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2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions

Re: 2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State beat Providence 5-3 today for a series split at home, after yesterday's OT loss. Unlike yesterday, it was Penn State who really put a solid team game together today, and they finally look like they're starting to gel.

Down 4-1, Providence pulled their goalie with over five minutes left in the third, which resulted in Penn State's fifth goal, to make it a 5-1 game with 4:40 left to play. Penn State then took back-to-back penalties that resulted in two Providence power play goals to make it 5-3. Other than those scary last few minutes, Penn State played a solid game at both ends of the ice, and really challenged the Providence goalie all day with a ton of offensive chances.

The student section was hilarious, and I think they really helped keep Penn State's energy level sky high today. Everything was clicking today for Penn State, other than that final few minutes shorthanded. Next week it's on to Mercyhurst to begin conference play.

Highlight video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2eQWApIGUE&feature=youtu.be
 
Re: 2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions

Nice video! Great win for Penn State and nice to see them getting some fan support too.
 
Re: 2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions

Lindsay said:
Nice video! Great win for Penn State and nice to see them getting some fan support too.
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Thanks, Lindsay! It was great to see some students again today with their signs and chants, and I hope they're getting a taste for women's hockey like they have for the men's team (the student section is rabid).
 
Re: 2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions

Weekend takeaways vs Providence:

Providence came into the series unbeaten, and had swept Bemidji State, but I think Penn State and Providence were pretty evenly matched. This series came down to who was going to be better and more consistent with putting plays and scoring chances together. Friday that was Providence, and Saturday it was Penn State.

Friday's OT game was closer than Saturday's game. Both teams were fast and had lots of scoring chances, but Providence was just better and smarter Friday with their passing and execution. Penn State had a lot of chances, too, but it was more individual effort than anything orchestrated. Saturday's game was a role-reversal, with Penn State moving the puck better, and Providence being the team having to react to the flow of the game. Providence still had a lot of scoring chances, but Penn State really put pressure on Providence goalie Sandra Abstreiter. In Saturday's game, Abstreiter was being run in and out of net for the final seven minutes of the game - it was that and two power plays (including a 5-on-3) that got Providence on the board at all.

There were occasional miscues in Penn State's play, but that's hockey, and it's nice to be at a point with this program now where we're seeing a misstep here and there rather than being left questioning entire systems. Kudos to Jeff Kampersal and his staff for turning that around. Penn State's drive for more scoring than last year is impressive - they go hard and fast to the net and stay there for second and third chances. Natalie Heising deservedly gets a lot of credit, but there is a lot of other offensive talent on this team, too. It's a nice problem for Kampersal to have, figuring out how to spread that out and match up the best combinations. He did a great job of that for Saturday's game.

Defensively, Penn State is a very physical team, but disciplined about it. They take very few penalties, but they toe that line right to the edge and play a smothering defensive game in their end. The one kink still to work out is moving the puck out of the defensive zone. That's where the occasional miscues happen, with soft (or just bad) passes or indecisiveness with the puck, taking a tick too long to move it up ice. They're improving on that, but that needs to happen a lot faster and a lot smarter more consistently, especially with conference play starting next weekend.

Overall, Penn State looks very good so far - this is a fun team to watch.
 
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Re: 2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions

vicb, I meant to ask you how your experience was last weekend at the Penn State men's hockey game. How was it dealing with parking with it being Homecoming weekend?
 
Re: 2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions

Parking was not an issue. Parked in the Football parking lot caddie corner (across University Ave) to Pegula. On Friday night went early with all the street closures for the Home Coming parade and got to park for Free :) in that same football lot that we had to pay $5.00 for on Thursday night.

While the games were not what I wanted scoring wise (Penn State men have a really good team and should make the NC$$ Tourney), my ears are still ringing from the PS Student section, 'WE ARE PENN STATE, WE ARE PENN STATE, Thank you, YOUR WELCOME".
Your band was great also. Seating wise our seats sucked. Were compted to my buddy who was with us (he is a big donor to Clarkson Hockey). Were low to the right of the Clarkson bench and it was impossible to see much of the far section of the ice (opposite the Student Section). Luckily after the first period we were able to move up a couple of rows to improve our vision but even so still tough to see a lot of the far side ice. All in all had a great time and hope the Clarkson men and women get to play Penn State in the future so that my wife and I can go back.
 
Re: 2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions

vicb said:
Parking was not an issue. Parked in the Football parking lot caddie corner (across University Ave) to Pegula. On Friday night went early with all the street closures for the Home Coming parade and got to park for Free :) in that same football lot that we had to pay $5.00 for on Thursday night.

