2022–23 Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey season was the 17th season of play for the program and 10th in the Big Ten Conference. The Nittany Lions represented Penn State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, were coached by Guy Gadowsky in his 11th season, and played their home games at Pegula Ice Arena.

2022–23 Penn State Nittany Lions
men's ice hockey season
NCAA Tournament, Midwest Regional Final
Conference6th Big Ten
Home icePegula Ice Arena
Rankings
USCHO#8
USA Today#8
Record
Overall22–16–1
Conference10–13–1
Home13–7–0
Road8–8–1
Neutral1–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachGuy Gadowsky
Assistant coachesKeith Fisher
Juliano Pagliero
Captain(s)Paul DeNaples
Alternate captain(s)Connor MacEachern
Tyler Gratton
Connor McMenamin
Kevin Wall
Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey seasons
« 2021–22 2023–24 »

Season

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The start to the season for Penn State could not have been better. The Nittany Lions won each of their first 9 games to rocket to the top of the national rankings. While the slate of games wasn't arduous, PSU was getting consistent scoring from its veteran offensive contingent. The goals being produced were more than enough for Liam Soulière, who had taken over as the team's starting goaltender. The junior netminder helped the team trim its goals against average by about half a goal per game over the course of the year. Those improvements led to the team's early-season success which culminated in a win over then-#1 Michigan.

Penn State got into a bit of a rough patch after they started their conference schedule; the team was only able to earn a split in five consecutive weekends against other Big Ten teams. Luckily, the Big Ten was the highest-ranked team that season and the Nittany Lions were still able to retain a top-10 position in the PairWise rankings. PSU also buoyed itself by sweeping its non-conference schedule, finishing the regular season with a perfect 10–0 record.

When the Nittany Lions began the second half of their season, they were 12 games above .500 and in the top 5 of all polls and rankings. Penn State began to fall from its lofty perch with its first losing weekend of the season to Michigan State in early January. While the offense continued to play well, the defense and goaltending faltered in the back half of the year. Over its final 12 games, Penn State went 3–8–1 and finished 6th out of 7 teams in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions were doing this despite outshooting and outskating their opponents on most night. In the game against Michigan on January 27, for example, Penn State had twice as many shots on goal (38 to 19) but still carried a 2–4 deficit into the third period where a pair of empty-net goals made the game look more lopsided than it actually was.[1]

Penn State's poor results carried over into the postseason but this time it was the offense that failed. In their 3-game series with Ohio State, PSU scored just 4 goals. While Soulière appeared to recover his early-season form towards the end of the round, he couldn't prevent the Nittany Lions from being knocked out in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.

While their poor showing in the second half of the season was worrisome, Penn State was saved by its first half performance, particularly its non-conference record. Despite having a losing record in the Big Ten, PSU was comfortable above .500 overall and ranked 8th nationally at the conclusion of the regular season. That guaranteed them not only a spot in the NCAA tournament, but a #2 seed as well. As the host of one of the four regionals, Penn State was automatically placed in the Midwest bracket (Allentown). They were set against Michigan Tech in the first round and though they were the higher seed, their recent performance tempered expectations for the team.[2] As soon as the puck hit the ice, Penn State returned to their early-season form and completely dominated the Huskies. The Nittany Lions opened the scoring just over 2 minutes into the match and, though they didn't score for the remainder of the period, they controlled the pace of play. PSU netted three goals in the third, getting contributions from across its lineup, to build a 4–0 lead while the defense appeared to half little trouble handling the pop-gun offense of Michigan Tech. Penn State scored 4 more times in the final frame, including a 0-angle goal from Chase McLane, and finish with an overwhelming 8–0 victory. The win was the largest shutout victory in NCAA history, surpassing the mark set by St. Lawrence in 1988.

The Nittany Lions advanced to the Regional Final for the second time in its history and were set against a familiar foe, Michigan. Penn State had surrendered 16 goals in the previous three games to the Wolverines but their play from the Tech game carried over and the Lions held off the Michigan juggernaut. The defense did well to limit the Maize and Blue to 25 shots in the first two periods while Soulière stopped everything that leaked through. Meanwhile, on Michigan's only penalty of the game, Penn State was able to capitalize on their chance and score a power play goal at the end of the second to take a narrow lead. Penn State continued to trade blows with Michigan while neither goalie gave an inch. Ultimately, however, Penn State gave the Wolverines one too many chances and Michigan finally converted on their 4th power play of the game to tie the score. The match headed into overtime and both teams went into attack mode, trying the end the game quickly. Unfortunately for PSU, a perfectly-placed shout from Mackie Samoskevich eluded Soulière's blocker just 52 seconds into the extra session and ended Penn State's season in heartbreaking fashion.[3]

