Penn State men’s hockey looking for signs of improvement in series vs. Wisconsin

Sometimes it’s easy to overlook the beauty and delicate balance of hockey, and Penn State’s Kevin Wall knows that well because he’s in the midst of just such a balancing act.

With six points in his last four games, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound forward hopes to maintain his level of play — and not think about it at the same time.

“When you have confidence it’s a completely different game out there. You’re not gripping your stick too tight. You’re not nervous with the puck,” Wall said. “The game just goes along a little better. You’re up, you’re in good spirits. It feels different.”

It’s a feeling that can be hard to maintain, though.

“I think you definitely can overthink it,” Wall said. “If I am playing well, I’ve got the same routine and I’ve got to make sure I do that. If you think about it too much, the result’s going to be you’re playing bad.”

Wall has not been alone with his quality play in recent series. Penn State has gone 7-2 in its last nine games and evened its record after a sluggish and slightly surprising 0-5 start to the season.

Entering a two-game series against No. 12 Wisconsin at home this week, Penn State has another chance to showcase how it has improved. The Badgers outscored the Nittany Lions 13-6 when they swept the teams’ first meeting in late November.

Coach Guy Gadowsky appreciates both “the eye test” and analytics when evaluating his team. Plus, he consistently offers almost unfailingly honest appraisals of the group’s progress. He hopes playing Wisconsin again offers the chance to measure some improvement — because there was a lot of room for it after the teams’ first meeting.

“All three zones we didn’t care for the puck. Our faceoff wins were bad. Our faceoff losses were bad. The rush was poor. There’s so much,” Gadowsky said. “We still have things we definitely have to work on but if you compare us from what we were in Wisconsin we’re a much, much different team.”

Gadowsky, Wall and the rest of the team hope for some tangible evidence of that improvement.

While the team can play well and lose or play poorly and win, the emphasis consistently remains on things the team can control. Gadowsky refers to those overarching, unwavering objectives as the most valuable measure of success.

“We’re working harder every week to get better at the areas we can control,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is get better at the information we got last week plus compare it to how we were exploited the last time we played Wisconsin.”

Penn State (7-7-0, 5-7-0 Big Ten) vs. Wisconsin (8-6-0, 6-4-0)

Series: 6 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday

Radio/TV: 103.1 FM and GoPSUsports.com

Notable: Penn State leads the all-time series, 20-15-3, but Wisconsin swept the teams’ series earlier this season, winning 6-3 and 7-3. … Cole Caufield and Linus Weissbach lead the Badgers with 17 points apiece. … Wisconsin been slightly more successful with its power play (26.3%) than Penn State (25.0%), and boasts a stingier penalty kill unit — stopping opponents 80.5% of the time to PSU’s 75.0%.