While the games were not what I wanted scoring wise (Penn State men have a really good team and should make the NC$$ Tourney), my ears are still ringing from the PS Student section, 'WE ARE PENN STATE, WE ARE PENN STATE, Thank you, YOUR WELCOME".
Your band was great also. Seating wise our seats sucked. Were compted to my buddy who was with us (he is a big donor to Clarkson Hockey). Were low to the right of the Clarkson bench and it was impossible to see much of the far section of the ice (opposite the Student Section). Luckily after the first period we were able to move up a couple of rows to improve our vision but even so still tough to see a lot of the far side ice. All in all had a great time and hope the Clarkson men and women get to play Penn State in the future so that my wife and I can go back.
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I'm glad it wasn't as much of a parking mess as I had imagined. I hate trying just to get to Pegula on a football game day - traffic is backed up for a long way, so I was thinking it might be the same kind of mess during Homecoming. You need to have your friend spring for box seats for the next men's game you come to at Penn State. :D

My son used to run the Army recruiting station here and he got complimentary tickets for a men's game, and asked me if I wanted a ticket, so I asked what seat numbers he had (knowing it was assigned seats for men's games). I looked at the seating chart with the seat numbers he gave me and I couldn't find the seats...until I looked at the chart a second time, and noticed the numbers for the box seats, and there they were! So I got a free box seat, with its own free hot food buffet, at a men's hockey game. I remember the buffet more than anything about the game - hahaha!
 
Re: 2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions

Watched both games on Lion Vision. Should of had two wins. State carried play after 16 tied it up. Counted seven opportunities in last six minutes. Taking time and space away was key and team must have missed that memo letting 15 get loose.

Power play is terrible even gave up a shorty I think.

Second game time and space was non existent for Providence and game was closer than it should have been. D need to stay out of box.

The D are doing a good job of moving puck out of zone. 7 and 9 appear to favor the chip which is safe. 13,15 and 27 have heads up looking to make plays down the ice which I prefer. 13 hit some nice stretch passes springing 5 and 20. 23 had some success carrying the puck but also some ?able passing. The training wheels have come off d compared to last year. It's all effective.

D do need to be incorporated into offense.

2, 10 and 26 was a very active line and had more opportunities than any other line. Did like 5' s breakaway on stretch pass, almost scored and drew penalty.

Providence played different goalies.
 
Reddington said:
Watched both games on Lion Vision. Should of had two wins. State carried play after 16 tied it up. Counted seven opportunities in last six minutes. Taking time and space away was key and team must have missed that memo letting 15 get loose.

Power play is terrible even gave up a shorty I think.

Second game time and space was non existent for Providence and game was closer than it should have been. D need to stay out of box.

The D are doing a good job of moving puck out of zone. 7 and 9 appear to favor the chip which is safe. 13,15 and 27 have heads up looking to make plays down the ice which I prefer. 13 hit some nice stretch passes springing 5 and 20. 23 had some success carrying the puck but also some ?able passing. The training wheels have come off d compared to last year. It's all effective.

D do need to be incorporated into offense.

2, 10 and 26 was a very active line and had more opportunities than any other line. Did like 5' s breakaway on stretch pass, almost scored and drew penalty.

Providence played different goalies.
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I think you "should of" paid more attention in English class. I know, I know, I SHOULD HAVE thought twice before becoming a member of the spelling police. ;)
 
Re: 2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions

Thanks for the English tidbits, in this age of texting and the denigration of correct grammar, you must be very busy. Lol. But, at least someone is reading my posts.
 
Re: 2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State begins conference play this weekend with a series at Mercyhurst. Looking at the current team stats on the CHA website, it's a pretty even match, and even tilts slightly to Penn State's favor.

Nobody would have said that in the preseason.

The biggest difference between the teams is in penalties, with Mercyhurst averaging six penalties per game and Penn State averaging three. The bad news for Penn State is that their special teams haven't exactly been stellar so far - the good news for them is that Mercyhurst doesn't have any shorthanded goals yet this season (Penn State has two). If Penn State can be disciplined and stay out of the penalty box, and let Mercyhurst kill time there instead, it could be an interesting weekend. Penn State does have six power play goals in eight games, so there's a plus. I hate to mention referees, but CHA games seem to come down to what they decide to allow and how loose they are with a whistle, so we'll see.

As far as stats, Penn State comes out on top in goals per game, points per game, shots per game, assists per game, and save percentage, and allows two goals per game to Mercyhurst's 3-1/2. The series is at Mercyhurst, and normally that would be a factor, too, but Penn State is 3-1-0 in away games and 1-2-1 at home. I think they like the blue jerseys better.
 
Reddington said:
Thanks for the English tidbits, in this age of texting and the denigration of correct grammar, you must be very busy. Lol. But, at least someone is reading my posts.
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Lol, that is one of the best reply posts ever! I loved it! Well done!

P.S. You should have put a period after "tidbits" and then capitalized "in" to start the new sentence. You do understand why, don't you?! ;)
 
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