Freshmen Evaluation: Week Seven

Story posted December 1, 2016 in CommRadio, Sports by Travis Sutton

Penn State comes into this week preparing for their first Big Ten opponent of the season as well as their highest ranking in program history at 6/7. The Nittany Lions look to start the season off with a bang against Michigan after finishing out their non-conference schedule against Alaska Anchorage and Arizona State. The freshmen helped put a cap on a decent 8 game home, out of conference stretch.

The offense put on a clinic the past two series outscoring both opponents 24-8, including a massive shutout of the Arizona State Sun Devils 8-0. The freshmen were an integral part of the scoring as they’ve been all season with seven freshmen recording points over those four games.

Some of the top performers include Denis Smirnov with a hat trick against the Sun Devils in game one of the series and Kris Myllari who registered his first two career goals in game one of the Seawolves series. Smirnov led the freshmen over the last two weeks with seven points followed by Chase Berger at four points. The seven-point performance vaults Smirnov up to 22 points, firming up his position at the top of the Big Ten leaderboard and placing him at sixth among all NCAA players. 

The freshmen are going to have to continue this potent attack this series if they want to beat their first true competition since Notre Dame back on October 21st and 22nd. Michigan comes into this matchup ranked 20th in the USCHO poll. The Wolverines also have two of the better goalies in the Big Ten in Hayden Lavigne and Jack LaFontaine. They rank first and second respectively in save percentage in the conference and they both have 3-1 records on the year. Neither goalie is a better matchup than the other so the Nittany Lion forwards are in for a fight this week.

The defensive game for Penn State was not as strong as it has been in some recent series this year. The average only comes out to two goals allowed per game, but this a team that allowed four goals to a poor Arizona State offensive unit last Saturday on 26 shots and three goals in a game to an even worse Seawolves team in game one of that series.

The defensemen were not the main source of the problem for the majority of both series as Penn State did what it has done all season. They harassed forwards all the way down the ice and made key takeaway plays to give their incredible offense a chance to score. Freshman Kris Myllari changed his rating fortunes of late, as his offensive performance and usual tough defensive play boosted his season rating to +6. Even James Gobetz played against Alaska Anchorage in game two and finished with a +1 rating. The goalie play was where the real trouble came from.

Peyton Jones needs to clean up his play if he wants to have a chance in conference play for the rest of the year. He allowed four goals to a Sun Devils team who he arguably should have been sat down against because it was almost a guaranteed win on paper. The only shut out in the four-game stretch came when his backup, Chris Funkey, stopped 18 shots in game two against Arizona State.

Jones has not faced tough competition and it shows. He does not face many shots in games so when he does, he is not aware of his rebounds and staying on top of pucks, allowing offenses to extend scoring chances with successive close range shots. Jones is the man for Gadowsky beyond a doubt, however, he needs to return to the form that the fan base gained confidence in when he played Notre Dame and St. Lawrence. 

The freshmen units were not as sharp as usual and the grades will suffer this week because of it. The young men earned themselves a C+ this week for one reason only: they were sloppy. All three aspects of hockey showed weakness in both series whether it be getting too relaxed on offense or not aggressive enough on defense and goaltending. They may have been 4-0, but those who watched the game were more anxious than they should’ve been. The Wolverines will eat the Nittany Lions up if they continue to play similarly. The series begins Thursday night with a student section white-out at 7 in Pegula Ice Arena.

 

Travis Sutton is a freshman majoring in telecommunications. To contact him, send an email to travissutton3@gmail.com.