAA Division I men's hockey with 39.06 shots per game.
The Nittany Lions have out-shot every opponent this season except Michigan, who posted two higher shot totals in the series prior to Thanksgiving. PSU is 8-5-2 when out-shooting its opposition.
Ohio State ranks 36th nationally in shots per game with 29.00.
JUNIORS PROVIDING THE SCORING
Penn State's juniors have been the most productive scoring class this year with 28 goals and 31 assists for 59 points. The three other classes combined have totaled 27 goals and 53 assists for 80 points.
AVOIDING THE PENALTY BOX
Penn State has been penalized fewer times in 2014-15, averaging 3.8 penalties per game and 9.3 minutes per game, resulting in 54 power play chances for its opponents (3.18 per game). Last year, The Nittany Lions were committing 5.3 penalties for 12.3 minutes per game and teams were capitalizing on 18.9 percent of the resulting power plays (4.42 chances per game). This year's penalty kill is allowing goals 20.4 percent of the time. The result has been only 11 power-play goals against, the second fewest in the Big Ten.
BALANCED NITTANY LION SCORING
Penn State has 55 goals through four games, an average of 3.2 goals as opposed to last year's 2.2 average.
Moreover, 15 different Nittany Lions have already registered a goal this season with a total of 22 Lions recording a point. In 2013-14 alone, 16 Lions scored goals with 21 total earning points.
BLOCKING SUCCESS
Penn State's defense has allowed an average of 30.3 shots per game to reach net this year in good part of the blocking ability of PSU's defensive corps, which has stopped 249 from reaching frame.
Senior captain Patrick Koudys (33), junior Luke Juha (29) and sophomore David Thompson (24) lead the team in the category.
SKOFF GETS THE NOD IN 2014-15
Proclaimed the starter by head coach Guy Gadowsky in the offseason, junior Matthew Skoff started the final 11-of-15 games for the Nittany Lions last season, while compiling an 8-13-2 record with a 2.95 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and a shutout.
This season, Skoff started the first nine games of the season, becoming the goalie of record in a career-best 12 straight games dating to last season.
Skoff's career record stands at 23-25-4, starting 6-4-2 this year. He has a 2.45 GAA and a .914 save percentage this season, which is better than his career numbers of 2.68 and .913.
MCADAM STARTS CAMPAIGN 3-2-0
Sophomore Eamon McAdam had a tough freshman season, going 0-9-0 against the third-toughest schedule in the nation. This season McAdam is 3-2-0 in six appearances.
The netminder rebounded nicely in 2014-15, holding the then-nation's best scoring squad (UMass Lowell) to two goals over 90 minutes and earning a win over the fourth-ranked team in November.
McAdam's stellar play continued to Michigan as he earned his first Big Ten win over the Wolverines on Nov. 21. Despite a poor outing the next night, McAdam earned his second Big Ten win Dec. 5 over Wisconsin, allowing two goals and saving 22 shots.
TOP LINE REMAINS PRODUCTIVE, INTACT
Penn State has already used 29 different offensive line combinations in the first 17 games, but one thing has remained constant: David Goodwin-Taylor Holstrom-Casey Bailey will play and score.
The three have combined for 19 goals, 26 assists and a plus-11 rating. Currently, the line is 7-5-2 this season.
The threesome have been together in 13 of 17 contests (only times not together were Oct. 17 at Alaska, Dec. 5-6 at Wisconsin and Dec. 30 vs. Western Michigan), accounting for 45 of Penn State's 139 points.
ROLLING WITH HOLSTROM
Penn State's most productive passer has been Taylor Holstrom with four goals and 14 assists for 18 points.
His 14 assists are the most in a Penn State uniform in a single season. Holstrom is 10 dishes away from matching his freshman performance in 2010-11 at Mercyhurst.
ERIC THE CLUTCH
Forward Eric Scheid has been Penn State's go-to guy for a late-game goal. Scheid ranks tied for sixth in the nation with three game-winning goals this season, earning his third by scoring 16 seconds after PSU's game-tying goal vs. Bentley on Halloween in the third period.
Scheid is second on the team in scoring with seven goals, adding a first-period insurance goal in a 4-1 win over UMass Lowell and the second goal in the 3-2 win at Michigan. Scheid hasn't played since that game.
ERIK THE PASSER
Prior to the season, head coach Guy Gadowsky identified freshman defenseman Erik Autio as one of Penn State's best passers. It took four games, but Autio registered an assist in three straight contests all on the power play. Overall, Autio has five assists this season, second among PSU defenseman.
While he didn't tally a point at Lowell, Autio and teammate Luke Juha were effective in Penn State's efforts. The defensive pairing had matching plus-two ratings Friday night and were both plus-one the following night. Autio's fourth assist of the year came on Tommy Olczyk's game-winning, short-handed goal at Wisconsin (Dec. 6).
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State welcomes Michigan State to Pegula Ice Arena for a two-game series starting Friday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions and Spartans conclude the series on Saturday, Jan. 17 (5 p.m.) with a nationally-televised game on ESPNU.