NCAA tournament: Penn State men’s hockey finally gets shot at redemption against Denver

Penn State has waited over a year for this game.

When the Nittany Lions bowed out of the NCAA Tournament at the hands of Denver last year , they were already thinking of getting a second crack at the eventual national champions.

“I hope we get another shot at Denver,” coach Guy Gadowsky said following the 6-3 loss to Denver in the NCAA Regional Final.

Even though the loss was heartbreaking, from that point on, the success and letdown of that entire season was going to be used as motivation.

“We learned a lot this year, as a program, as coaches and as individuals as well,” Gadowsky said then. “It’s tough right now, but we’ll definitely use it as motivation.”

When Penn State returned to campus before this season, that loss was still on the mind of everyone.

But instead of feeling sorry for themselves, the Nittany Lions were using the game as a measuring stick.

“It was unbelievable to play the best team in the country [Denver] and know what level we need to be at in order to get there," forward Chase Berger said at media day in September.

Now Penn State is back and once again Denver stands in its way.

Even though these two teams face off again in the tournament, the circumstances surrounding this year’s game are very different.

Last year, Penn State faced off against Denver a day after a 10-3 win over Union, only having 24 hours to prepare for an elite team.

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“We just had nothing left,” Gadowsky said.

Now, the Nittany Lions are coming off two weeks to prepare following a 3-2 loss to Notre Dame in the Big Ten Semifinal.

That rest will be useful because Denver is one of the top teams in the nation and Penn State needs to be at its best.

Even though the Pioneers are a great team, getting another shot at Denver is exciting for the Nittany Lions.

“It’s definitely fun to get a rematch from last year,” Erik Autio said. “They’re having a good season again this year like they did last year, so it’s a fun challenge for us.”

They finally get their rematch. They finally get the opportunity for redemption. They finally get their chance for revenge.

While these may be extra motivators, Penn State isn’t focusing too much on the letdown of last year.

“We’re a new team this year,” Autio said. “We’re not really worried about what happened last year as much as worrying about this year.”

A win is the ultimate goal, but the coaching staff understands that this game could show how close the team is to being an elite and the improvements they have made since the last meeting.

“We would like to think that we learned lessons from that experience,” Gadowsky said. “Now we get to find out if that is true.”

One of those lessons from that game had to be the struggles on the defensive end and in net.

Peyton Jones gave up five goals on 27 shots in the game last year , and a much better performance out of the Penn State netminder is key.

While the rest of the team may use those lessons, Jones has tried to forget about it.

“I am not the type of guy who would reminisce on a bad game against them,” Jones said. “I just go out and try to do my best every day. I wouldn’t say I learned anything from Denver. I have just learned over the year different things that can improve my game going into [Denver] this weekend.”

One area where Penn State succeeded in last year’s meeting was balanced scoring. The Nittany Lions got scoring from across the entire lineup and even the defense, with Nikita Pavlychev, Denis Smirnov and James Gobetz finding the back of the net.

As of late, Penn State is getting a more consistent attack across all lines, with the play of the Alex Limoges, Evan Barratt and Liam Folkes line, which was the team’s best unit during the four-straight wins over Minnesota.

In the Big Ten Semifinal, the Smirnov, Nate Sucese and Brandon Biro line came up clutch, scoring both goals in the game .

The Nittany Lions need both those lines to continue their superb play, but the top line needs to step up.

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The line of Berger, Alec Marsh and Andrew Sturtz have been very inconsistent as of late and they need to find a way to produce.

For Sturtz, it is all about just keeping it simple.

“I’m going to try to put the puck in the offensive zone, possess it as much as I can,” Sturtz said. “We’re going to try and possess the puck below the goal line and we’re going to try and take pucks to the net and make them play a man’s game.”

Penn State is going to have to play a man’s game, because Denver is known for its speed and skill.

On paper, the Pioneers may seem like the more talented team, but the Nittany Lions know how they have to play.

“You can’t come to the rink and think the other team is that much better than you,” Sturtz said. “We got to be ready to give them our best game and they got to be ready to give us their best game.”

When asked about how the Nittany Lions were going to contain Denver’s top players, Peyton Jones was very clear.

“We’ll be ready.”