Blue White Illustrated

I C E H O C K E Y P enn State o9en depends on its de- fensemen to do more than their label implies. The work of the Nittany Lions' blue- liners on the breakout and in the neutral zone facilitates the fast-paced style that makes Penn State one of the nation's highest-scoring teams. When the Lions are executing well, their defensemen are o9en playing goal-scoring roles in addi- tion to setting up the forwards. During its 10-game unbeaten streak earlier in the year, Penn State received an abundance of scoring from the blue line, with defense- men lighting the lamp on nine occasions. But in the midst of a recent stretch in which very little went the Nittany Lions' way, that bit of extra production from the defensemen was one of several things that disappeared. During a seven-game winless streak leading up to the team's two-game series Feb. 16-17 at Michigan State, the defensive core supplied only a single goal. And the Nittany Lions are without an- swers for it. "Honestly, I can't pinpoint one thing," senior defenseman Trevor Hamilton said. "We're trying to focus very defensively. Obviously, it's tough to get up in the rush every once in a while. Guys are playing sick, guys are playing injured. We're tak- ing short shi9s. It's kind of pick and choose your spots. It's tough, but our main focus has been on keeping the puck out of the back of the net." Success has eluded the Nittany Lions in that department as well recently. In the seven games preceding their trip to East Lansing, they allowed 3.86 goals per con- test, more than half a goal higher than their Big Ten-worst overall average of 3.17. And while the Nittany Lions' defensive ine8ciencies this season have o9en been a byproduct of their aggressiveness of- fensively, that approach hasn't led to re- sults of late. Penn State scored only 14 goals during its winless streak. "For us to be us, we need to have four lines scoring and we need to get produc- tion from the back end, not always mean- ing goals, but at least chances," coach Guy Gadowsky said. "I don't speci6cally think that there's a lack of us getting them in- volved. It just hasn't been going in." For the defensemen, especially, that production doesn't always come in the form of pucks crossing the goal line. In Hamilton, Erik Autio, Kevin Kerr, Kris Myllari and James Gobetz, Penn State has a number of blue-liners who can handle the puck and set up quality chances for the forwards. When those chances aren't being con- verted and the defensemen aren't scoring goals either, it leads to trouble. Notre Dame goaltender Cale Morris ensured that was the case in a two-game series against Penn State, as the Fighting Irish took 6ve of six possible points at Pegula Ice Arena. "I thought, as far as chances go, we ac- tually had one of our better weekends of the year," Gadowsky said. "We faced a goaltender who was phenomenal, but I thought we generated a ton of chances, several of which [the defensemen] were in on. We're not disappointed in that. Sometimes you play very well but the puck doesn't go in the net." The absence of Autio, who has been bothered by a nagging injury, has in7u- enced the ebb and 7ow of the defensive corps' production. So has Kerr's transition back into the lineup a9er he was sidelined for 18 of Penn State's 6rst 24 games. Hamilton, once among the highest- scoring defensemen in the country, had slid to 10th in that category through 30 games, with just a single point to show for the seven games leading up to the Michi- gan State series. Despite those unkind statistics and un- timely lineup disruptions, the Nittany Lions remain committed to the idea that they've had their chances – they just need to 6nish. "I think [the defensemen] have been playing great," forward Alec Marsh said. "We've all been playing pretty well. It's a matter of just an inch or so in some of the games, and I really like the way we all played in the Notre Dame game." A9er their midseason swoon, the Lions were outside of the NCAA tournament picture, placing 17th in the PairWise rankings. With four games le9 in the reg- ular season, it looked as though they might need to win the Big Ten tourna- ment for the second year in a row to get back to NCAAs. The league tourney begins March 2, and as long as there's still a chance, players will hold out hope. Said Hamilton, "If we keep playing well, the goals will come. It starts at the back end for the guys up front." ■ Midseason struggles hinder NCAA tournament aspirations | Penn State facilities lauded in survey Penn State was the nation's only college or university to have two facilities ranked among North America's top 100 stadium expe- riences for 2017 in a list compiled by the website Stadium- Journey.com. Stadium Journey included Beaver Stadium (No. 23) and Peg- ula Ice Arena (No. 71) in its top 100. The website polled its 100 writers, asking each of them to provide their top 10 venues. Pegula Ice Arena was ranked No. 1 among all of North America's collegiate hockey facilities. It was the only collegiate hockey venue listed in the top 100 overall. Beaver Stadium ranks as the No. 6 college football stadium. ■

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