2023-2024 Penn State Men's Hockey Weekend Grades: North Country Weekend

A North Country sweep over the weekend allowed No. 18 Penn State to improve to 3-0-0 on the season.

Friday’s matchup against Clarkson saw the Nittany Lions jump out to a 3-0 lead and hang on to a nail-biter down the stretch 4-2.

The blue and white found themselves in a 1-0 hole on Saturday against St. Lawrence before scoring four unanswered to take a 4-1 victory.

Here are the grades for the weekend.

Offense: B+

Slowly but surely, the Penn State offense is finding its identity.

The Nittany Lions hounded Austin Roden, the Golden Knights’ netminder, amassing 43 shots in Friday’s contest.

The blue and white had deja vu in Saturday’s matchup against the Skating Saints, plastering 39 shots on Ben Kraws, including a goal from Vermont transfer Jacques Bouquot.

The story of the season continues to be Ryan Kirwan, who has found the back of the net in each of the first three games for Penn State, adding two helpers in the process.

Kirwan and the Nittany Lions continue to get more comfortable in the offensive zone, heating up at the right time as conference play looms near.

Defense: A-

The deep blueline of Penn State had another solid outing over the weekend, holding the opposition to 48 shots combined.

Add to that 25 total blocked shots, including 16 against Clarkson, and it’s easy to see why Guy Gadowsky and the coaching staff have such high praise for this year’s defensive scheme.

A good offense starts with a great defense, and that’s just what happened in North Country, as both Simon Mack and Jarod Crespo tallied a goal over the weekend.

The strong suit of the blue and white looks to be just that to start the season, and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Goaltending: A

Liam Souliere did Liam Souliere things against Clarkson and St. Lawrence, stopping 45 of 48 shots through the two games.

While the third period against the Golden Knights may not go down as Souliere’s best performance, he was sharp down the stretch when needed to be and helped the Nittany Lions cling on to their one-goal lead.

On Saturday, an early goal in the first wouldn’t rattle the senior netminder, who would go the final 49 minutes and 49 seconds without letting the Skating Saints light the lamp.

Souliere has been up to the task through the first three games of the season, and that’s a sight that Penn State hopes will continue steadily.

Coaching: A+

Coming into the season, special teams were a crucial topic for the blue and white, a unit that converted on the power play at an abysmal 15.9% and penalty kill at 77.2%.

Through three games, both units have seen monstrous improvement, as the power play is hovering around 23% and the penalty kill at 88%.

The power play continued to show signs of improvement over the weekend, with a goal on the man advantage in both contests, giving the Nittany Lions a power-play goal in all three games.

The blue and white have only given up one power-play goal on the season, that coming against Clarkson on Friday, on nine attempts.

Gadowsky and the coaching staff stressed special teams during pre-season media, and they have to be bursting with joy at the results they have seen so far.

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