No. 9 Penn State men's hockey takes step forward

Penn State entered Columbus last weekend with just one win in its last six games, a stretch that was threatening to destroy the team’s place at the top of the Big Ten and was hurting its strong NCAA Tournament campaign.

Throughout this stretch, Guy Gadowsky talked about many issues with the team, whether it was mental, effort or bad execution.

But after a win and tie on the road against No. 13 Ohio State, it appears No. 9 Penn State (18-9-3, 10-7-3 Big Ten) has taken a much-needed step forward.

“It was a good performance, and we were really happy that we had a good performance, but at the same time, at this point in the season points and wins are important both nationally and in the conference,” Gadowsky said. “To get one on the road against a very tough team, we felt very good.”

Despite his team having a 2-0 lead Friday night and the game finishing in a 2-2 tie, Gadowsky still received positive feedback on the effort.

“I thought we were very good. We took steps forward,” Gadowsky said. “We certainly played a higher-quality game than we’ve had in the past, and that’s really what we are shooting for.”

These positive results came from two main things, according to Gadowsky, the first being the play of the veteran leaders.

This past weekend, the Alex Limoges-Evan Barratt-Liam Folkes trio showed flashes of again being one of the best lines in college hockey as it produced a goal in each game.

But it was more than just that line.

Brandon Biro had a fantastic weekend in his first full series back from an injury, and Nate Sucese had four points this past weekend.

Defenseman Cole Hults also continued his productive weekend with another strong showing.

And this production, both offensive and defensive, for these veteran members of the team, made a monumental difference for Penn State.

“I think that it is important that we played higher quality hockey, and they were absolutely leaders in that area,” Gadowsky said. “I think for our younger players to have examples of guys playing Penn State hockey the right way is extremely valuable, whether they score or not, and the first part of that is what we saw.”

The other area Gadowsky immediately pointed to as a positive this weekend was his team’s effort on the defensive side.

“We played a much better three-zone defensive game, and we were able to score goals at the same time and I think that is really good information to have,” Gadowsky said. “In past weekends, it has been really negative, and this weekend it is a little bit encouraging.”

Gadowsky and Penn State are known for playing a fast-paced, offensive style, one that often led to lapses on the defensive side.

But this season, the coaching staff made subtle tweaks to the system, hoping to produce a higher-quality product on defense while not losing anything on offense.

It’s a balance that is hard to achieve and one the Nittany Lions are still figuring out.

Penn State ranks 23rd in the country with its 2.57 goals-against average, a massive difference from the 3.56 goals per game it allowed last season, which was 56th of the 60 Division I teams.

Throughout this process, however, the Nittany Lions have had some drop-off in scoring, averaging nearly one goal less per game than last season. But last weekend, Penn State had both.

Something that could be a sign that the Nittany Lions are starting to figure things out at a crucial point in the season, an annual process of finding consistency that Gadowsky constantly battles.

“I think sometimes when you find the key for one team one year, you would think that it would translate to the next year because a lot of the players are the same,” Gadowsky said. “But for some reason you have to find a different way of that message coming through every year.”