Lions look to regroup from stinging loss

It’s been a season of absolutes for Penn State hockey.

Only twice this year have the Nittany Lions come away from a pair of games with a series split.

Since Penn State won or tied 13 consecutive games, a streak stretching from mid-October to early December, the Nittany Lions have been coming out on the wrong end of many of those one-sided weekends, as they’ve lost or tied eight of their last 13 matchups.

That trend continued last week, as the Nittany Lions dropped a pair of games to then-No.5 Minnesota, including a particularly heartbreaking loss on Saturday, when the Gophers tied the game with less than ten seconds remaining before beating the Lions in overtime.

While the losses caused the Lions to slide just two spots to 11th in the USCHO poll, Penn State fell from 7th to 11th in the all-important Pairwise rankings, making an appearance in the 16-team NCAA tournament, once something of a foregone conclusion, highly dependent on the outcome of the Lions’ six remaining games.

Head coach Guy Gadowsky discussed his reaction to the tough series with the Gophers, among other things, in his weekly press conference on Monday.

1.) Dealing With Defeat

Saturday’s loss was a game that Gadowsky said he’ll remember for a long time, though probably not for the reasons he would like.

Despite the disappointment, he believes that there’s value in an experience like Saturday’s, unpleasant as it may have been for his team.

“I tell you what, it’s a definite learning experience for our players presently, our coaching staff and the program,” Gadowsky said. “It’s something you can really learn from and you can grow from. If you win those games, it’s an experience you remember, but I think this is an opportunity to gain a lot as a program from it.”

In a locker room that Gadowsky described as extremely angry, the players are looking to get back to business.

“Tough loss Saturday night, coming back, disappointing, obviously, that we couldn’t get a win, but I think it was more just getting back to work today,” alternate captain Ricky DeRosa said.

Also emphasized by the head coach was the importance of maintaining a positive atmosphere it the locker room, noting that this week is one of the first times his team’s chemistry will truly be put to the test.

“It’s pretty easy to be a pretty good teammate when things are rolling along pretty good,” Gadowsky said. “Really, it’s more important when kind of teammate you are when things hit a tough patch...Now is when you’re tested as a teammate.”

2.) Power Play Struggles

When the Nittany Lions were playing well, a large part of it came from their success on special teams.

During its thirteen-game unbeaten streak, Penn State was excellent on the power play, scoring on 24 percent of its opportunities, which was good for sixth in the nation over that span. Since their streak was broken, however, the Nittany Lions have struggled with the man advantage, posting just a 14.3 percent success rate, 47th in the country over that time period.

Their struggles continued against the Gophers this weekend, scoring just once on eight power play chances, while failing to take advantage of five-minute major penalties on two different occasions.

Gadowsky cited a lack of puck support entering the offensive zone, declining effort retrieving the puck, and difficulty winning faceoffs as causes for the drop in power play production.

“You’re not going to win consistently down the stretch against excellent teams unless your special teams are good, and quite honestly, our power play possession was good, those three areas weren’t, and we have to improve if we want any chance of sustained success,” Gadowsky said.

Senior captain David Goodwin says the Lions are getting back to basics on the power play unit.

“I think trying to simplify it a little bit, really just try to get that puck on net as much as we can, because from there, you can kind of get them running around a bit, and you can open up some of the prettier plays,” Goodwin.

3.) On the Road Again

After a brief stint at Pegula Ice Arena, the Nittany Lions will head back on the road, this time heading to East Lansing to take on Michigan State.

The Spartans sit in the cellar of the Big Ten, holding just two conference wins and just six overall.

Penn State took care of business against Michigan State at home in January, scoring early and often in both games en route to a sweep.

Despite their struggles, Gadowsky says his team has no plans to overlook the Spartans.

“At this point, we know where we’re at,” Gadowsky said. “I think we always want to focus on what’s next and stay in the present, that’s really important for how we do things.”

With the exception of the last few seconds, Goodwin is comfortable with how the Lions played on Saturday, and hopes they can maintain that level of play moving forward.

“I think if we play the way played on Saturday, I think everyone will feel very confident with the potential outcomes that we’ll get over the next six games,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin and Penn State will look to bounce back when the puck drops at 7 p.m on Friday.