Penn State men’s hockey heading into Big Ten season opener vs. Ohio State with confidence

Conference play begins for the 16th-ranked Penn State hockey team this weekend, and it should head to Columbus, Ohio, with a bit of confidence.

While emotions and intangibles do not transfer from game to game, or even period to period in the same game, Penn State’s last time out was impressive — recording a 6-4 victory against then-No. 6 North Dakota before 14,659 fans in Nashville on Oct. 30.

It was a “destination game” for tradition-rich North Dakota, with more than 14,000 of those fans in the arena wearing green and white as part of a mini-vacation to Music City. Those visitors clogged honky-tonks and restaurants in town for several days before and after the game, too.

Penn State spoiled the party with a determined, gritty effort. While the six goals look typical, the Nittany Lions were outshot (32-23, including 26-10 the final two periods) and lost the faceoff battle (43-29).

Still, Penn State persisted — as Connor MacEachern and Clayton Phillips each scored two goals — and was opportunistic, converting on three of six power-play opportunities. Penn State protected its 4-3 lead entering the final period, improving its all-time mark to 133-12-10 when ahead after two periods.

The loss was North Dakota’s first in a destination game since 2001.

Penn State entered the game unranked and jumped into the polls this week. The victory was its first on the road over a Top 10 team since March 17, 2019, against Ohio State.

No. 16 Penn State (6-1-0, 0-0-0 Big Ten) at Ohio State (4-2-0, 1-1-0)

Series: 7 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday

Radio/TV: 103.1 FM and GoPSUsports.com

Notable: Ohio State leads the all-time series, 17-13-3, with a slight 8-7-2 advantage on its home ice. … Junior forward Kevin Wall leads Penn State with six goals this season. … Sophomore defenseman Christian Berger has a team-high 15 blocks, just ahead of senior defenseman Paul DeNaples (14). … Penn State is 6-0 when scoring first this season. … Ohio State opened conference play last weekend by splitting a home series with Michigan State.

This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 1:30 PM.