# 2020–21 Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey season

The 2020–21 Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey season was the 15th season of play for the program and the 8th season in the Big Ten Conference. The Nittany Lions represented Pennsylvania State University and were coached by Guy Gadowsky, in his 10th season.

## Season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Penn State's players would lose a season of play. However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.
Penn State had a dreadful start to their season, losing their first five games while facing a murderers row of ranked teams. The team rebounded sharply in their sixth contest, scoring 9 goals and nearly doubling their season total to that point. After the Nittany Lions' first win of the year, the team played much better and slowly climbed back to respectability, winning nine of twelve and pulled themselves above .500 near the end of January. Just when it seemed like the team had turned a corner, their season was derailed by COVID-19. All of PSU's games were cancelled in February and the team didn't play again until the end of the regular season. The 34-day layoff hamstrung the team and it showed in their poor performance; despite outshooting Notre Dame in both games, the Nittany Lions lost both by a combined score of 3–12.
By losing an entire months-worth of games, Penn State couldn't overcome their bad start and the team's only path into the NCAA Tournament was by winning the Big Ten. They faced the same Fighting Irish team that had soundly beaten them a week earlier in the first round, but the game time appeared to have knocked the rust off of the Penn State and the Lions scored 5 consecutive goals to give themselves a solid 6–3 win. Their next game was against league-leading Wisconsin and Penn State showed no fear, overcoming an early deficit and outshooting the Badgers to take two separate leads in the game. Once the game got into overtime, the fast pace of regulation seemed to have caught up with PSU and they were overwhelmed by the Badgers, surrendering 10 shots in under 7 minutes and they could only watch as the nation's leading goal-scorer ended their season.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Evan Barratt | Forward | United States | Signed professional contract (Chicago Blackhawks) |
| Brandon Biro | Forward | Canada | Graduation (Signed with Buffalo Sabres) |
| Liam Folkes | Forward | Canada | Graduation (Signed with Bakersfield Condors) |
| Blake Gober | Forward | United States | Graduation |
| James Gobetz | Defenseman | United States | Graduation |
| Cole Hults | Defenseman | United States | Signed professional contract (Los Angeles Kings) |
| Peyton Jones | Goaltender | United States | Graduation (Signed with Colorado Eagles) |
| Kris Myllari | Defenseman | Canada | Graduation (Signed with Utah Grizzlies) |
| Nikita Pavlychev | Forward | Russia | Graduation (Signed with Syracuse Crunch) |
| Denis Smirnov | Forward | Russia | Graduation (Signed with Metallurg Magnitogorsk) |
| Nate Sucese | Forward | United States | Graduation (Signed with Arizona Coyotes) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Christian Berger | Defenseman | United States | 20 | St. Louis, MO |
| Tim Doherty | Forward | United States | 25 | Portsmouth, RI; graduate transfer from Maine |
| Jimmy Dowd | Defenseman | United States | 20 | Point Pleasant, NJ |
| Xander Lamppa | Forward | United States | 21 | Rochester, MN |
| Chase McLane | Forward | United States | 20 | Trenton, MI; selected 209th overall in 2020 |
| Tyler Paquette | Forward | United States | 19 | Collegeville, PA |
| Christian Sarlo | Forward | United States | 19 | Lynbrook, NY |
| Liam Soulière | Goaltender | Canada | 21 | Brampton, ON |
| Jared Westcott | Forward | United States | 21 | Imperial, MO |

## Roster

As of January 3, 2021.

