Penn State men’s hockey traveled to Michigan State to face its toughest test of the season this past weekend, and escaped with bruises caused by a sweep at the hands of the Spartans.
The Nittany Lions were outclassed throughout the contests, only scoring one goal across the weekend.
Here are the key things to adjust, ahead of another highly-touted battle against Michigan on Friday and Saturday.
High-end talent halts Penn State’s success
The series against Michigan State was the first that featured name-value rivaling that of the revamped Penn State lineup.
The Nittany Lions were unable to control those players, leading to the losses over the weekend.
On offense, Gavin McKenna’s former Team Canada teammate Porter Martone notched two points in Saturday’s loss, and controlled the flow of both games.
Martone contributed to a plethora of scoring chances and physically outdualed the Nittany Lions with big hits and in post-whistle scrums. Minnesota Wild prospect Charlie Stramel benefitted from Martone’s dominance as well, netting a couple goals of his own while playing alongside the top-ten pick.
Forward Gavin McKenna (72) peels around the blue line during the Penn State men’s ice hockey game against Long Island at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025 in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions beat the Sharks 5-4 in overtime.
Aayan Hamdani
The main star responsible for blanking the Nittany Lions was goaltender Trey Augustine, who only allowed one goal across the two games. Penn State peppered Augustine for multiple portions of the games, but it failed to earn chances that would sneak past the elite goalie.
The Nittany Lions face another goalie with similar numbers in Jack Ivankovic this weekend.
If Penn State wants to return to the Frozen Four, it needs to be able to play up to this level of opponent.
Third period scrappiness
The series was scrappy from the get-go, as seemingly every series has been for Penn State.
However, late in the third period on Saturday, a conflict erupted unlike any other, resulting in the complete breakdown of the game for Penn State.
Trailing 3-0, Jarod Crespo started a brawl that escalated quickly. The whole line came along pushing and shoving, until Jackson Smith lost his head, and his helmet, and ended up tackling a referee trying to get back in the pile.
Defender Jared Crespo (24) turns around with the puck during the Penn State men’s hockey game against Minnesota in Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday, Mar. 1, 2025 in University Park, Pa. The Gophers beat the Nittany Lions 5-3.
Samantha Oropeza
Moments later, a Spartan jumped on Crespo and began raining down punches.
The scuffle resulted in nine penalties and a Penn State power play that was quickly erased to a 4-on-4. The Nittany Lions continued taking penalties until the Spartans had a 5-0 lead and any hope of a comeback was slashed.
Discipline remains an issue for the Nittany Lions.
Confidence and Chemistry
Penn State’s roster is better on paper than any year in the past, but thus far, the talent is jelling.
When the team wins, its confidence is off the charts, trolling fans and having fun behind the scenes. However, when the players are off, they look unable to play the game like their name-value would imply.
Forward Aiden Fink (18) watches the face off during the Penn State men’s ice hockey home opening game against Clarkson in Pegula Ice Arena on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025 in University Park, Pa. The Golden Knights beat the Nittany Lions 6-4.
Megan Miller
McKenna started gaining some traction alongside Aiden Fink, but with Fink out injured, it seemed like McKenna’s comfortability dropped in this series. One goal in the second game was directly caused by McKenna flubbing the puck in the neutral zone, and he looked like a non-factor on the ice most of the weekend.
The power play was a moot point as well, resulting in more highlight reel opportunities for the Spartans than the Nittany Lions.
Even the “Behind the Back Boys” line was held scoreless, resulting in an offensive dud for Penn State. Especially on a team constructed like the blue and white, one line cannot be dictating the entire offensive flow.
Penn State needs to find chemistry and confidence across four lines.
Up Next
All the issues that arose in the lesser-non-conference games came to bite Penn State in its largest series of the season.
Michigan is a similar team to the Spartans, featuring a depth of talent and a star goaltender in Ivankovic.Penn State will have to prepare around the elite goaltender, and work on stopping star forwards, like Will Horcoff.
These issues plagued them last weekend and will be key against the Wolverines.
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It was a rough day for Penn State both on the green and against the green.
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