Penn State men’s hockey gears up for challenge at Michigan State after winlesss weekend

There were two messages for the Penn State hockey team this week as it prepared for a weekend series at Michigan State — one for the coaches and one for the players.

“For the coaches, the message was that we had to not go so hard and heavy in practice. Last week we had some hard practices, and it lingered,” coach Guy Gadowsky said. “For the players, the message was just a reminder. We struggled last week, but we’re a top-10 team. We’re a good team.”

Michigan State coach Danton Cole had some messages for his team as well.

The resurgent Spartans, tied with Penn State for second place in the Big Ten Conference, have been waiting to host a series like this at Munn Ice Arena.

“This is where we want to be, playing meaningful games at this point of the year,” Cole said. “It’s a big weekend for us. It’s at home, we’ve got a great team coming, we’re going to have great crowds, and the way I look at it it’s an unbelievable opportunity.

“The door is open. We just have to push on it and take it.”

Penn State’s most recent series ended with a loss and tie at home, a lackluster first game followed by a better performance that eventually produced just one point in the conference standings. It was a potentially frustrating weekend, played out before the second- and third-largest crowds in program history.

Still, Gadowsky remains more optimistic — anticipating the next challenge for his team — than worried.

At the same time, Michigan State split with Wisconsin and was also a bit frustrated as an opening victory did not translate into a similar level of play the second night.

Still, Cole likes his team’s defensive mentality and overall approach.

“Our guys’ mindset has been consistent,” he said. “They’ve never cheated us in terms of effort this season, and that means a lot.”

Lessons from previous games or video study do not mean as much, though.

While some opponents have found ways to slow down Penn State’s offense this season — the Nittany Lions have been shut out four times in 23 games, after being held scoreless four times in the previous 156 games — Cole said their success does not translate into an easy-to-repeat approach or fail-safe game plan.

“Just because it works for someone else doesn’t mean it’s going to work for us,” he said. “We have to play our game, to our strengths.”

Still, some things are obvious. And, one of those four shutouts Penn State endured was against Michigan State in the teams’ first meeting this season.

“If you don’t control their transition, you’ve got no chance,” he said. “Their offense comes in waves and it’s consistent, with no real drop off from one line to another. You pretty much have to deal with that for 120 minutes during the weekend.”

No. 9 Penn State (16-7-1, 8-5-1 Big Ten) at No. 19 Michigan State (12-11-1, 8-5-1)

Series: 7 p.m. Friday; 6 p.m. Saturday

Radio/TV: Game coverage on 103.1 FM and GoPSUsports.com, with Saturday’s game televised by BTN.

Notable: Penn State leads the series, 14-13-4, and has a 6-7-1 record at Michigan State. …. Senior captain Brandon Biro will again miss the series for the Nittany Lions. … Six different players scored goals when the Nittany Lions won the teams’ most recent meeting. … The night before, though, MSU held Penn State scoreless. Goalie John Leathermon, who pitched that shutout, was last week’s No. 1 star in the Big Ten after recording 74 saves and a 1.03 goals-against average in a split with Wisconsin.

This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 3:14 PM.