UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State takes a short break from Big Ten action as the Nittany Lions welcome the Canisius Golden Griffins to Hockey Valley to conclude non-conference play for the year with a pair of games on Friday and Saturday evening.
Steven Walter
Men's Hockey Concludes Non-Conference Play With Weekend Set Against Canisius
Penn State takes a short break from Big Ten action as the Nittany Lions welcome the Canisius Golden Griffins to Hockey Valley to conclude non-conference play for the year with a pair of games on Friday and Saturday evening.
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Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa.
Penn State vs. Canisius
Penn State
8-10-2 | 1-9-2 B1G
Canisius
7-11-2 | 7-5-2 AHA
Follow the Action
Dates: Friday, January 17 | Saturday, January 18
Place: University Park, Pa.
Time: 7 p.m. | 5 p.m.
Series Breakdown
THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP
- This week marks the first meetings between the two programs in two seasons and the eighth and ninth meetings all-time with Penn State holding the 6-1-0 advantage including the 5-1-0 mark at Pegula Ice Arena with three-straight victories.
- The Nittany Lions have outscored the Golden Griffins 32-17 all-time and are a combined 50-16-2 all-time against Atlantic Hockey schools.
- Senior Ben Schoen and graduate student Jimmy Dowd each have points in three of four career games against Canisius as they pace the Nittany Lions with four points against the Griffs. Schoen has four assists while Dowd Jr. has one goal and three assists. Senior Danny Dzhaniyev has added one goal and two assists for three points.
- Both teams are allowing 3.2 goals per game to rank near the bottom nationally in a tie for 49th.
- Canisius is the second oldest team in the country with an average of age of 22 years and 11 months while Penn State is the 12th youngest with an average age of 21 years and 9 months.
NON-CONFERENCE DOMINATION
- Penn State concluded the 2023-24 non-conference slate with an 8-2-0 record.
- Penn State has now registered at least eight non-conference victories eight times and have a 75.2 percent all-time winning percentage in regular-season non-conference games since the Big Ten’s inception prior to the 2013-14 season.
- The Nittany Lions are an eye-popping 52-7-1 in regular-season non-conference games since the start of the 2018-19 season including a 25-3-0 mark over the past three seasons with a 7-1-0 mark so far this year.
SCOUTING CANISIUS
- The Griffs enter the weekend coming off a sweep against RIT where they outscored the Tigers 10-4 with identical 5-2 victories to snap a four-game winless streak. Canisius is 7-11-2 on the year with all seven victories coming in AHA play as they are 0-6-0 in non-conference action.
- Canisius is paced on offense by the reigning Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year, Matteo Giampa, who led the team with 35 points on 18 goals and 17 assists last season and has picked up right where he left off in his sophomore campaign as he currently leads the team with 21 points on six goals and 15 assists including a four-point weekend last weekend against RIT as he chipped in with four assists including three on Friday night.
- Oliver Tarr is the Golden Griffins leading goal scorer with seven on the year while Dominic Payne and Grant Porter have each added five to pace the Canisius squad averaging 2.90 goals per game to rank middle of the pack nationally.
- Between the pipes sophomore Ethan Robertson has seen the majority of game action including both games last weekend against RIT and he boasts a 6-5-0 record with a .916 save percentage and a 2.32 goals-against average.
- The Griffs have been making the most of its limited power-play opportunities in recent games as they are a combined 11-for-33 (.330) with the man advantage over their past 12 contests after starting the season just 3-for-26 over the first eight games. Canisius had its best showing on the power play this season in its series finale against RIT, racking up a season-high three power-play goals on five opportunities against the Tigers. Overall the Griffs powerplay is clicking at a 23.7 percent (14-for-59) to rank second in the Atlantic and 14th nationally.
- On the other end of the spectrum the PK has struggled allowing 15 goals in 65 opportunities for a 76.9 percent kill rate to rank second to last in the conference and 47th in the nation, however, Canisius does have four shorthanded tallies to tie Penn State and four others for the fourth most in the nation.
CHASING 400
- Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky currently sits tied for 33rd with former Minnesota head man Doug Woog on the college hockey all-time wins list after securing win No. 390 last Sunday at Notre Dame.
- In his sights are longtime North Dakota Bench Boss John “Gino” Gasparini (392) and former Wisconsin and CC head man Bob Johnson (394) while current Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore sits at 396 and counting.
- Among active coaches, Gadowsky ranks 12th and sits behind only Jeff Jackson and Bob Motzko in the Big Ten.
SOPHOMORE SENSATION
- Sophomore Aiden Fink is currently riding a six-game point streak (3-4-7) to tie his career high, and he also has points in 12 of his last 13 games. Fink has only been held off the scoresheet in three of 20 games this season and has at least one point in all eight non-conference games.
- Fink is currently second in the Big Ten and ranks fourth nationally averaging 1.40 points per game while his 28 points rank fourth in the conference and are tied for sixth in the nation.
- Fink’s 11 goals are tied for the fifth-most in the Big Ten and 14th in the nation while his 17 helpers are tied for fourth in the conference and 10th in the nation.
- Following a 34-point freshman campaign and with 28 points in 20 games so far this season, Fink has a chance to do something no other Nittany Lion has done before him, register back-to-back 30+ point seasons to start his career. In total only six different Nittany Lions have registered 30 or more points in back-to-back seasons, David Goodwin did it three-straight years while Nate Sucese, Evan Barratt, Brandon Biro, Alex Limoges and Andrew Sturtz each did it in back-to-back seasons at some point in their careers.
- Fink has 62 points in 54 career games for a 1.15 points per game average, currently the best mark all-time at Penn State.
ARSI’S ON FIRE!
- Junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev has been impressive between the pipes for the Nittany Lions the past two weekends after missing the previous seven games with a lower-body injury. He’s posted a 1-1-2 record with a .932 save percentage and a 2.64 goals-against average.
- Sergeev stopped all four shots in the shootout last Saturday against the Spartans securing the first shootout win for the Nittany Lions in over a year dating back to November 10, 2023, in East Lansing against those same Spartans. For the year Sergeev has stopped 11-of-13 shootout attempts.
- The Yaroslavl, Russia native has raised his save percentage to .918 on the season and lowered his goals-against average to 2.46.
BLUELINE BEAUTIES
- Both Jimmy Dowd Jr. and Simon Mack pushed their way closer to history against Michigan State as both defensemen collected a pair of assists. For Dowd he eclipsed the 70-point mark becoming just the second Nittany Lion defenseman to reach that mark all-time as he now sits just seven points shy of all-time defenseman leader Cole Hults’ 78 while his 59 helpers are just two shy of Hults’ 61 for defensemen and rank eighth all-time overall.
- With his two assists, Mack hit the 50-point mark as he sits ninth on the Penn State all-time defenseman scoring list just two shy of Vince Pedrie for eighth. Mack’s 15 points this season are just one shy of his career high from last season while his 14 assists already top his 2023-24 career mark of 12.
- Mack’s 14 helpers this season are third in the Big Ten among defensemen and rank tied for seventh in the nation for blueliners. Mack is tied for fifth in the Big Ten for defenseman scoring with his 15 points.
NEXT UP
Penn State resumes conference play and closes out its six-game homestand as they welcome No. 8 Ohio State to Hockey Valley for a pair of games next Friday and Saturday evening.
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.
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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.