Why Penn State men’s hockey’s two-game home series against Canisius is important

It looks like an interruption on the schedule, a stopover between more important series, but that’s not the case for the Penn State men’s hockey team on its journey this season.

A two-game home series against Canisius this weekend is important as Penn State tries to dig out of the hole it dug itself during the first half of the season.

Just 16 teams make the NCAA Tournament, with spots in that playoff largely determined by the Pairwise rankings. At this point, Penn State sits 31st in those numbers-based, unemotional rankings.

Even with a home sweep this weekend the Nittany Lions probably cannot make up a lot of ground or move many positions. But if they falter, the damage to their postseason hopes would be significant.

So, there’s no room for error as Canisius, which sits 57th in the rankings, visits Hockey Valley.

After a shootout victory against top-ranked Michigan State at home last week, and a split of a series against Notre Dame the weekend before, Penn State has built some confidence and, maybe, according to coach Guy Gadowsky, some “justification” about its process. It’s a bit of reassurance that when the team plays consistently on both ends of the ice it can be among the best in the nation.

Still, Penn State will need something more tangible than justification this weekend.

It’s almost assuredly in a just-win mode.

Gadowsky reliably preaches a one-game-at-a-time approach, and he’s not wrong. Every game that remains on the schedule just has a bit more meaning because the team has struggled to win to this point.

“I don’t think it’s a different mindset,” Gadowsky said. “I do think it’s important we play well and put both ends of our game together. This is another opportunity to have success on the scoreboard and put both ends together.”

Penn State (8-10-2) vs. Canisius (7-11-2)

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

Audio/Radio: GoPSUsports.com, 103.7 FM

Notable: Penn State leads the all-time series, 6-1, with all but one of those games played on its home ice. The Nittany Lions’ only loss to Canisius was a 4-1 decision on Oct. 8, 2021. … Penn State secured a shootout victory after losing the opener in a series against then-No. 1 Michigan State last weekend. Canisius played MSU earlier this season and dropped both games, 3-0 and 4-1. … After this nonconference series, Penn State returns to Big Ten Conference play with a two-game series against Ohio State (Jan. 24-25) to Pegula Ice Arena.