Penn State hockey program found it still has work to do to measure up with nation's best
As his team was preparing for its first-round NCAA tournament game earlier this week, Penn State hockey coach Guy Gadowsky was eager to see his team get a rematch with Denver.
The Nittany Lions were facing the defending national champion, and Gadowsky wanted to see how his squad had improved over the course of a year against such a powerful program.
Saturday night showed there is still a long way to go, falling 5-1 in the NCAA Midwest Regional at the PPL Center.
“It’s the lesson that we need to learn if we are going to compete with the likes of Denver,” Gadowsky said, “which right now is the top of the heap and sort of what Penn State wants to do.”
Unlike the meeting last season, when Penn State had one day to prepare for the second-round contest, this time the Lions had a week but still didn’t appear to have the answers.
The Nittany Lions at times seemed a step slow, chasing the Pioneers around the PPL Center, but the team also did not play the way it had during its most successful stretches of the season.
“We learned lessons on things we possibly could have done better,” Gadowsky said. “But I think tonight we forgot a little bit about what we did really well. I don’t think we did what we do well enough.”
Denver was decidedly the more talented team — at least its top line. But the Pioneers had quicker puck movement, crisper passing and by far more quality chances.
“I don’t know if we weren’t able to do things that we’re used to because we weren’t prepared to do what we did well enough,” Gadowsky said, “or it’s something they did, but … the result was not what I had expected.”
The Pioneers also dominated in puck possession, forcing turnovers, keeping up the pressure on its offensive end. The shot disparity was 42-27, one of the lowest game totals of the season for the nation’s top shot-takers, but even fewer of Penn State’s attempts were on target.
“They had the puck all the time — it’s tough to shoot when you’re playing defense in your end,” Gadowsky said. “We started to get some zone time, some chances, and we missed the net a lot.”
Denver also used its defense to stifle the up-tempo style Penn State needs to be successful, and when the Nittany Lions were having the game dictated to them, they were destined to struggle.
“Penn State is an explosive offensive hockey team,” Denver coach Joe Montgomery said. “I thought in the first period we really neutralized their transition game because of our commitment to playing on the right side of the puck.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2018 at 11:14 PM with the headline "Penn State hockey program found it still has work to do to measure up with nation's best."