The Penn State men’s hockey lineup looks a lot different than it did a month ago.
Injuries have completely dismantled the usual groove that the Nittany Lions found themselves in. From Charlie Cerrato to now, Dane Dowiak, the team has spent some time readjusting to finish out the regular season strong. What once felt like a stable rotation has now turned into almost a mystery every week. Players have changed lines and even positions to adjust to the injury bug that has plagued the Nittany Lions.
Dowiak’s absence forced freshman Luke Misa into a role he is not used to. Now finding himself between Aiden Fink and Gavin McKenna, he has recognized that this is an essential move.
“Guys are just gonna have to step up,” Misa said. “That’s just how it is.”
The new line has already shown that it can be successful. In the loss against No. 2 Michigan, Misa found the back of the net late in the third period with help from McKenna and Fink. Misa acknowledged that the change is part of the adjustment that the whole team needs to make. The chemistry is there and will continue to gel through the new changes.
Changes have exceeded just that line. Defenseman Nic Chin-Degraves and Casey Aman have been asked to play forward, sometimes for entire games and sometimes for just a few shifts. The ability to fill holes without losing the team’s identity has kept Penn State competitive over the past couple of weeks.
“They’re going into spots where they’re not really comfortable,” Misa said. “But they both played well.”
Head coach Guy Gadowsky has been equally as blunt about the situation that the team is in. He emphasized that the identity the team has established, something that was not found til later in the season, will stay the same.
“We’re just next man up. And I think, I really do think we have to take that attitude, because I don’t want to change the way we play,” Gadowsky said. “Penn State hockey has always been built on, you know, we’re a fast, aggressive, gritty team.”
That identity has mattered during a stretch where Penn State faced the top two teams in back-to-back weekends. The weekends didn’t pan out in the Nittany Lions’ favor, but the performances didn’t suggest a team that was falling behind. The team still knows that they can play at the same level as Michigan and Michigan State. Even with an emptier bench, Penn State skated with each Big Ten team it has faced.
“We can stick with them,” Misa said. “We can play with any team in our conference.”
Freshman defenseman Jackson Smith, who broke the program’s single-season scoring record for a blueliner last weekend, reflected the same idea.
“It’s nice to see that we can put up a fight with anybody in this league,” he said. “We already kind of knew that going into it, but really putting ourselves to the test, especially this late in the season, where every team’s developed and every team’s ready to go.”
Smith’s season so far has become a reflection of how fast this level of hockey is. He described the jump from the WHL as a different speed.
“There’s not even close to as much time here,” he said. “You’ve got to be quick with your decision-making.”
That urgency has shaped how the team approaches each game. Now that fewer forwards are available, shift management has become the team’s main focus. New adjustments come in every day in practice.
“We still do have four lines,” Misa said. “It’s just being able to have quick shifts and make sure everyone’s rolling.”
The upcoming series against Ohio State comes at a time when Penn State hasn’t won in two weeks, not including the bye. The team keeps its head up and knows what’s at stake in the coming weeks. The standings have remained tight, with the Nittany Lions still sitting at third in the Big Ten.
“We’re looking to take those lessons and move them into this weekend,” Smith said. “Hopefully, get all six points and try to secure a home playoff spot.”
Alex is a third-year Journalism major from Sarasota, Florida. Alex is a huge Tampa Bay sports fan and even has a cat named Kucherov. You can contact her at [email protected].