No. 18 ranked Penn State Hockey will head to Minneapolis this weekend to start Big Ten Conference play against No. 4 ranked Minnesota, with the first game on Friday night.
The Gophers are 5-1 this season, with their lone loss being 2-1 against Omaha at home. The Nittany Lions are 4-1 on the season, with their lone 3-2 loss being on the road against Quinnipiac.
In all 48 meetings, at least one of the two teams has been ranked, and this series is no different, with the Nittany Lions at 18 and the Gophers at 4. The Gophers have a 29-18-1 edge on the series, including an 18-7-0 record at 3M Arena against the Nittany Lions.
The Gophers are currently led by juniors Connor Kurth and Matthew Wood, each with 12 points, Kurth with six goals and six assists, and Wood with three goals and nine assists. Just four points behind them sit junior Brody Lamb and sophomores Sam Rinzel and Jimmy Clark with five goals and three assists, four goals and four assists, and one goal and seven assists, respectively.
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Minnesota is without its top two scorers from last season and three of the top five. Rhett Pitlick recorded 36 points between 19 goals and 17 assists to tie for the team lead with Bruce Brodzinski but transferred to Minnesota State in the off-season for his senior season. They are also without Brodzinski, who recorded 14 goals and 22 assists. He was a fifth-year last year and now plays in the ECHL for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. However, they retain their goal leader, Jimmy Snuggerud, who recorded 21 goals and 13 assists; this season, he has one goal and six assists.
The team’s powerplay has converted on 5-of-21 chances, which is good for 23.8 percent and second in the conference and 17th nationally. The powerplay is on a hot streak, as three of the five goals occurred against St. Thomas last weekend.
Between the pipes, the Nittany Lions may see a familiar face, Liam Souliere, who played for Penn State between 2020-2024, when he recorded a .897 save percentage and a 2.95 goals-against average through 39 wins in his 84 appearances. His 39 wins are good for second all-time in Penn State history.
This season, Souliere has shared the net with Nathan Airey. Souliere has played in the second games of each of the series, recording a 2-1-0 record with a 1.66 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. Airey has a 3-0-0 record with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage.
Aiden Fink leads the Nittany Lions with nine points through the five games between two goals and seven assists. Not far behind him is senior Danny Dzhaniyev, who has six points between three goals and three assists. Sophomore Reese Laubach and senior Simon Mack are both averaging a point-per-game with five points, Laubach with three goals and two assists, and the captain with one goal and four assists.
After multiple seasons with many ups and downs on special teams, the Nittany Lions currently have a perfect penalty kill, going 23-for-23. This marks the first time Penn State has held its opponents scoreless on the powerplay for five straight games since the 2019-2020 season.
“Juliano Pagliero runs the Pk, and he’s done a great job. He looked at it all summer and really found not only what needs to improve, but really what we have done well.” head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “I will say that you know, quite often, the most important penalty killer is your goaltender. And I think with Arsenii, we’ve gotten great goaltending, and I think that really helps.”
They are currently tied for the national lead in shorthanded goals, with Arizona State, Connecticut, and Michigan all having three. Last year, the team only scored one shorthanded goal and recorded two the previous season.
Penn State's starting netminder, Arsenii Sergeev, a transfer from UCONN, has played in all five of the teams' games, recording a .928 save percentage and averaging 1.79 goals against. He ranks second in the conference and eighth in the nation in goaltenders who have played at least five games.
The Nittany Lions Big Ten Opener will occur at 8 P.M. ET in 3M arena in Minneapolis tonight.
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