Departures

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Player Position Nationality Cause
Oskar Autio Goaltender   Finland Graduate transfer to Vermont
Clayton Phillips Defenseman   United States Graduation (signed with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins)
Adam Pilewicz Defenseman   United States Graduation (retired)
Mason Snell Defenseman   Canada Transferred to Union

Recruiting

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Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Ashton Calder Forward   United States 24 Sault Ste. Marie, MI; graduate transfer from North Dakota
Jarod Crespo Defenseman   United States 20 Eastampton Township, NJ
Noah Grannan Goaltender   United States 20 Germantown, WI
Ture Linden Forward   United States 25 Great Falls, VA; graduate transfer from Rensselaer
Carter Schade Defenseman   United States 19 Mars, PA
Alexander Servagno Forward   United States 20 Gibsonia, PA

Roster

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As of July 30, 2022.[4]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
2   Carter Schade Freshman D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2003-03-07 Mars, Pennsylvania Lincoln (USHL)
3   Paul DeNaples (C) Graduate D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 1998-09-19 Moscow, Pennsylvania Sioux Falls (USHL)
4   Simon Mack Sophomore D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2001-03-29 Brockville, Ontario Des Moines (USHL)
5   Christian Berger Junior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 2000-05-22 St. Louis, Missouri Omaha (USHL)
6   Jimmy Dowd Jr. Junior D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 161 lb (73 kg) 2000-07-09 Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey Chicago (USHL)
7   Carson Dyck Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2001-06-07 Lethbridge, Alberta Okotoks (AJHL)
8   Alex Servagno Freshman F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2002-06-16 Gibsonia, Pennsylvania Green Bay (USHL)
9   Xander Lamppa Junior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2000-04-30 Rochester, Minnesota Waterloo (USHL)
10   Christian Sarlo Junior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 2001-06-29 Lynbrook, New York Lincoln (USHL)
11   Ryan Kirwan Sophomore F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2002-02-27 DeWitt, New York Green Bay (USHL)
12   Ben Schoen Sophomore F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 2002-05-18 Maumee, Ohio Tri-City (USHL)
13   Danny Dzhaniyev Sophomore F 5' 5" (1.65 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 2002-09-15 Brooklyn, New York Dubuque (USHL)
14   Ben Copeland Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-04-27 Edina, Minnesota Colorado College (NCHC)
15   Kenny Johnson Senior D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1998-05-28 Ann Arbor, Michigan Victoria (BCHL)
16   Dylan Lugris Sophomore F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-06-23 Buffalo, New York Jersey (NCDC)
17   Chase McLane Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 2000-04-22 Trenton, Michigan Tri-City (USHL) NSH, 209th overall 2020
19   Connor McMenamin (A) Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-02-25 Collegeville, Pennsylvania Tri-City (USHL)
20   Ture Linden Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-07-06 Great Falls, Virginia RPI (ECAC)
21   Kevin Wall (A) Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2000-02-01 Penfield, New York Chilliwack (BCHL) CAR, 181st overall 2019
23   Tyler Paquette Junior F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2001-03-18 Collegeville, Pennsylvania Green Bay (USHL)
24   Jarod Crespo Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2002-04-30 Eastampton, New Jersey Green Bay (USHL)
25   Dylan Gratton Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2003-02-25 Pottstown, Pennsylvania Sioux City (USHL)
26   Ashton Calder Graduate F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1998-02-09 Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan North Dakota (NCHC)
28   Tyler Gratton (A) Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1999-08-06 Pottstown, Pennsylvania Central Illinois (USHL)
29   Connor MacEachern (A) Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-07-01 Brooklin, Ontario Youngstown (USHL)
30   Doug Dorr Junior G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1999-05-07 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Utica (NCDC)
31   Liam Soulière Junior G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1999-03-16 Brampton, Ontario Victoria (BCHL)
33   Noah Grannan Freshman G 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2002-04-27 Germantown, Wisconsin Sioux Falls (USHL)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#2 Minnesota 24 19 4 1 2 1 0 57 106 50 40 29 10 1 168 90
#3 Michigan * 24 12 10 2 3 3 0 38 82 79 41 26 12 3 171 128
#7 Ohio State 24 11 11 2 0 0 1 36 69 63 40 21 16 3 131 101
Notre Dame 24 10 10 4 2 0 3 35 52 60 37 16 16 5 85 97
#19 Michigan State 24 10 12 2 1 1 2 34 65 80 38 18 18 2 107 115
#8 Penn State 24 10 13 1 0 3 0 34 71 75 39 22 16 1 129 106
Wisconsin 24 6 18 0 0 0 0 18 54 92 36 13 23 0 94 126
Championship: March 18, 2023
† indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

