Men's Hockey Welcomes Ohio State to Hockey Valley for Weekend Set
The Penn State Nittany Lions return home before their bye week for a series against Ohio State this weekend in Hockey Valley.
This weekend marks the 48th and 49th meetings between Penn State and Ohio State, with the Buckeyes holding the 25-18-4 edge and a 4-3-0 mark in seven games last season. The two teams split the season series evenly before OSU defeated the Nittany Lions two games to one in the Big Ten Quarterfinals in Columbus. The Buckeyes even hold a 10-6-2 record all-time at Pegula Ice Arena.
The series has been evenly split the past two seasons with each squad winning 5-of-10 games and one playoff series each.
Senior Jimmy Dowd Jr. paces all Nittany Lions with 11 points on three goals and eight assists in 16 career games against the Buckeyes. The 11 points are 19.3 percent of his career scoring.
Junior Ryan Kirwan has added three goals and three assists in 12 games against Ohio State in his career.
Senior goaltender Liam Souliere has his most career starts against Ohio State with 11, posting a 4-6-1 record with a 2.69 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Souliere posted a career-high and program-best 55 saves in a 2-1 overtime victory in game two of the Big Ten Quarterfinals in Columbus last March.
WEAR WHITE SATURDAY
Saturday night marks the 10th installment of the annual display of Monochromatic Mayhem known as the Wear White Game.
Penn State is just 3-5-1 all-time in such games but has won two straight with a 7-2 victory over Wisconsin in 2022 and a thrilling 3-2 win against Notre Dame last January.
This marks the third time the Buckeyes will be the opponent in this contest, with Ohio State having won both prior meetings during a shootout following a 3-3 tie in 2017 and a 4-1 regulation victory in 2019.
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State enters the weekend 9-11-4 on the year with just one win in Big Ten and losers of three-straight games.
The Buckeyes are paced on offense by sophomore Stephen Halliday, who has 24 points on eight goals and a team-high 16 assists. Halliday has registered at least one point in six of his last seven games, with goals in four. Halliday saw his six-game point streak and three-game goal streak snapped last Saturday against Minnesota. Halliday paced the Buckeyes last season with 41 points, 10 of which came in seven games against Penn State.
The Buckeyes have yet to produce a double-digit goal scorer this season and are led by Scooter Brickey with nine.
Ohio State ranks last in the Big Ten, averaging just 2.71 goals per game, and is only ahead of Penn State in goals allowed at 3.46 per game. Those numbers are even worse in Big Ten play, as OSU averages just 1.71 goals per game while allowing 4.36 to the opposition. The Buckeyes have scored three or more goals in four conference games while being shut out three times.
The Buckeyes also rank last in the Big Ten in shots per game (33.7), shot percentage (.080), and faceoff percentage (.483).
Ohio State has been successful on the man advantage this season, going 21-for-91 (23.1 percent) to rank fourth in the Big Ten and 17th nationally.
Between the pipes for the Buckeyes, this season has been UConn transfer Logan Terness, who has started 20 of the 24 games this season, posting a 7-9-3 record with a 3.41 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage.
FRESHMAN PHENOM
Fink currently leads the team with 28 points on 12 goals and 16 assists, ranking in the top 10 of the Big Ten for each offensive category.
His 28 points are tied for fourth in the Big Ten and lead all conference rookies, while his 12 goals are tied for eighth in the conference and tops among first-year players. Fink's 16 assists are also tied for eighth in the conference and third among freshmen.
Fink's 28 points rank in the top 20 nationally and are tied for seventh among freshmen, with his 12 goals ranking tied for sixth among first-year players.
Fink's 28 points are already good for the third-most by a freshman in Penn State history, while his 12 goals and 16 assists rank eighth and fourth, respectively.
Against Michigan in November, Fink registered the 11th hat trick in program history. However, it was just the second all-time on the road and just the fourth against a Big Ten opponent.
CARDIAC CATS
To open the second semester against Army on January 6, the Nittany Lions faced their biggest deficit to date, trailing Army 6-2 late in the second period before rattling off five-straight goals, including a natural hat-trick by junior Ryan Kirwan to secure the 7-6 victory.
The four-goal comeback is the largest in program history, surpassing the previous record of three goals, which had been accomplished twice before.
NON-CONFERENCE DOMINATION
Penn State concluded the 2023-24 non-conference slate with an 8-2-0 record.
Penn State has registered at least eight non-conference victories eight times and has a 75.2 percent all-time winning percentage in regular-season non-conference games since the Big Ten's inception before the 2013-14 season.
The Nittany Lions have been an eye-popping 45-6-1 in regular-season non-conference games since the start of the 2018-19 season, including an 18-2-0 mark over the past two seasons.
SEVENTH HEAVEN
Penn State scored seven or more goals for the 31st time in program history against Army earlier this month and the third time this season after reaching that mark twice last season.
The Nittany Lions have now scored seven or more goals in a game at least once in 10 consecutive seasons, with a record seven such games during the 2018-19 season when they paced the nation with 4.54 goals per game.
Penn State is currently averaging 3.73 goals per game in 2023-24 to rank third in the Big Ten behind MSU (4.15), Michigan (4.00), and ninth in the nation.
Back in November, Penn State put up 16 goals in a sweep over Lindenwood (9-3, 7-1), the second-most in a single series in program history just two shy of the 18 they tallied in a home-and-home sweep of Robert Morris on November 9-10, 2018.
Penn State takes a week off before hitting the road to battle No. 9 Minnesota on February 9-10 in Minneapolis.