SERIES PREVIEW: No. 5 Penn State vs No. 17 Michigan State
No. 5 Penn State returns to action following its bye week, starting conference-only play with a road series against the No. 17 Michigan State Spartans. The Nittany Lions (17-5-0, 7-5-0) wrapped up their nonconference slate, with a sweep over the RIT Tigers on New Year's Eve, which marked the first time in program history Penn State went 10-0 outside the Big Ten.
"The rest of the way is Big Ten play. The guys deserve to feel pretty good about what they did in nonconference," coach Guy Gadowsky said. "It's going to be intense. It's going to be high quality. It's going to be high skilled."
Penn State split with the Spartans at Pegula Ice Arena back in November. The Nittany Lions took Game 1 in a dramatic 4-3 win, but the Spartans stormed back to take Game 2 7-3, handing Penn State its worse loss of the season.
"We don't forget about those losses. I'm sure they definitely stick with us, but the same time we have to turn the page and now we're going to them," Connor MacEachern said. "It's gonna be a lot different not being at home but we're ready for that."
In its home-and-home sweep against RIT, Penn State got the majority of its offense from the all-senior line of MacEachern, Kevin Wall and Connor McMenamin. The trio combined for nine points (four goals, five assists) in the series. Wall, a Rochester, New York native, had two goals in his homecoming.
"I think it was a pretty big deal for him. We haven't played there. That was his first [time playing there] and for us to go there [during his senior year], I think it meant a lot to him and he was flying," Gadowsky said.
The Nittany Lions are currently dealing with the injury bug. Ashton Calder sustained a lower-body injury after blocking a shot at center ice in Game 2 against RIT. He was doubled over in pain and had a hard time getting back to the bench. Ryan Kirwan has an undisclosed injury that he sustained in Game 1 and resulted in him being sidelined the following night.
Gadowsky mentioned on Monday that a third player was also banged up but did not confirm who. It is not clear whether each player will be in the lineup in either game.
Last year when Penn State traveled to East Lansing in the final series of the regular season, the Spartans had a 13-game losing streak and ended up coming away with a split. While Michigan State is not on another prolonged losing skid, it has dropped eight out of its last nine contests and come into this weekend dropping five straight.
They were swept badly by a surging Ohio State squad and lost their final two non-conference matchups against Ferris State and Michigan Tech respectfully. Michigan State went from second in the conference all the way down to fourth with 20 points.
A large reason why the Spartans have struggled is because of the lack of offense they are getting from their star players. Freshman Daniel Russell only has two points (one goal, one assist) since December started. Karson Dorwart, who along with Russell leads the team with seven goals, has not scored in eight straight games.
Goaltender Dylan St. Cyr, who had been terrific all season, was pulled in the 6-0 loss to the Buckeyes after surrendering three goals on 16 shots.
The series kicks off at Munn Ice Arena this Friday.
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