UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lions resume the 2022 portion of its Big Ten schedule inside Pegula Ice Arena this weekend with a visit from the 13th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Friday and Saturday evening.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, January 7 | Saturday, January 8
Place: Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa.
Time: Fri: 7:00 p.m. | Sat: 5:00 p.m.
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State | Notre Dame

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

• This weekend marks the 24th and 25th meetings all-time between the two sides with Notre Dame holding the 13-7-3 edge.
• The Irish have held the Nittany Lions to three or fewer goals in 16 of the 23 previous games including seven of the last eight with the outlier being a 6-3 victory for Penn State in the first round of the 2021 Big Ten Tournament.
• Notre Dame hasn't allowed its opponent to score more than two goals in each of its last six games and is allowing just 1.50 goals per game over that span with a pair of shutouts.
• Junior Connor McMenamin leads all Nittany Lions with six points in his career against Notre Dame on two goals and four assists in nine games. Classmate Tyler Gratton along with sophomores Chase McLane and Christian Sarlo have added two goals apiece. Leading scorers Connor MacEachern and Kevin Wall have four and three points, respectively, in nine career games against Notre Dame, however, neither has found the back of the net.

SCOUTING THE IRISH

• Notre Dame returned seven of its top-10 scorers this season including four of its top-5, with the only exception being leading scorer Alex Steeves who decided to forgo his final season in South Bend after leading the team with 15 goals and 32 points as a junior in 2020-21.
• The Irish are 4-2-0 this season on the road, but haven't played a game away from Compton Family Ice Arena since a two game series at Michigan on November 19-20.
• Junior Max Ellis has picked up the scoring slack and is already having a career-year leading the Irish with a career-best 11 goals and 21 points in just 19 games. The junior had a career-long nine-game point streak earlier this season but does have just a single assist over his last four games. His 11 goals and 21 points rank tied for second and fifth in the Big Ten, respectively. Trevor Janicke has added seven goals while Ryder Rolston and Cam Burke have each scored six. Rolston leads the Irish with 11 assists.
• Notre Dame began the season without a solid No. 1 goaltender after the departure of Dylan St. Cyr and have seen junior Ryan Bischel and transfer Matthew Galajda split time this season with the latter earning slightly more starts with 11 to Bischel's eight. Galajda and Bischel rank first and second in the Big Ten for goals-against average posting marks of 1.74 and 1.83, respectively, while their save percentages of .930 and .928 rank second and third only behind Michigan State's Drew DeRidder. They each rank eighth and ninth in the nation for each category, respectively.
• Notre Dame is one of the best defensive teams year in and year out and that remains true in 2021-22 as the Golden Domers lead the Big Ten and rank fifth nationally allowing just 1.89 goals per game. The Irish PK is also tops in the nation killing off 93.2 percent (69-for-74) of opponent powerplays including a string of 21-straight. ND has allowed just five powerplay goals this season and have scored four shorthanded goals to lead the Big Ten and rank tied for fourth nationally.
• The Irish have only allowed four goals three times this season and have yet to yield five in a game to any team. Notre Dame is 12-0-0 this season when scoring three or more goals of their own and are a perfect 11-0-0 when leading after two periods.

GET AHEAD, STAY AHEAD

• Penn State once again scored the opening goal of the game last Saturday at Army. The Nittany Lions have now scored first in 14-of-20 games this season meaning Penn State has played with a lead in at least 70 percent of their games so far.
• PSU is now 11-3-0 when scoring first this season and 11-1-0 when holding a lead entering the third period.

YOU CAN'T SCORE IF YOU PASS

• Penn State is averaging 3.50 goals per game, a mark good for third in the Big Ten and 13th nationally. With 70 goals this season the Nittany Lions also rank third in the conference and are tied for ninth in the nation.
• Each of Penn State's 12 wins this season have come when they have scored at least three goals including a perfect 11-0-0 record when scoring four or more goals.
• Penn State is also now 90-1-2 all-time when scoring five or more goals and have won 32-straight games when doing so, including all eight so far this season, with the last and only loss when scoring five or more goals coming at Wisconsin on December 1, 2018, an 8-5 defeat.

WALL-TO-WALL COVERAGE

• Junior Kevin Wall tallied his team-best 12th goal against Army last weekend moving him into first in the Big Ten as he is now tied for ninth nationally.
• Wall has now scored a goal in back-to-back games for the second time this season while his 18 points are tied with classmate Connor MacEachern for the team lead and are tied for ninth in the Big Ten.

THE NEW GUY

• Freshman Dylan Lugris was added to the roster during semester break, and he wasted little time making an impact on the ice for the Nittany Lions scoring his first career goal in his first career game during a 5-3 victory at Army West Point last Saturday. The freshman took just the one shot the entire game and made it count finding the back of the net.

THE SWISS ARMY KNIFE

• Senior Adam Pilewicz is in his fifth year with the Nittany Lions and has already skated in a career-high 20 games surpassing the 14 games he played as a sophomore in 2018-19. That season was also the last time he had registered a point let alone a goal, however, Pilewicz opened the scoring last Saturday against Army potting his first goal in 1,043 days.
• Recruited as a defenseman, Pilewicz played the majority of his 31 career games prior to this season as a forward including both games in 2018-19 when he scored goals. So, his goal last Saturday was the first of his career at his natural position of defense.
• Prior to winter break in a series at Wisconsin, Pilewicz, who has dressed over half of the games in his career as the extra skater, slotted in on defense one night and then forward the following night after Paul DeNaples and Kevin Wall were each handed game misconduct penalties in consecutive games.
• Pilewicz has now registered each of his four points this season over his last six games to tie his career-high and has also collected points in back-to-back games for just the second time in his career.

GRATTS WITH THE STATTS

• Junior Tyler Gratton is currently having a career-year with season-best marks in goals and points with five and seven, respectively, through 19 games this season.
• Gratton is currently riding a career-long three-game point streak and has registered goals in three of his last five games.

TURN UP THE AUTIO

• Senior Oskar Autio collected his 20th career victory last Saturday at Army tying his single-season high in the process with the ninth of the season. The senior also eclipsed the 1,000 save threshold and currently ranks fourth all-time at Penn State with 1,013 save for his career. His .526 winning percentage also ranks third all time.
• Autio currently has a .901 save percentage and a 2.75 goals-against average while his eight victories this year are just one shy of his career-high nine achieved last season.

POWER OUTAGE

• Penn State hasn't scored a powerplay goal in its last four games and is zero for its last 10 with the man-advantage and are just 3-for-26 over the last eight games after going 2-for-2 in the series opener against Minnesota back in November.
• Even with the recent struggles, Penn State's powerplay is at 20.9 percent to rank fourth in the Big Ten and 24th nationally.

NEXT UP

• Penn State returns to the road to battle the sixth-ranked Michigan Wolverines at Yost Ice Arena next Friday and Saturday.

For more information on the 2021-22 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.