Penn State men’s hockey gets back to Big Ten play with home series against Ohio State
With four victories in its past seven games, the Penn State men’s hockey team has moved its overall record to .500 for the first time since mid-November, and this weekend’s two-game series might offer some insight on whether the recent success was a fluke or the foundation for a late-season surge.
Ninth-ranked Ohio State visits Pegula Ice Arena for games Friday and Saturday, and the Buckeyes offer the best competition Penn State has faced since the teams met in early December in Columbus. Ohio State swept that series by a combined score of 8-2.
Since then, though, Penn State has gone 4-1-2. Just one of the victories was against a Big Ten Conference opponent, but the confidence from the results might mean more than anything else.
Ohio State has forged its success largely on the back of stingy defense.
It has allowed just 48 goals this season — second only to Michigan State (47) among conference teams in that category. In addition, OSU’s goalies, Kristoffer Eberly and Logan Terness, have compiled goals-against averages of 1.85 and 2.45, respectively.
Penn State typically relies on scoring and shots on goal to drive its success but that’s not entirely the case this season.
Sophomore forward Aiden Fink notched a hat trick last weekend. It was the second of his career and 14th for the program. Still, he’s the only Penn State player among the conference’s top 15 scorers. He’s fourth on the list with 31 points.
Freshman teammate Charlie Cerrato is tied for 17th with 19 points.
Three Ohio State players rank among the conference’s 20 most productive scorers. Gunnarwolf Fontaine has produced 24 points while teammates Davis Burnside and Riley Thompson each have 19.
No matter the approach or who does the work, the series offers another important opportunity for both teams in advance of potential postseason play. Ohio State sits 10th and Penn State 27th in the Pairwise Rankings that will largely determine the 16-team field for the NCAA Tournament.
Counting Ohio State, Penn State has a series remaining against each of its Big Ten opponents, and four of them are ranked ahead of the Nittany Lions. So even a .500 run to the end of the season might help the Nittany Lions enough to make a reasonable run at a postseason berth.
So, the games against Ohio State could prove foundational — or expose some flukishly soft scheduling the past few weeks.
Penn State (10-10-2, 1-9-2 Big Ten) vs. No. 9 Ohio State (15-6-1, 8-4-0)
Series: 7 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday
Audio/Radio: GoPSUsports.com, 103.7 FM
Notable: Penn State has the best faceoff winning percentage (56.3%) in the conference. … Penn State is 9-0 when leading after two periods this season. … Penn State received a single vote in this week’s poll. … Penn State will conduct its annual Sled Hockey Classic this weekend as well. Activities, including two games and a post-game skate, will begin at 11 a.m. Sunday. Organizers have suggested a $5 per person donation.