Four takeaways in Penn State's road series against Michigan

No. 9 Penn State lost back-to-back games for the first time all season against the Michigan Wolverines. The Nittany Lions knew that this was not going to be an easy weekend. They were going into an arena where they have historically struggled.

However, these two losses sting even more than years past because Penn State had numerous chances to close out each game, and it shot itself in the foot. Game 2 was particularly frustrating because of how well the Nittany Lions were playing.

They had leads of 3-0 and 4-2, and they lost 5-4. Four out of the five Michigan goals came from star defenseman Luke Hughes. Penn State played well for about 38 minutes on Saturday, but the third period in that game was all Michigan.

"I think there's things that we did well at the start of the year that we are not doing well," coach Guy Gadowsky said. "We were down a couple of players and we were also having a difficult time playing with our regular tempo."

One of those players that went down was Ben Schoen. Schoen will miss the remainder of the season due to a lower-body injury he sustained in Game 2. The Nittany Lions have been without Ryan Kirwan since the start of 2023 and Connor McMenamin is currently day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Here were four things that stood out over the weekend.

Penn State allowed two power-play goals in the series, but took five penalties as a whole. Michigan's power play is lethal, sitting at 24%, which is second in the Big Ten and 12th nationally.

Penn State's penalty kill has been struggling all season. The Nittany Lions have given up six power-play goals in their last five games and are 77.3% overall. Michigan's power play was 0-for-6 in its series against Minnesota.

Xander Lamppa scored three goals over the weekend. Five out of six of Lamppa's goals this season have come against the Wolverines. His line composed of Christian Sarlo and Tyler Paquette caused numerous turnovers and scoring chances. Lamppa led the team with 11 shot attempts on Saturday.

Lamppa also won 15 faceoffs.

Penn State beat the Wolverines back in November because of its commitment to defense. It held Michigan to just 17 shots on goal and was one of the best games Penn State has played in recent memory. However, the strong defensive structure has started to deflate since conference play began.

"I think we just need to focus on the details. Obviously we need to just clean it up and dial in every game," Carter Schade said. "We need to execute what was put in place for us and it's important for us to execute. Be quick on transition and get offense."

The Lions struggled on their breakouts and were not physical enough, especially in the third period bloodbath on Saturday.

"It's frustrating that we couldn't figure that out because I think we got physically outplayed against Michigan," Lamppa said. "They're hard to out-skill so you got to out-physical them. I think they really took advantage of when we got tired."

When Penn State did have a high-danger chance against Michigan goaltender Erik Portillo, there was rarely a player in the vicinity of the area to finish on the rebound. This was a problem against Notre Dame as well.

"I think it just starts with winning blue lines," Lamppa said. "Whenever we're not playing offense, it's usually from a turnover, either high in the offensive zone or neutral zone or next to the blue line."

Penn State piles on 41 shots per game and have 1,148 shots a team. The Nittany Lions had 90 against Michigan (54 in Game 1, 36 in Game 2), and a lot of those shots were from the low-danger areas such as near the boards.

"It's frustrating when we put up 54 shots and don't win, I think there's been some bounces and stuff that haven't gone our way the last couple of games," Lamppa said. "I think that they're gonna come at the right time."

Penn State will look to bounce back this weekend against Ohio State. It is the Nittany Lions' final road series of the regular season.