Ryan Kirwan looks to continue return to form for Penn State men’s hockey vs. Ohio State

In a borderline bizarre turn of events, two of No. 6 Penn State men’s hockey’s most inconsistent players from last year were tasked with reinvigorating the play of one of its best.

That pair consists of junior forwards Christian Sarlo and Xander Lamppa, while the third skater is sophomore forward Ryan Kirwan.

Sarlo and Lamppa made up what was dubbed head coach Guy Gadowsky’s “identity line,” alongside fellow junior forward Tyler Paquette. But with Kirwan struggling, Gadowsky saw an opportunity to use the duo to push his young goal-scorer back in the right direction.

“Sometimes pairs can get other guys going,” Gadowsky said Monday. “We all want to get Ryan Kirwan going, and (Director of Operations) George (Lewis) was the one that came up with, you know, those are the perfect guys.”

The Kirwan-Lamppa-Sarlo line came about after the sophomore was scratched by Gadowsky for just the third time in his career in big part due to an eight-game goal-scoring drought.

With Sarlo and Lamppa playing arguably the best hockey of their collegiate careers, as each guy has tallied double-digit points and is on pace to shatter season-highs in every statistical category, the mix of their gritty play and current offensive success was exactly what Kirwan needed to get back on track.

In his first games back in the lineup, and first pair of contests playing alongside his new linemates, the DeWitt, New York, native scored in back-to-back games against Alaska Fairbanks. Each of his goals proved crucial as the Nittany Lions had to grind out both wins in close, ugly fashion to secure the series sweep in Pegula Ice Arena.

What didn’t show up on the stat sheet, though, were the little things Kirwan did aside from scoring. Whether it was skating hard, challenging the Nanooks on defense or playing physical around the boards, he did it all.

Simply put, Kirwan looked like himself again — an all-around star with a wicked shot and, of course, a special ability to score the puck.

“He was our best third man high, like there’s things that don’t show up on the scoreboard that he did really well,” Gadowsky said. “It’s nice to see, again, guys that are detailed in their habits have offensive success.”

While Kirwan might be at his best when he’s crisp in all areas of his game, the importance of his offensive success to Penn State can’t be overstated.

Despite the long goal-scoring drought, Kirwan still sits tied for sixth on the team in points scored with 10 thus far, after finishing his freshman season as the team’s third-leading scorer.

“There’s no secret about how he shoots the puck, it’s just different. And for him to reach his potential as a hockey player, he’s gonna have to score because he has that type of release,” Gadowsky said. “He’s always been a goal-scorer. That’s a big part of why we wanted him here. We believed in other aspects of his game to fit into Penn State, for sure. But — for him, you know — for him to reach his potential, he’s got to put the puck in the net for us.”

The matchup between Kirwan and fellow sophomore standout Ohio State goalie Jakub Dobeš will be one to watch with a series between the two squads on Friday and Saturday.

In four games in the regular season last year, Kirwan was held to no goals and just one point on 17 shots by Dobeš. Come the postseason, though, the forward got the better of the goalie, registering three points with a pair of tallies for the blue and white.

While both are among the best second-year players in the conference and likely the country, they’ve each struggled at times this year.

After ending last year as one of the nation’s best netminders, Ohio State’s starter has registered a mediocre .913 save percentage by his standards, through 16 appearances. Like Kirwan, though, Dobeš played one of his best games in his most recent appearance, conceding just one goal to LIU.

With the Buckeyes coming to town for a two-game series Friday and Saturday in Pegula Ice Arena, the sophomore studs will both look to continue to trend in the right direction on both an individual- and team-level.

If Penn State wants to take down the always-tough Steve Rohlik-led squad on home ice, there’s little doubt Kirwan will need to perform like he did against Alaska Fairbanks — or at least something close to it.

“We definitely have success when (Kirwan)’s putting the puck in the net. So it was great to see,” sophomore defender Simon Mack said. “He’s a tremendously important player on our team, and he really stepped up for sure.”

No. 6 Penn State will take on Nov. 17 Ohio State at 7 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Pegula Ice Arena. Penn State will hold its annual Teddy Bear Toss during Saturday’s game.