## Standings

2020–21 Big Ten ice hockey Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | 3/SW | PTS | PT% | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #8 Wisconsin † | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 52 | .722 | 92 | 52 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 118 | 80 |
| #7 Minnesota * | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | .727 | 69 | 44 | 31 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 117 | 64 |
| #9 Michigan | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | .550 | 69 | 45 | 26 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 91 | 51 |
| #17 Notre Dame | 24 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 41 | .542 | 65 | 53 | 29 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 84 | 78 |
| Penn State | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20 | .389 | 48 | 68 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 65 | 81 |
| Ohio State | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | .273 | 39 | 82 | 27 | 7 | 19 | 1 | 53 | 101 |
| Michigan State | 22 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | .250 | 32 | 70 | 27 | 7 | 18 | 2 | 40 | 77 |
| Championship: March 16, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and Results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Rank$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| November 19 | 8:34 PM | at #11 Minnesota | #10 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota | BTN | Autio | L 1–4 | 129 | 0–1–0 (0–1–0) |
| November 20 | 4:04 PM | at #11 Minnesota | #10 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota | BTN | Soulière | L 2–3 | 159 | 0–2–0 (0–2–0) |
| November 23 | 6:08 PM | at #14 Wisconsin | #15 | Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin | BTN | Autio | L 3–6 | 0 | 0–3–0 (0–3–0) |
| November 24 | 6:08 PM | at #14 Wisconsin | #15 | Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin | BTN | Soulière | L 3–7 | 0 | 0–4–0 (0–4–0) |
| December 2 | 6:02 PM | vs. #7 Michigan | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | ESPNU | Autio | L 1–3 | 153 | 0–5–0 (0–5–0) |
| December 3 | 6:04 PM | vs. #7 Michigan | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | | Autio | W 9–5 | 166 | 1–5–0 (1–5–0) |
| December 11 | 6:04 PM | vs. #20 Arizona State* | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | | Autio | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 184 | 2–5–0 |
| December 13 | 2:04 PM | vs. #20 Arizona State* | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | | Soulière | W 5–4 $^{OT}$ | 84 | 3–5–0 |
| January 3 | 3:00 PM | at Michigan State | | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | | Autio | W 1–0 | 125 | 4–5–0 (2–5–0) |
| January 4 | 3:00 PM | at Michigan State | | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | | Soulière | L 1–5 | 100 | 4–6–0 (2–6–0) |
| January 8 | 5:30 PM | at Ohio State | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Autio | L 3–6 | 0 | 4–7–0 (2–7–0) |
| January 9 | 5:30 PM | at Ohio State | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Autio | W 5–2 | 0 | 5–7–0 (3–7–0) |
| January 15 | 6:04 PM | vs. Michigan State | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | | Autio | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 177 | 6–7–0 (4–7–0) |
| January 16 | 3:04 PM | vs. Michigan State | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | | Autio | W 3–1 | 195 | 7–7–0 (5–7–0) |
| January 21 | 6:04 PM | vs. #12 Wisconsin | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | | Autio | L 1–4 | 171 | 7–8–0 (5–8–0) |
| January 22 | 6:04 PM | vs. #12 Wisconsin | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | | Autio | W 5–4 | 180 | 8–8–0 (6–8–0) |
| January 28 | 6:04 PM | vs. Notre Dame | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | | Autio | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 175 | 9–8–0 (7–8–0) |
| January 29 | 6:04 PM | vs. Notre Dame | | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | | Autio | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 194 | 9–9–0 (7–9–0) |
| March 5 | 7:51 PM | at Notre Dame | | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | | Autio | L 2–5 | 104 | 9–10–0 (7–10–0) |
| March 6 | 5:36 PM | at Notre Dame | | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | | Autio | L 1–7 | 113 | 9–11–0 (7–11–0) |
| Big Ten Tournament ||||||||||
| March 14 | 12:05 PM | at #19 Notre Dame* | | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana (Big Ten Quarterfinals) | BTN | Autio | W 6–3 | 166 | 10–11–0 |
| March 15 | 4:35 PM | vs. #5 Wisconsin* | | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana (Big Ten Semifinals) | | Autio | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 158 | 10–12–0 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Alex Limoges | C | 22 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 2 |
| Kevin Wall | RW | 22 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 4 |
| Tim Doherty | C/LW | 22 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 4 |
| Connor McMenamin | LW | 22 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 4 |
| Aarne Talvitie | C/LW | 21 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 6 |
| Christian Sarlo | F | 21 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
| Connor MacEachern | F | 21 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 6 |
| Jimmy Dowd | D | 20 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 |
| Clayton Phillips | D | 20 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 25 |
| Sam Sternschein | LW | 19 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 10 |
| Evan Bell | D | 22 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 16 |
| Jared Westcott | F | 17 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| Chase McLane | C | 19 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Mason Snell | F | 21 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 20 |
| Bobby Hampton | C | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Alex Stevens | D | 17 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Xander Lamppa | F | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Tyler Gratton | RW | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Liam Soulière | G | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Tyler Paquette | RW | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Paul DeNaples | D | 22 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Christian Berger | D | 22 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 |
| Max Sauvé | F | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Will Holtforster | G | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kenny Johnson | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Adam Pilewicz | D | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Oskar Autio | G | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| Total | | | 65 | 103 | 168 | 170 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Oskar Autio | 18 | 1072 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 56 | 474 | 1 | .894 | 3.13 |
| Liam Soulière | 5 | 248 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 77 | 103 | 0 | .844 | 4.60 |
| Will Holtforster | 2 | 6:39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 9.02 |
| Empty Net | - | 12 | - | - | - | 5 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 22 | 1340 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 81 | 580 | 1 | .877 | 3.63 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | 9 | 10 | 15 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR |
| USA Today | 9 | 9 | 14 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.

## Players drafted into the NHL
### 2021 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 7 | 206 | Owen McLaughlin$^†$ | Philadelphia Flyers |
† incoming freshman