Amidst winless streak, Lions look for positives
After nearly a month of searching, the Penn State hockey program remains unable to find its footing.
The Nittany Lions dropped another pair of games last weekend in the Twin Cities, losing 5-1 and 5-2, respectively, to Minnesota. With their winless streak now at five games, the Lions occupy the No. 10 spot in the USCHO and sit at 11th in the Pairwise rankings, dropping from the program's first-ever No. 1-ranking just a few weeks ago.
Despite his team’s recent struggles, though, head coach Guy Gadowsky isn’t ready to push the panic button.
Chatting with the media at his weekly press conference from Pegula Ice Arena on Monday afternoon, Gadowsky discussed why that is, and more. Let's take a look at some of the key points from the press conference, here:
1.) When a team is struggling like the Nittany Lions are right now, finding positives to build on becomes a focal point, as evidenced by Gadowsky's comments throughout the afternoon.
Despite having to return home without a win this past weekend, Gadowsky says he liked the improvement he saw from his team in the second game of last weekend’s series after playing poorly in the opener.
“Saturday, we actually played a much better game,” Gadowsky said. “The effort both offensively and defensively was really good. The shorthanded goal against cost us a little bit, but we played a good game, we played an excellent team, and we played really well.”
Goaltender Chris Funkey, who got his first start of the season in Friday’s game, noted that he’s focused on maintaining a positive environment in the locker room.
“We’re still trying to keep smiles around the dressing room, making sure everyone stays positive, and we know if we’re doing that, then that’s going to help get us back on the right track,” said Funkey.
After being in line for a top seed in the national tournament for much of the year, the Lions, now ranked 11th in the Pairwise, find themselves in danger of not making the 16-team field at all.
That isn’t the focus for Gadowsky and his staff though, as they’re focused only on the task that lies ahead of them.
“I don’t think it’s beneficial to look at [the Pairwise rankings], and this is our staff, we’ve been scoreboard watching and standings watching, and we’ve been together a long time now, and I can tell you that we’re a lot more successful when you just focus on what you can control.”
2.) To add to Penn State’s recent string of misfortunes, the Lions will be without key centerman Dylan Richard for at least this weekend’s series at Wisconsin.
The senior, who has scored 6 goals while assisting on 11 others this season, is out with what Gadowsky described as an upper body injury.
“It’s too bad man, he’s such a good guy,” said Gadowsky. “He does a lot of things for us. He’s on the power play, he kills penalties, he does faceoffs in the offensive zone and defensive zone, he does a lot of things.”
Richard’s injury will force the Lions to tinker with their lines even more after giving them a major revamp before Saturday’s game, and Gadowsky says Nikita Pavlychev is someone who could potentially simulate Richard’s role.
3.) The Lions will play the final two games of a five-game road stretch this weekend, heading to Madison to take on 17th-ranked Wisconsin.
The Badgers, after a mediocre start to their season, have established themselves as a Big Ten title contender with their recent play, winning seven of their last eight contests.
Much like Minnesota’s Marriuci Arena, the Kohl Center houses a larger sheet of ice than what the Nittany Lions are used to seeing.
For them though it’s about preparing for the their opponent, not the surface they’re playing on, the Lions said Monday.
“I don’t think we look into [the ice] that much,” said senior Ricky DeRosa. “The two arenas you just mentioned have so much history and tradition with rich programs there, so we’re preparing for a battle this weekend at the Kohl Center like usual.”
Penn State will look to put their winless streak to an end on Friday, when the puck drops at 8:00 p.m.