No. 3 Penn State men’s hockey to take on nation’s top team in road series
Combine two of the nation’s top-ranked college hockey teams along with a big handful of NHL Draft talent, and you have the makings of a competitive and interesting early season series.
It’s set Friday and Saturday as third-ranked Penn State visits No. 1 Michigan State for the two-game series at Munn Arena, located on the west side of the Michigan State University campus.
It’s arguably one of the most high-profile regular season series in Penn State hockey history, and Penn State will go at it without its top returning player from last season.
Aiden Fink, a preseason first-team all-Big Ten selection and Hobey Baker Award finalist last season, is out with an upper body injury. He’ll return this season, but perhaps not until after the semester break.
In the short term, the nation’s No. 1 team looms.
Michigan State lost its season opener to New Hampshire at home but has won five games in a row by a combined score of 20-7 with two shutouts from junior goaltender Trey Augustine, who has a 1.78 goals-against average.
“He’s fantastic. He deserves all the accolades that he’s gotten. He’s excellent consistently,” Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said. “I do feel he’s been the best goaltender in the nation. You can’t just expect average plays to get by him — you have to do a lot.”
Penn State has done a lot well offensively so far this season.
Sophomore JJ Wiebusch leads the nation with 11 goals and has scored in five consecutive games. He and classmate Charlie Cerrato are tied for second nationally with 19 points. And freshman Gavin McKenna has points in the last four games. His 13 points lead all first-year players. Thirteen different players have scored a goal for Penn State this season.
Penalties and puck movement will be among the priorities for Penn State in the series.
The team must be careful not to add to the 223 penalty minutes it has already incurred. Plus, while it wants to push tempo during the games, it must be careful getting pucks out of its defensive zone — because MSU knows how to capitalize on mistakes.
Michigan State wants to be aggressive but careful as well, which should make the physicality of the series interesting.
“There’s a difference between playing with emotion or playing emotional,” MSU coach Adam Nightengale said. “When we play emotional, we get in trouble, but when we play with emotion, we’re a pretty good team.”
Penn State has rallied from 2-0 deficits in four games to win this season. It has scored at least one power-play goal in every game this season.
Even without Fink, and while rotating two goalies, Penn State has reason to be confident entering a challenging series on the road. Goalies Josh Fleming and Kevin Reidler seem likely to split this week’s two games, as they have through the first quarter of the season. That gives Penn State some reason for optimism.
Both coaches and programs are also appropriately apprehensive. They’re ready for the early season opportunity.
“They’ve been a dangerous team. They’re very good in transition. They’ve got a ton of talent on their roster,” Nightengale said. “It’ll be a huge test for us.”
No. 3 Penn State (9-1, 2-0 Big Ten) at No. 1 Michigan State (5-1, 0-0)
Series: 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday
Audio/Radio: 93.7 FM, GoPSUsports.com
Streaming/TV: B1G+
Notable: Penn State leads the series, 22-20-8, while MSU has a slight advantage on its home ice, 12-10-4. … Penn State swept then-No. 17 Ohio State in Columbus last weekend. … Michigan State was off last weekend. … Junior Timmi Männistö leads Michigan State with five goals. … Freshman Porter Martone leads MSU with nine points (three goals, six assists). He was the Philadelphia Flyers’ first-round pick in last summer’s NFL Draft and came to the Spartans from the Ontario Hockey League.