Penn State hockey preview: Lions take on Big Ten leaders Ohio State
In most years, Penn State hockey coach Guy Gadowsky says he works to do the right thing for his team in the long run, rather than placing individual results under a microscope.
His hope is that the payoff comes by the end of that season, that the lessons click and the culture resonates in time.
There’s still time, both in Gadowsky’s mind and according to the math, for that to be the case for Penn State this season. But it has to start with a positive result in this weekend’s series against No. 12 Ohio State, beginning Friday at 7 p.m. at Pegula Ice Arena.
“Specifically it’s how we’ve been playing of late, and the lessons that we’ve learned,” Gadowsky said. “Most importantly, the leadership of the guys, culturally, and how it’s translated out on the ice. They’ve done an unbelievable job.
“The fact that the guys are doing such a good job with the culture is really what makes it fun.”
Certainly, Penn State’s play is improving — at least relative to how the Nittany Lions looked earlier in the season.
The Nittany Lions can consider themselves extremely unfortunate not to have gotten a win against then-No. 4 Michigan in Ann Arbor two weeks ago. They played as good, if not better, than the stacked Wolverines on both nights.
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They followed that up with a steamrolling of Wisconsin last weekend.
The Nittany Lions outscored the Badgers 11-3 on aggregate during that two-game series.
Seven of those 11 goals were scored by freshmen, including four from Ryan Kirwan who has emerged to provide the offensive firepower the Nittany Lions need for the stretch run.
He’s got nine points in his last six games, and 16 points in his last 14.
“They’ve all been working really hard just to play quality hockey, quality Penn State hockey, learn about it and become consistent with it,” Gadowsky said after last Saturday’s win. “They’re doing a good job and they’re getting opportunities.”
Sitting 24th in the current Pairwise ratings, one good series won’t save Penn State’s season.
The Nittany Lions need to end the season on a tear in order to find themselves in the top-16, where they could earn an NCAA Tournament bid.
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It’s not out of the question, and they’ve done it before. A stretch of four consecutive victories over Minnesota that helped the Nittany Lions sneak into the 2017-18 NCAA field comes to mind.
But Ohio State is certain to provide stern opposition, even at home.
Scouting the Buckeyes
The Buckeyes have often been a program that wins with discipline and structure under head coach Steve Rohlik, but this year, they’ve got one of the best attacks in college hockey.
Ohio State has 94 goals to its name this season, good enough for fifth nationally — one spot ahead of Penn State.
Winners of 10 of their last 11 games, Ohio State sits at 18-7-1 on the season, and 10-5-1 in the Big Ten. They swept the Nittany Lions in a series in Columbus back in November.
A trio of freshmen leads Ohio State in scoring. Georgii Merkulov has 14 goals and 13 assists in 25 games. Defenseman Mason Lohrei has 22 points on the year on the back of 20 assists, and forward Cam Thiesing has seven goals and 14 assists, too.
