Penn State men’s hockey series grades: Wisconsin
Following a two-game sweep of Wisconsin to start Big Ten play, No. 13 Penn State is off to its best start in program history, as it is now undefeated through the first eight games of the 2022-23 campaign.
The Nittany Lions traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, where they took care of the Badgers 2-1 in Game 1 and 4-0 in Game 2.
Let’s take a look at how each positional group performed in the total team effort that led to the brooms being pulled out.
Forwards: B+
While the blue and white mustered just two goals on Friday night, it had one thing on its mind: putting pucks on net.
The Nittany Lions fired 38 shots at Jared Moe in the first game before coming out and recording 43 shots in the finale. Six of those 81 shots found the back of the net, including one by junior forward Tyler Paquette.
Paquette’s game-winning goal on Friday was the epitome of the Nittany Lion approach of putting pucks on net, as he fired it from a near-impossible angle at the right goal line and lit the lamp.
Senior forward Kevin Wall joined Paquette in finding the back of the net in Game 1, while seniors Connor McMenamin, Connor MacEachern, graduate student Ashton Calder and junior Xander Lamppa took care of the scoring in Game 2.
Though six different Nittany Lions shared the goal-scoring duties, one thing they did not share was the ability to win faceoffs.
Lamppa, who entered the weekend leading the Big Ten in faceoff percentage, won 17 of 26 faceoffs in this series, including securing eight of 10 in Game 1.
As for the entire team, which came into the weekend leading the nation with a 59.5 faceoff percentage, Penn State won 25 of 49 faceoffs in the first game and just 31 of 67 in the second.
Defense: A
It is said that defense wins championships, and if this weekend was any indication of how the season will go for the Nittany Lions, their championship aspirations might not be far-fetched
While it may be too early to discuss championships with 75% of the season ahead, Penn State put together its most complete defensive effort of the year against Wisconsin.
Even though the Nittany Lions allowed the second-most amount of shots they have in a series this season with 64, the defense used an active stick presence to take away many high quality opportunities.
Not only were they taking away opportunities with their sticks, but the Nittany Lions also put their bodies on the line to block 21 shots over the course of the two-game sweep.
They weren’t just getting it done on defense though, as the defensemen also showed their abilities to play near the blue line on offense.
Three members of the defensive group recorded assists for Penn State, including freshman Jarod Crespo, who recorded his first collegiate point on the primary assist for Kevin Wall’s opening score of the weekend
Goaltending: A+
With a strong presence in front of him, Liam Souliere stood strong as the last line of defense in both games.
The junior netminder allowed a goal to Dominick Mersch just before the 4-minute mark of the opening period in Game 1, but from there on out, Souliere didn’t allow another one past.
He finished the series opener with 31 saves, before one-upping his performance from Friday night with a 32-save shutout on Saturday. For the Ontario native, that shutout effort was the first of his collegiate career.
With his strong weekend, Souliere improved his record to 6-0-0 on the year and bettered his goals against average to 1.5 on a .945 save percentage.
Coaching: B
It should be hard to critique the coach of one of two remaining unbeatens in the country, but Guy Gadowsky has yet to figure out the power play.
The Nittany Lions went 1-for-9 on the man-advantage against Wisconsin, diminishing their already limited power play success to 4-of-22 on the season.
Ashton Calder broke a streak of 15-straight unsuccessful power play opportunities when he scored his fourth goal of the year on Saturday. That streak dated back to Game 2 of the season-opening series against Canisius.
On the opposite side of the ice, the blue and white was ready on the penalty kill. The Badgers had six opportunities on the power play, but did not score on any of them. The 6-for-6 weekend on the penalty kill improved the Nittany Lions’ kill to 19-of-25 on the year.
Gadowsky and his coaching staff will have to have the team ready as it hosts No. 4 Michigan in a two-game set starting Friday.
Justin Ciavolella is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jtc5751@psu.edu.
