Michigan Hockey Preview: Wolverines set to take on No. 5 Penn State

SB Nation

The No. 2 Michigan Wolverines (10-2-0) are headed to State College for their fourth Top-10 showdown of the season already. Coming off a split against Wisconsin, head coach Brandon Naurato’s team will be

looking to get back on the winning track against a dangerous No. 5 Penn State (9-3-0) team.

Last weekend, Michigan showed grit and frustration against the Badgers. Despite an uneven, penalty-riddled weekend, sophomore forward Will Horcoff (11G, 5A) continued to shine for the nation’s top scoring offense. Horcoff leads the country in goals (11), game-winning goals (3) and power-play goals (6). And although Michigan’s power play (.346) has come back to reality, the unit is still second in the country, trailing only Wisconsin.

Defensively, the Wolverines struggled in their first full series without Henry Mews, who is out for the season after an injury against Notre Dame. Through the first 10 games of the season, Michigan was off to its best defensive start in 99 years, but a stout Wisconsin team introduced adversity to this unit for the first time this season.

Against the Badgers, an inability to clear the net-front and protect the slot led to a season-worst six goals allowed in Saturday’s game. It was the first time all season the Wolverines showed signs of the bad habits — puck watching, lazy zone exits — that plagued this team last season. One bright spot, however, was Luca Fantilli (2G, 3A) scoring Michigan’s sixth short-handed goal of the season, the best mark in college hockey.

In net, freshman Jack Ivankovic (.911) is coming off his worst series as a Wolverine. Ivankovic allowed 10 goals in two games, doubling his previous mark of five allowed in two games against Western Michigan. Now, some of that is beyond his control and due to the play in front of him, but he will have to prove this was an aberration as the Nittany Lions employ similar tactics this weekend.

Getting to know Penn State

In one year, Penn State went from irrelevancy to the talk of college hockey. After last season’s surprising run to the Frozen Four and a high-profile off-season, Guy Gadowski’s squad has a championship-or-bust mentality with the most talented roster in program history. But after a strong start to the season, the Nittany Lions were swept and humbled by Michigan State last weekend and are looking to bounce back at home this weekend.

Despite an early-season injury to Aiden Fink, the top-heavy Nittany Lions are led by one of the best lines in college hockey — Charlie Cerrato (4G, 14A), Matt DiMarsico (8G, 7A) and J.J. Wiebusch (11G, 7A). Wiebusch is tied with Horcoff as the nation’s leading goal-scorer, and the duo of Wiebusch and Cerrato is tied for third nationally with 18 points each. However, despite their potency, the headliner for the Nittany Lions is freshman sensation Gavin McKenna (4G, 10A).

McKenna is the highest-rated prospect to ever play college hockey. After a record-setting career in the CHL, he took his talents to Happy Valley and is quickly acclimating to the pace and style of play. Although he is currently a “second-line” player, when your name is mentioned with Crosby, McDavid and Bedard, you are a top priority on any college scouting report.

Defensively, Penn State is still figuring things out. Barely inside the Top-30 in team defense, the Nittany Lions are frequently forced to play from behind. One player looking to change that is Jackson Smith (2G, 6A), who is the only two-way dynamic blue-liner on this roster.

Between the pipes, Penn State utilizes two goalies — transfer Kevin Reidler (.915), who has started seven games, and Josh Fleming (.932), who has started five. Similar to the old adage regarding two quarterbacks, the Nittany Lions have a pair of competent players, but lack a true top guy. Fleming has the better numbers this year, but Michigan should still expect to see both this weekend.

Keys to the game

Take advantage of Penn State’s depth. The Nittany Lions have the best top line in the Big Ten and could simultaneously have the worst bottom six. Aside from the Cerrato- DiMarsico-Wiebusch and McKenna lines, the other two lines have combined for a lowly 11 points this season. For comparison, Michigan fourth-liner Adam Valentini has scored 10 points alone this year, and the bottom six Wolverines have scored 45 total points in 12 games.

It will be interesting to see how Naurato staggers his lines this weekend. It would not be surprising to see Michigan’s grind line start against the Nittany Lions’ best line and match up a physical player like Malcom Spence from Michigan’s third line against McKenna. If Michigan’s hard skill wins out and forces Penn State’s stars to defend, the Wolverines should be able to leave Happy Valley with at least three points.

And to the Big Ten officials, please let the boys play. Of the Top-10 most penalized teams in college hockey, five are from the Big Ten. Penn State is No. 1, Michigan State is No. 3, Michigan is No. 4, Wisconsin is No. 5 and Notre Dame is No. 6. This would make sense if these teams were bad at hockey, but the first three teams listed are ranked in the Top-5 and the first four are all in the Top-10. Furthermore, Penn State averages nearly double the penalty minutes of the top penalized team in the NHL.

This happens in no other sport.

In football, Georgia State is the most penalized team in the FBS (9.4 per game) and the Jaguars are the most penalized team in the NFL with nearly an identical number (9.2) In basketball, Sam Houston commits the most fouls (25 per game) of more than 350 teams in college and that number is with decimals of the Indiana Pacers (24.5), the most penalized team in the NBA.

Stop officiating these games like peewee hockey.