2023-2024 Penn State men's hockey report card: vs. Notre Dame

The Penn State Nittany Lions got swept for the second consecutive weekend and the third-straight Big Ten series in South Bend against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Despite a good start in Game 1, the blue and white found themselves in a 2-0 hole after the opening frame and never recovered, losing 4-1.

Game 2 saw the Nittany Lions score first, but eventually fall 6-3 after an eventful third period.

Here are the grades from the road series.

Offense: C+

After starting the first half of the season as one of the highest-scoring teams in the nation, the Nittany Lions have struggled mightily to put the biscuit in the basket.

Just four goals combined over the two games this past weekend, and one of those came thanks to an own goal by the Fighting Irish.

The blue and white have only found twine seven times in the past four games, but they’re getting the looks, and the hope is that luck will change soon.

Defense: D+

When Penn State has managed to score first, keeping the lead has been a near-impossible task since the new year.

The blue and white gave up a goal in less than five minutes after they managed to find the back of the net in both Game 1 and Game 2, most crucially after being gifted an own goal on a delayed penalty.

Not to mention the Nittany Lions had just 25 blocked shots compared to Notre Dame’s 34.

Pile that on top of a continued trend of odd-man rushes for the opposition, and it made for a long weekend in Indiana.

Goaltending: C

A tale of two goaltenders.

Noah Grannan continued to struggle after getting the Game 1 nod, most notably with a back-breaking, short-handed goal with under a second remaining in the opening period.

The buzzer-beater put the Nittany Lions down a pair, and they were never able to fully recover.

Meanwhile, senior netminder Liam Souliere started the back end, and had one of, if not his best performance of the season, with 27 saves on 31 shots.

It will be interesting to see how the goalie situation shakes out this weekend, but this upcoming series offers a chance for both goaltenders to bounce back against a struggling Ohio State squad.

Coaching/Special Teams: D

It has been a complete fall from grace for the blue and white power play.

After starting the campaign as one of the hottest power plays in the nation, the man-advantage has dipped to 18.7%, and this weekend did not help those numbers.

The Nittany Lions went 0-7 this weekend against the Fighting Irish, while the white and gold lit the lamp four times out of nine attempts despite having a Big Ten power play at 11% coming into the series.

To add insult to injury, Penn State gave up its sixth short-handed goal of the season, third-worst in the nation.

Head coach Guy Gadowsky has plenty to improve on if his squad wants a chance to sniff the NCAA Tournament.

Joshua Bartosik is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu.