Penn State men’s hockey headed to Minnesota for the Big Ten Tournament semifinals

There are no glass slippers, just hockey skates, for the Penn State men’s hockey team, which has advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament as somewhat of a Cinderella story — albeit while setting a conference record for sustained success.

Confused? It’s just typical Big Ten Conference hockey, where a comparatively inexperienced Penn State team slogged through the regular season with a sub-.500 record and then, with one weekend of solid playoff hockey defeated then 12th-ranked Ohio State to keep its season alive and do something no other team in conference history has done.

Penn State’s victory in the best-of-three quarterfinal series last weekend was the first for a road team in that format. In addition, its eighth semifinal appearance (and seventh in a row) sets a Big Ten standard as well.

Still, Penn State’s presence for a single-game semifinal against No. 2 Minnesota on Saturday night was arguably unexpected.

Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky — a romantic at heart, preaching patience for the team’s development throughout the season and remaining steadfast in his belief than an all-for-one approach can produce big results — does not see the next game as anything more than just another 60 minutes of hockey.

He does not believe advancing this far provides any sort of specific validation about the team’s progress, either.

“We’re a very young team, moreso than just our age,” Gadowsky said. “You have to go through experiences on the ice and off the ice, good and bad. The culture of this team — that’s the biggest thing that allowed us to have a weekend like that at Ohio State.”

Freshman forward Dylan Lugris scored the game-winning goal for Penn State in the third game of the quarterfinal series against OSU. Lugris, who joined the team midway through the season, scored a goal on his first shift with the team and has been a consistent contributor since his arrival. Those contributions have been additional important with some late season injuries to others on the team.

“He’s very impressive for a guy who didn’t know if he was going to be playing college hockey in December,” Gadowsky said. “At the time we were hoping for an immediate impact, and what caught us by surprise was his overall attention to detail and intelligence. He got caught up to speed right away.”

Penn State lost the first game against Oho State last weekend but a third period flourish boosted the team going into the final two games.

“If we play like that all the time, there’s not a team that can beat us,” Lugris said. “Having that last push kind of fueled us to come back and win the series.”

Consistent and talented Minnesota awaits Penn State, though — kind of a powerful stepsister waiting to end the Cinderella story. Minnesota has won eight games in a row while claiming its first regular season Big Ten title in five years. Minnesota has outscored opponents 37-11 during its winning streak.

The tradition-rich Golden Gophers have their own expectations and goals. While they were off last weekend and coach Bob Motzko worries a bit about rust as a result, the team’s accomplishments and confidence do seem to outweigh that concern. Minnesota’s roster include three players who played for Team USA at the Olympics, along with numerous other standouts.

“We’ve got the depth. When we get going we’re going to score some goals,” Motzko said.

“We’re playing our best hockey at the right time of the year.”

No. 8 Notre Dame plays at fourth-ranked Michigan in the other semifinal. The conference championship game will be contested March 19 at the site of the highest remaining seed.

Penn State (17-19-1) at No. 2 Minnesota (23-11)

Tournament Semifinal: 9 p.m. Saturday

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

Notable: Minnesota leads the all-time series, 20-16-1, and has won the teams’ last three meetings. … Penn State’s most recent victory in the series was in the first of two games this season at Minnesota, a 5-3 decision on Nov. 19, 2021. … Minnesota has the fewest penalty minutes per game in the conference (8:37). … Minnesota senior forward Blake McLaughlin leads his team with 30 points.