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Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
October 7 7:00 PM Canisius* Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania BTN+ Soulière W 5–2  6,182 1–0–0
October 8 6:00 PM Canisius* Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN+ Grannan W 7–5  6,343 2–0–0
October 13 7:00 PM Mercyhurst* #20 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Soulière W 6–3  6,038 3–0–0
October 14 7:05 PM at Mercyhurst* #20 Mercyhurst Ice CenterErie, Pennsylvania FloHockey Soulière W 4–1  1,098 4–0–0
October 20 7:00 PM St. Thomas* #18 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Soulière W 6–2  6,034 5–0–0
October 21 7:00 PM St. Thomas* #18 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Grannan W 3–2 OT 6,243 6–0–0
October 28 7:00 PM at Wisconsin #16 Kohl CenterMadison, Wisconsin BSW+ Soulière W 2–1  6,004 7–0–0 (1–0–0)
October 29 7:00 PM at Wisconsin #16 Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin BSW+ Soulière W 4–0  6,933 8–0–0 (2–0–0)
November 4 8:00 PM #1 Michigan #13 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN Soulière W 3–0  6,445 9–0–0 (3–0–0)
November 5 7:30 PM #1 Michigan #13 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN+ Soulière L 3–4 OT 6,361 9–1–0 (3–1–0)
November 10 8:00 PM at #1 Minnesota #8 3M Arena at MariucciMinneapolis, Minnesota BTN Soulière W 4–2  6,664 10–1–0 (4–1–0)
November 11 8:00 PM at #1 Minnesota #8 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota BTN+ Soulière L 1–3  8,921 10–2–0 (4–2–0)
November 18 7:00 PM #17 Michigan State #6 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN+ Soulière W 4–3  5,765 11–2–0 (5–2–0)
November 19 7:30 PM #17 Michigan State #6 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN+ Grannan L 3–7  5,205 11–3–0 (5–3–0)
November 22 7:00 PM Alaska* #7 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Soulière W 3–2  5,271 12–3–0
November 23 5:00 PM Alaska* #7 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Soulière W 2–1  5,521 13–3–0
December 2 7:00 PM #17 Ohio State #6 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN+ Soulière W 2–1  6,361 14–3–0 (6–3–0)
December 3 5:30 PM #17 Ohio State #6 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN+ Soulière L 3–4  6,410 14–4–0 (6–4–0)
December 9 7:00 PM at #19 Notre Dame #5 Compton Family Ice ArenaNotre Dame, Indiana Peacock Soulière W 5–2  4,357 15–4–0 (7–4–0)
December 10 6:00 PM at #19 Notre Dame #5 Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana Peacock Soulière L 3–5  5,028 15–5–0 (7–5–0)
December 30 5:05 PM at #20 RIT* #5 Gene Polisseni CenterHenrietta, New York FloHockey Soulière W 6–1  3,704 16–5–0
December 31 5:30 PM #20 RIT* #5 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Soulière W 3–1  5,943 17–5–0
January 13 7:00 PM at #17 Michigan State #5 Munn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, Michigan BTN+ Soulière L 2–3 OT 6,555 17–6–0 (7–6–0)
January 14 7:00 PM at #17 Michigan State #5 Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan BTN+ Soulière T 4–4 SOL 6,555 17–6–1 (7–6–1)
January 20 7:00 PM Notre Dame #6 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Soulière L 1–2  6,558 17–7–1 (7–7–1)
January 21 5:00 PM Notre Dame #6 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Soulière W 3–2  6,566 18–7–1 (8–7–1)
January 27 7:00 PM at #7 Michigan #6 Yost Ice ArenaAnn Arbor, Michigan BTN+ Soulière L 3–7  5,800 18–8–1 (8–8–1)
January 28 7:00 PM at #7 Michigan #6 Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan BTN Soulière L 4–5  5,800 18–9–1 (8–9–1)
February 3 7:00 PM at #7 Ohio State #9 Value City ArenaColumbus, Ohio BTN+ Grannan W 4–3  7,174 19–9–1 (9–9–1)
February 4 6:30 PM at #7 Ohio State #9 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio BTN Soulière L 2–4  8,439 19–10–1 (9–10–1)
February 17 6:30 PM #2 Minnesota #7 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN Soulière L 2–7  6,369 19–11–1 (9–11–1)
February 18 6:30 PM #2 Minnesota #7 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN Soulière L 2–3 OT 6,461 19–12–1 (9–12–1)
February 24 7:00 PM Wisconsin #10 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Soulière W 6–1  6,371 20–12–1 (10–12–1)
February 25 5:00 PM Wisconsin #10 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Soulière L 1–2  6,557 20–13–1 (10–13–1)
Big Ten Tournament
March 3 7:00 PM at #9 Ohio State* #10 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio (Quarterfinal Game 1) BTN+ Soulière L 1–5  2,673 20–14–1
March 4 5:00 PM at #9 Ohio State* #10 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio (Quarterfinal Game 2) BTN+ Soulière W 2–1 OT 2,921 21–14–1
March 5 5:00 PM at #9 Ohio State* #10 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio (Quarterfinal Game 3) BTN+ Soulière L 1–3  1,692 21–15–1
NCAA Tournament
March 24 5:00 PM vs. #13 Michigan Tech* #11 PPL CenterAllentown, Pennsylvania (Midwest Regional Semifinal) ESPNU Soulière W 8–0  7,067 22–15–1
March 26 6:30 PM vs. #2 Michigan* #11 PPL CenterAllentown, Pennsylvania (Midwest Regional Final) ESPN2 Soulière L 1–2 OT 8,375 22–16–1
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[5]

