PSU in Trouble After Winless Weekend Guy Gadowsky Seemed Defeat- Week Against Michigan State, Had of Making the NCAA Tourna- in the Offensive Zone
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Vol. 120, No. 37 Feb. 3-5, 2020 ICED OUT Photo by Lily LaRegina/Collegian MY VIEW | MAX JORDAN PSU in trouble after winless weekend Guy Gadowsky seemed defeat- week against Michigan State, had of making the NCAA tourna- in the offensive zone. plays like it did the past few ed walking into the press room the team would have zero wins ment, but instead dug them- Sure, Penn State had several weeks, it doesn’t look like they after Saturday’s loss to Notre since Jan. 11 against Robert selves into a hole that puts its chances that could have easily will be winning much of Dame. Morris. own chances in jeopardy. turned this game into a win, but anything anytime soon. He talked slowly, took his time The last three weeks in Big The stars were aligned on Sat- this felt like a must-win game They need to put together a between questions and didn’t Ten play have been suboptimal urday as the Nittany Lions from a team that needed the cohesive final few weeks before have as much to say as he usu- for a team with aspirations of an broke Pegula’s attendance points. they fall hard in the Big Ten ally does. NCAA title. record that was set on the open- Penn State has had a few standings. The loud banter and cheers After losing in a dreadful 6-0 ing night of the rink. The atmo- questionable losses this year Just eight points separate No. from the Notre Dame players performance against Michigan sphere was buzzing; the players but, at the time, there was no 6 Michigan and No. 1 Penn State filling the hallway just outside at home, the team has since lost were visibly excited. real reason to overreact. in the conference, and it feels the room made it difficult to in overtime, lost, won in over- Yet the team did not meet any The Nittany Lions lost to Alas- like everyone else has been ele- articulate the words coming time, lost in a shootout and now expectations. ka Fairbanks: fine, it was early vating their game at this point through the coach’s mouth. lost. The team began and ended in the year. in the year. The noise didn’t help the Picking up five of 18 possible the game extremely below its The Nittany Lions were shut It’s in first place for now, but mood as the press conference conference points heading into standard and despite Nikita Pav- out by Michigan State: fine, the with most of the league having was short and not-so-sweet. the final three weeks of the sea- lychev’s clutch game-tying goal Spartans have been surprisingly games at hand, that might not Now, Penn State is in trouble. son is a poor strategy for a team to get the crowd back into it, the good this year. mean much at season’s end. The team welcomed a Notre with high aspirations, but the team was caught napping and The Nittany Lions were shut The Nittany Lions could self- Dame team that was on the team is also helping its oppo- let the game slip away with out 6-0 at home to one of their destruct in the coming weeks, brink of having its season ended, nent in the process. under five minutes to play. biggest rivals in Michigan: fine, with a meaningful series in but instead they leave Happy Notre Dame is now tied for The team looked more out of they’ll just get it together after Columbus next week. Valley with five of six possible second place in the Big Ten sync this weekend than they this week. They must figure it out by Big Ten points. Penn State despite a 3-10-3 record since have all year. There is no more time to then. picked up just one. Nov. 24. The defense gave up odd-man make excuses. If it wasn’t for Connor McMe- Penn State could’ve slammed rush after odd-man rush and the The season will be coming to To email reporter: [email protected]. namin’s overtime winner last the door on any hope the Irish offense looked hesitant at times an end soon, and if this team Follow him on Twitter at @maxjordan00. Another poor defensive effort By Dylan Jacobs “I think what [Notre Dame] were caught too far apart, and THE DAILY COLLEGIAN exploited was individually not be- Graham Slaggert got in alone to ing ready for it,” Gadowsky said. get the game-winner. Saturday night’s game was a “I don’t think it’s a systematic ‘oh Giving up three goals — not script we’ve seen play out dozens if we can do this against them.’ It including the empty netter — is of times before. was individual breakdowns, men- not something that would usu- In a late-season contest, with tal breakdowns. Not positional. ally cause someone to smash the plenty on the line, a familiar Just not sharp.” panic button. foe let Penn State down — its “If we’re doing what we’re sup- But at this point, offense defense. posed to do that won’t happen.” comes at a premium, even for This season, for the most part, On the first goal of the game, a usual explosive offense like has seen plenty of improvement forward Brandon Biro was in Penn State. in that area. But in this game, the a defenseman’s spot, and on a The Nittany Lions are averag- Nittany Lions took a step back. rolling puck, he didn’t fully skate ing only 2.17 goals a game over Over the course of this season, back, allowing a Notre Dame for- the past six games. they got the first part down — re- ward to swoop in and score. They have tried to improve on alizing the problem and trying to Even though he’s not a defen- defense, while not sacrificing the fix it. seman, there are many times offense. If Penn State wants to make where those players jump into But over the past three weeks, a run in the NCAA Tournament, the rush, and it’s the forward’s they have sacrificed the offense, Lindsey Toomer/Collegian it needs to get the second part job to get back. while not playing complete Nikita Pavlychev (13) celebrates after scoring a goal during the game down — doing it consistently. On the second goal, Kris Myl- games defensively. against Notre Dame in Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday, Feb. 1. The problems on Saturday lari was caught skating backward That’s been the recipe for the weren’t really about the scheme. and easily beaten, setting up a past three series, which ended There were issues, but overall, breakaway goal. with Penn State going 1-3-2 over that wasn’t the worst part of it. The defense played better for that stretch. Slow start haunts It was more about the mental- the rest of the game, with Paul The sacrifice of the offense ity. Nittany Lion defensemen lost DeNaples citing better gap con- has been prevalent all season, puck battles. They were caught trol after the first period. with the Nittany Lions ranking flat-footed. Irish forwards blew They may have fixed that for sixth in the country in scoring. Nittany Lions past them on numerous occa- most of the way, but the deciding Most teams wouldn’t com- sions. goal was an example of poor gap plain about that, but Penn State By Matthew Knaub defensive support on the play. According to Guy Gadowsky, control. is used to being at the top. For THE DAILY COLLEGIAN The goals summed up what they weren’t ready to play. Alex Stevens and Mason Snell the Nittany Lions, scoring five was a rough start for the Nittany goals a game is usually com- In front of a record crowd Lions, who were forced to retreat monplace, but now they’re not at Pegula Ice Arena on Satur- into their own zone a lot in the even scoring four. day night, Penn State could not first period. Penn State struggled Sacrificing the offense could overcome a mediocre start to to sustain any attacking pres- and should pay dividends. the game. sure, and only created scoring op- The Nittany Lions’ postsea- The Nittany Lions dug them- portunities off a handful of Notre son failures the past few years selves a 2-0 deficit and never Dame turnovers. are due in large part to the de- fully recovered, eventually fall- After about 30 minutes of ane- fense. Fixing that would make ing to Notre Dame 4-2. With the mic offensive play, Penn State them a more well-rounded team loss, Penn State has now gone forward Alex Limoges snapped come postseason time. winless in two of its last three Penn State out of its scoring But if the offense isn’t there, series. slumber. and the defense plays like it did The Fighting Irish opened the The junior beat Notre Dame on Saturday, their time in the scoring with a shorthanded goal, goaltender Cale Morris on a one- tournament could be short lived, Penn State made a bad pass timer, and the Nittany Lions of- if they make it at all. during the power play. Notre fensive returned to form. The defense had been taking Dame forward Cam Morrison Limoges’ goal and a strong fi- steps forward, but as Gadowsky capitalized, scooping up the free nal few minutes of the second pe- put it after the game, the strug- puck and taking it the distance, riod, the Nittany Lions came out gles were far from expected.