Freshmen Evaluation: Week Four
The Nittany Lions chalked up another series victory this past weekend against Canisius, winning by a series score of eight to three. The freshmen once again took it upon themselves to leave their mark on this series, as all three phases of the game churned out great performances. The freshmen forwards were responsible for seven of the eight points scored in this series, being major contributors over the weekend.
The offense was spectacular this weekend and the usual suspects were at it again. The team registered over 100 shots this weekend as they peppered both Canisius goalies hard in both games. Denis Smirnov, Nikita Pavylchev, Brandon Biro and Nate Sucese all registered points this weekend. Even Peyton Jones assisted Denis Smirnov with one goal Saturday night in game two. Smirnov and Biro were the only freshmen who marked the stat sheet with a goal.
The young Russian forward Smirnov increased his streak to four games with at least one point as he is becoming a top forward not only on this team, but also among all the other teams of the NCAA. Smirnov is tied for 30th in points among all Div. I forwards. This is just one example of how this freshman class is excelling so far this year. However; Smirnov seems to be separating himself from the pack as one of the best freshmen on the team.
The defense played extremely well once again this weekend, keeping heavy fire off of Peyton Jones and dominating the Penn State end of the ice. Penn State owned the possession game, not letting the Golden Griffs get an offense set up. The penalty kill was also excellent, killing off a five-minute major penalty towards the end of the first game, which would be Canisius’ last chance to get a large amount of shots on net in game one.
Kris Myllari was the only freshman who played both games this weekend on defense as James Gobetz was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s match. Myllari continues to be a force on the ice as his plus-minus rating came in at zero for the second straight series. He is taking control of his end of the ice, not allowing opponents to get great opportunities on Peyton Jones. He even registered four shots in game two, getting fairly involved on the other side of the ice, something that is uncharacteristic of Myllari. The young defenseman continues to be a stalwart for the Penn State defense.
Peyton Jones continues to impress and stifle opposing offenses with each start. Jones kept the goal lights pretty dim this weekend, allowing three goals on 43 shots. Jones didn’t have much pressure on him due to his offense giving him comfortable leads in both games. Once again, Jones kept his wits about him when it did get tough. The young netminder didn’t allow a goal during the long five-minute major penalty against the Nittany Lions at the end of Friday’s game. Although he has performed up to expectations this year, Jones will be getting some must needed rest this weekend as Chris Funkey will start to give the freshman the day off.
The freshmen are showing fans once again that they are for real this past weekend, leaving their mark on the series. They have earned themselves a B+ this week for convincingly beating a team they were expected to handle. They are unable to get a higher grade this week due to the caliber of team they played, but also because of the sloppy special teams play.
Although the penalty kill was great, the team was not great with clean play this weekend, giving up 15 penalty minutes, two of which came on a bad play by Nikita Pavylchev as he ran a Canisius defenseman into the boards head-first in the second game. This is an area Penn State needs to improve on the rest of the year if they want to be competitive against tougher opponents. Penn State looks to trounce on another suffering opponent this weekend wheny they host the Niagara Purple Eagles Thursday and Friday at the Pegula Ice Arena.
Travis Sutton is a freshman majoring in telecommunications. To contact him, email him at travissutton3@gmail.com.
