Now comes the hard part.
Not that playing in the Big Ten has ever been easy.
But for Penn State men’s hockey, the next six games may be the toughest stretch, not just of the season, but since the program made the jump to Division I hockey.
It is a stretch of hockey that will test the mettle of this team that is starting to slowly click – even in the face of a plaguing injury bug
On Friday night, No. 8 Penn State will begin its first of three straight weekends against top 5 teams with a trip to Wisconsin to play the No. 5 Badgers. That is before a much-anticipated series against No. 2 Michigan State and a series against No. 1 Michigan on following weekends.
And if Penn State can survive – or even thrive through this stretch – the Nittany Lions could be looking at a top four spot inside the NPI ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
It is the first time since at least 2020 that Penn State will play three straight series against opponents ranked inside the top 10. In 2022-23, Penn State played series against Michigan and Ohio State who were both ranked seventh on consecutive weekends before playing No. 2 Minnesota. In that stretch, Penn State 1-4-1.
This season, Penn State has already faced a particularly tough stretch, going 1-2-1 against Michigan and Michigan State – both ranked inside the top 5 – before Thanksgiving.
But between now and then, Penn State has found more consistency in its play, especially after a 1-0 loss to RIT where the Nittany Lions outshot the Tigers 44-21, which woke up the depths of this offense.
Over the course of the five games since that 1-0 loss, Penn State has outscored opponents 25-9. It’s picked up points from 18 different skaters – even when Charlie Cerrato and Mac Gadowsky missed time with injury. Jarod Crespo, who had just four points before break, record a hat trick against RIT and picked up two two-assist games over the last two weekends.
And the top-end production has started to wake up. Aidan Fink – also back from an extended injury in the first half of the season – had four points on Saturday against Notre Dame. Matt DiMarsico notched a hat trick.
Even Gavin McKenna has started to play his best hockey at the collegiate level. A three-point effort featuring two goals against Notre Dame on Saturday was a new career single-game high for the projected No. 1 NHL Draft pick in points and goals. Since returning to action from the World Junior Tournament, McKenna picked up six points in three games, the most over a three-game stretch for him.
It will also need goaltending, which is right now featuring a two-goalie system between Josh Fleming and Kevin Reidler that will continue at least this weekend as Guy Gadowsky told the Daily Collegian this week. While Reidler is the elder goalie and has a better road record of 3-1, Fleming leads the nation in save percentage at .943, and Fleming’s effort against Notre Dame last weekend was one of his best yet.
Penn State needs that production on offense and in net to get through this next stretch.
Wisconsin ranks fifth in the country in power play percentage. Michigan State, on the back of Trey Augustine, has allowed just 1.74 goals per game this season, the country’s fewest. And Michigan leads the nation in scoring at 4.83 goals per game nearly an entire goal ahead of second-best Quinnipiac.
A .500 record would be a generally positive outcome for Penn State over this stretch, especially with four of the six games away from Happy Valley. But anything above .500 would likely start to push Penn State higher up the NPI where it currently sits sixth. The Wolverines and Spartans own the No. 1 and No. 2, respectively while Wisconsin sits right behind Penn State. Should Penn State thrive during this next stretch and maintain that deep into the Big Ten Tournament, it’s not impossible that Penn State could be looking at a No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, something it’s never had before.
But first, it will have to earn that – starting with the Wisconsin series, beginning a stretch of games that may shape the rest of this season.
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