Penn State men’s hockey hoping to turn around its luck against Notre Dame

Maybe it was the storm before the calm — at least that’s what Alex Limoges hopes.

After losing two games at Notre Dame last weekend, when they were outscored 12-3 in two losses, team captain Limoges and his Penn State men’s hockey teammates travel to South Bend again this weekend to play the Fighting Irish in the Big Ten Tournament.

It will be Penn State’s fifth consecutive game against Notre Dame. The teams played a pair of games Jan. 28-29 before Penn State had more than a month off with games canceled because of coronavirus protocols. The Nittany Lions returned to action last weekend, looking sharp to the start — scoring first in both games — before sustaining the convincing losses.

Still, neither Limoges nor his teammates seem convinced Notre Dame is the better team — especially with the one-and-done format of postseason play.

“I know how hard it is to beat a team four times in a row and how hard it is to end a team’s season,” he said. “So we’re obviously not done yet.

“I think a lot of guys are excited to get them again because I don’t think last weekend was us.”

Notre Dame leads the season series, 3-1, and the teams know each other well. That familiarity, and probably some frustration, led to 19 Penn State penalty minutes, including a game misconduct for freshman defenseman Christian Berger, in the final 22 minutes of the second game last weekend.

“It gets to be a good rivalry, and we all saw that in the second game, but I find that fun,” Limoges said.

Things might not have been quite as fun for goaltender Oskar Autio, but he said he and his teammates have shaken off those shaky performances.

He believes they’re ready to play better. And, after the delayed start, shortened season and unexpected break in the season, he knows they’re happy to be playing at all.

“I realize how lucky we are to play, especially with all that’s going on,” Autio said. “Now the real fun starts with playoffs. We’re just trying to prepare as well as we can and just enjoy it.”

Penn State has not played four games in a row against an opponent since the 2017-18 season, when it swept Minnesota at home to end the regular season and then swept the Gophers at home the following weekend to open the conference tournament.

This weekend’s virus-influenced, single-elimination format for the tournament marks the first time for that since 2016-17, when Penn State claimed the championship with three victories in a row, two in overtime.

Penn State (9-11-0) vs. Notre Dame (14-12-2)

Big Ten Tournament: Noon Sunday

Radio/TV: 103.1 FM and GoPSUsports.com, Big Ten Network

Notable: Notre Dame leads the all-time series, 13-6-3, and has won three in a row against Penn State by a combined score of 15-5. … The winner of the game advances to the tournament semifinals against top seed Wisconsin at 4:30 p.m. Monday. … All tournament games are being hosted at Notre Dame. The Irish are 8-3-1 all time against Penn State at home.