Penn State men’s hockey’s Gadowsky sees Ohio State series as opportunity for improvement

He’s neither a doctor, nor does he play one on TV, but Guy Gadowsky believes he knows what’s ailing his Penn State men’s hockey team — and he’s hoping to find the right prescription for success as the team enters a weekend series at Ohio State.

The start of the new year has not been kind to Penn State, which is 1-4-1 in its last six games. Last weekend, Penn State endured its first sweep of the season, dropping both games at Michigan — the first a lopsided 7-3 decision and the second, 5-4, after leading several times.

So, as the ninth-ranked Nittany Lions head to Columbus to face seventh-ranked Ohio State, Gadowsky thinks it’s more of an opportunity for improvement than some big moment of potential redemption.

“The bottom line is we lost a game we were up on. If we were able to pull it out, I don’t think there would be the same questions,” Gadowsky said. “We have to get back to our game. It’s more than just tempo. There are certain areas where we lost attention to detail.”

Penn State and Ohio State rank one-two in shots on goal in the Big Ten Conference, taking aim 41.0 and 35.8 times per game, respectively. While Michigan limited Penn State’s shot production last weekend, Gadowsky said it’s not about the sheer number of shots.

“It’s not just shooting the puck, by any means,” he said. He said shots lead to rebounds and second-chance opportunities, and the team has not been getting those in recent weeks.

With just one victory in the past 34 days, Gadowsky said the team’s challenges are more mental than physical.

“Am I concerned that we we’re not closing out games like we were before? Yes. Is the team aware of it? Yes. Is there one answer to it? No,” he said. “Right now I think we are struggling to have the big play at the big moment on both sides of the puck.”

His prescription requires an improved focus on improvement in one area. He declined to define that area but thinks more attention to detail there will translate into necessary success.

“The sky is not falling,” he said. “You’ve got to keep believing in what you believe in and make sure you improve a little bit and that’s what you do.”

Penn State enters the series without forward Ben Schoen, who sustained a knee injury in the first game last weekend against Michigan and will miss the remainder of the season.

In addition, forward Ryan Kirwan remains out and forward Connor McMenamin might not play with an upper body injury — all of which means some altered lines and challenges with depth and tempo of play could remain.

No. 9 Penn State (18-9-1, 8-9-1 Big Ten) at No. 7 Ohio State (16-9-1, 9-7-0)

Series: 7 p.m. Friday, 6:30 p.m. Saturday

Radio/TV: GoPSUsports.com and B1G+ (both days), B1G Network (Saturday)

Notable: Ohio State leads the series, 22-16-4, including an 11-9-2 advantage on its home ice. The teams split a series in Hockey Valley the first weekend of December. … In the PairWise Rankings that determine the NCAA Tournament field, Penn State sits sixth and Ohio State is tied with Harvard for eighth. … Penn State has the best faceoff winning percentage in the conference (.546). … Ohio State allows the fewest goals per game in the conference (2.35). … Penn State has the least productive power-play unit in the Big Ten, converting just 17.2% of the time, while Ohio State has the penalty kill, stopping 88.5% of opponents’ attempts.