Scoring statistics

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Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Kevin Wall RW 39 17 14 31 16
Ture Linden C 39 11 18 29 11
Connor MacEachern F 39 12 15 27 30
Connor McMenamin LW 37 9 15 24 14
Christian Berger D 39 5 15 20 16
Xander Lamppa F 37 6 13 19 20
Jimmy Dowd D 38 4 15 19 36
Ashton Calder F 38 10 7 17 27
Ryan Kirwan F 28 8 9 17 4
Christian Sarlo F 38 7 10 17 29
Tyler Paquette C/RW 36 7 8 15 8
Danny Dzhaniyev F 37 7 8 15 12
Tyler Gratton RW 38 7 8 15 18
Ben Schoen C 24 3 12 15 16
Simon Mack D 36 4 8 12 2
Dylan Gratton D 33 2 9 11 2
Jarod Crespo D 33 2 8 10 15
Paul DeNaples D 39 3 7 10 8
Carter Schade D 36 0 9 9 18
Chase McLane C/RW 21 2 3 5 18
Alex Servagno F 19 2 2 4 6
Dylan Lugris F 8 0 2 2 0
Ben Copeland C 5 1 0 1 0
Noah Grannan G 6 0 1 1 0
Liam Soulière G 36 0 0 0 0
Kenny Johnson D 2 0 0 0 0
Carson Dyck F 2 0 0 0 0
Total 129 216 345 326

[6]

Goaltending statistics

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Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Liam Soulière 36 2047:52 19 15 1 83 918 3 .917 2.43
Noah Grannan 8 299:47 3 1 0 17 131 0 .885 3.40
Empty Net - 20:16 - - - 6 - - - -
Total 39 2367:55 22 16 1 106 1049 3 .908 2.69

Rankings

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Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 (Final)
USCHO.com NR - NR 20 18 16 13 8 (3) 6 (1) 7 6 (4) 5 5 - 5 5 6 6 9 8 7 10 10 11 11 11 - 8
USA Today NR NR NR NR 18 15 10 7 (2) 6 (2) 7 5 (2) 5 6 5 5 5 6 6 9 8 7 10 10 11 10 10 8 8

USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13 and 26.

Players drafted into the NHL

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Round Pick Player NHL team
7 218 Aiden Fink Nashville Predators

† incoming freshman [7]

References

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  1. ^ "FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023". College Hockey Inc. January 27, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  2. ^ "Previewing the 2023 NCAA hockey tournament, Allentown Regional: Michigan, Penn State, Michigan Tech, Colgate". USCHO.com. March 23, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  3. ^ "#2 Penn State vs #1 Michigan Hockey Game Highlights, 2023 NCAA Regional Final". YouTube. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  4. ^ "2022–23 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Penn State Nittany Lions. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  5. ^ "2022-23 Men's Ice Hockey Schedule". Penn State Nittany Lions. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  6. ^ "Penn State Univ. 2022-2023 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2023 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
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