Penn State Men's Hockey 2023-2024 Report Card: vs. Minnesota

The No. 17 Penn State Nittany Lions secured their second Big Ten win of the season in a series split against then-ranked No. 10 Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Four unanswered goals spelled doom for the blue and white in Game 1, falling 4-1 to the maroon and gold in the annual Teddy Bear Toss.

Game 2 was a different tale, however, as the Nittany Lions jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and never looked back, securing a 6-3 win in front of a Roar Zone sea of white.

Here are the grades from the Big Ten bout against Minnesota.

Offense: B+

Fast starts were the theme for Penn State across the weekend.

The blue and white struck first in both contests in the opening frame, with freshman Dane Dowiak starting the party in Game 1 and Reese Laubach doing the same in Game 2.

Dowiak has now marked a tally in three consecutive weekends, adding to the plethora of freshmen that have shined early on in the season.

Ryan Kirwan stole the show in Saturday’s matchup, potting a pair of goals and firing off six shots to boot.

With both Dowiak and Kirwan catching fire, it’s no shock the Nittany Lions have the fifth-best goals-per-game mark at four goals a game.

Defense: C+

This series was certainly not the brightest from a team defensive standpoint.

While the Nittany Lions held Minnesota shotless through the first 12 minutes of Game 1, too many odd-man rushes and broken plays in the defensive end sealed Penn State’s fate, as the high-end talent of the Golden Gophers flexed its muscles with four straight goals.g

Game 2 was much cleaner from a defensive standpoint, with odd-man rushes being a much more rare scene.

The blue and white need an all-around cleaner defensive performance to try and secure more than three points in a weekend.

Goaltending: B

Make no mistake, Liam Souliere was dealt a brutal hand in Game 1.

With that being said, two goals on the first two shots was a backbreaker for Penn State, especially after dominating both ends of the ice in the opening frame.

Souliere made some big saves later in the contest on breakaways and the penalty kill, but it was too little too late,

With Noah Grannan getting the nod in Game 2, the saves he made in the first period proved to be the motivation the Nittany Lions needed to hold their lead for the final 40 minutes.

With head coach Guy Gadowsky splitting the starting goaltender the last few series, the road test against No. 6 Wisconsin gives the coaching staff another tough choice.

Coaching: B-

Give Gadowsky and his squad credit, beating Michigan and Minnesota over a three-week span is no easy feat, especially for a team with so much young talent.

However, Penn State lost the special teams battle this weekend, going 0-5 on the weekend, including a five-minute major in Game 2 that saw a short-handed goal against in the process.

The coaching staff was also given a rather peculiar situation going into the first intermission after Game 1, finding themselves trailing despite outplaying Minnesota the entire contest.

Nevertheless, Gadowsky and company have a chance to continue to build off of the last two Big Ten series and upset another ranked opponent on the road in the Badgers.

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