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.

Season
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.

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. 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.

Departures

Recruiting

Roster
As of July 30, 2022.

Standings

Schedule and results

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Scoring statistics

Goaltending statistics

Rankings

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

Players drafted into the NHL

2023 NHL Entry Draft

† incoming freshman

References

External links

Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey seasons
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