No. 5 Penn State is on a hot streak, winning seven of its last eight games to start 2026, just in time for arguably one of its toughest tests of the regular season.
The Nittany Lions are scheduled to host one of the top teams in the country in No. 2 Michigan State this weekend, headlined by the first-ever outdoor game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday.
Guy Gadowsky met with the media ahead of the Big Ten series to break down the outdoor game, injury updates and the Spartans.
Beaver Stadium
After the announcement back in August that Beaver Stadium would play host to its first-ever outdoor hockey game, the weekend immediately became one of the most highly anticipated series of the season.
“‘When are you guys going to play a hockey game at Beaver Stadium?’ was the most common question that I’ve had over the past 15 years,” Gadowsky said. “I didn’t think they would ever pull it off this quickly for this year, I just didn’t think it was possible.”
Penn State is set to take the ice at 1 p.m. on Saturday in front of approximately 65,000 Hockey Valley fans.
“I certainly have never played in front of 65,000 people before,” Gadowsky said. “It’s an incredible event, and shows the power of Penn State and what an incredible university it is.”
Gadowsky has continuously praised the Penn State community and the support it continues to give to the program, and his language ahead of this game was no different.
“It takes a very special institution and a very special community to pull this off, and then even more so to support it in the fashion that it’s been supported,” Gadowsky said. “(The players) are extremely excited and feel very grateful to be the ones that get a chance to do this; it’s not lost on them how special this place is.”
Injury updates
The Nittany Lions have been on the receiving end of a series of injuries over the past few weeks, and Gadowsky provided updates on two skaters.
Forward Charlie Cerrato, the team’s leading scorer at the time of his injury, exited early in Game 1 of the blue and white’s most recent series with Minnesota.
After previously classifying Cerrato’s status as “day-to-day”, Gadowsky announced on Monday that Cerrato’s injury will sideline him for the remainder of the regular season, ending with “hopefully we’ll get him back by playoffs.”
Junior Casey Aman was also injured in the same game as Cerrato, but will most likely make his return before his teammate. Gadowsky told media that the forward is still “day-to-day”, but also adding “we expect him back soon.”
Scouting of Michigan State
This is the second time the blue and white will see Michigan State, after getting swept in East Lansing back in November.
“We think that we’re a much better team now than we were back then,” Gadowsky said. “From a number of ways, and from a number of lessons, not just from that first series.”
The Spartans have been one of the top teams in the country in almost every aspect and boast one of collegiate hockey’s top goaltenders in Trey Augustine.
“Bottom line is they’re a really well-balanced team…they do everything really, really well,” Gadowsky said. “So, it’s not a matter of finding the kinks in the armor, because I don’t think that there are, it’s a matter of us playing as good and consistent a game as you can.”
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