No. 7 Penn State finishes off its five-game home stand with a two-game series against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish do not have a single win in 10 Big Ten games under first-year head coach Brock Sheahan. Penn State needs to take both games in regulation to avoid a bad loss and keep pace with Michigan, Wisconsin, and Michigan State at the top of the conference standings.
How to Watch
Who: Notre Dame Fighting Irish NPI Ranking (PSU): 52 (7) When: Friday, January 16 and Saturday, January 17 Where: Pegula Ice Arena,
State College, PA Time: 7pm (Friday), 8pm (Saturday) TV: Big Ten Plus (Friday), Big Ten Network (Saturday) Radio: Penn State Sports Network
Projected Lineup
Matt DiMarsico-Charlie Cerrato-JJ Wiebusch
Gavin McKenna-Reese Laubach-Aiden Fink
Lev Katzin-Luke Misa-Ben Schoen
Dane Dowiak-Nic Chin-DeGraves-Alex Servagno
Jackson Smith-Jarod Crespo
Cade Christenson-Mac Gadowsky
Carter Schade-Nolan Collins
Josh Fleming
Kevin Reidler
Opponent Preview
Notre Dame is the lowest-scoring team in the Big Ten, with just 2.55 goals per game. Evan Werner (8 goals), Sutter Muzzatti (7), and Danny Nelson (7) have been solid goal scorers for the Fighting Irish this season, but the team is averaging just 1.9 goals per game in Big Ten play. Notre Dame does get 30.5 shots on goal per game (25th in the NCAA), so the Irish can put pressure on the opposing defense, but scoring ability has not been there consistently.
This team’s biggest issue is keeping pucks out of their own net. The defense gives up 34.2 shots on goal per game, the worst mark in the Big Ten. Likely starting goaltender Nicholas Kempf has just a .887 save percentage and 3.80 GAA in 18 starts this season. Owen Say, Cale Morris, and Ryan Bischel are not walking through that door. For the first time in a while against this team, Penn State has an advantage at goalie.
Notre Dame’s best strength is its No. 7 ranked power play (28.3%), so the Nittany Lions will need to stay out of the penalty box this weekend. The penalty kill is 21st in the NCAA at 82.8%. The longer this series is play at 5-on-5, the better for Penn State.
News & Notes
- Notre Dame leads the all-time series 21-12-6.
- Josh Fleming has been named to the Mike Richter Award watch list.
Prediction
Penn State has dropped some games it should not have, including one just two weeks ago against RIT. However, the team has finally started to look more cohesive, particularly with the defensemen contributing more offensively. Notre Dame is certainly capable of scoring goals, as they showed last weekend against Michigan, but both Penn State goaltenders are playing well. Penn State should take care of business on home ice with its toughest stretch of the season looming.
Penn State 5-2, 4-2
