The Irish travel to State College for a Big Ten basement showdown
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team finished their homestand last weekend and now head out on the road for the next two weeks. First up is a trip to State College for two games against the Penn State Nittany Lions, the closest competition Notre Dame has for the bottom of the Big Ten this season. This will be the second time this semester that the two teams face off after a series in South Bend and Chicago in early January.
Where, When, How to Watch
- Where: Pegula Ice Arena, State College, PA
- When: Friday, February 14, 7pm ET; Saturday, February 15, 5pm ET
- How to Watch: Both games streaming on B1G+
Notre Dame has struggled to gain any consistency this season, and have fallen to the bottom of the Big Ten conference standings with opportunity to rise fading quickly. They currently sit last, in seventh place with 11 points. Just above them in sixth place is Penn State with 20 points. While the gap is too large to make up in a single weekend the Irish do have an opportunity to gain significant ground. The question is will they?
So far this season they haven’t been able to take advantage of these opportunities, with the latest example being a two game sweep last weekend at the hands of the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Irish were beaten twice at home by identical 5-1 scores which helped dig them into an even deeper hole in the standings.
The main stories remain the same for Notre Dame. The goaltending has been good but not great, although last weekend they allowed well above their average goals. The offense hasn’t scored enough to win though unless the goaltending keeps them in it. The top of the Irish scoresheet isn’t good enough, as their leading scorers sit well behind others around the country. The secondary scoring has been nearly non-existent with the back half of their lineup contributing very little. It has taken a rare combination of the offense and goaltending having great games to win any and that is just not a recipe for success.
Last time Notre Dame and Penn State met was in early January, with the first game being played at Wrigley Field and the second back home in South Bend. The Irish won the opener in as eight round shootout, after playing to a 3-3 tie. They responded by being shutout on home ice the next game. Last time these two team played though Notre Dame was without top scorer Danny Nelson. He flourished last time he played against Penn State nearly a year ago with his first career multi-goal game. Whether he can be a difference maker this weekend will be a big point to watch.
Prediction
Notre Dame desperately needs a sweep if they want to salvage their conference position at all this season. Unfortunately they’ve done nothing this year that makes you think that will happen. If they can pull out a split without gaining or losing ground that would be an acceptable weekend, if their loss was in overtime that would be even better.