UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Since the middle of February, when the season needed to quickly turnaround for Penn State to have another shot at meaningful March, the Nittany Lions were tasked with playing must-win hockey.
Every series was important, every night a chance to claw back into the postseason picture in which Penn State (18-13-5) now figures to participate. While seemingly everyone else is looking at the rankings, Guy Gadowsky and his players said they aren't paying it any mind.
“Until your name says 100 percent you never are (in),” Gadowsky said Tuesday. “All we have is Saturday night, and that’s all we’re looking at.”
His team is ranked No. 11 in the PairWise, a positive predictor for an NCAA tournament field that takes 16 teams. That’s what five straight wins will do for a team that's seeded fourth as it heads to the Big Ten semifinals where they’ll play top-seeded Notre Dame (23-9-2) on the road at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Gadowsky’s Lions won their past five games, taking one from Michigan State and then taking four from Minnesota, two to close out the regular season and two in last weekend’s opening round of the Big Ten Tournament. It’s an impressive stretch for a streaky group that went winless for more than a month as they piled up an eight-game losing streak, only to snap it and not lose since. All Penn State needs is to take the single elimination game against the Irish to punch their return ticket to next Saturday's conference’s title game.
That -- and not any projections beyond the conference tournament -- is their focus this weekend.
"Whether you need to look into it to assure yourself you’re good enough or see if you still have chances, the bottom line is you still have to win games and the bottom line is that doesn’t happen until the season is over," Chase Berger said of the rankings. "I just think if you read into that so much it almost gets into your head and you lose focus on what’s really important."
While Penn State appears to be headed for their second NCAA tournament berth, repeating as Big Ten champions would mean somehow, someway finding a way past Irish goalie Cale Morris, one of the top net minders in college hockey.
The Lions haven’t beaten Notre Dame this season, losing three of their four meetings to the Big Ten newcomers before dropping the regular season finale in a shootout last month. Figuring out how to get the puck past Morris doesn’t come with any more basic advice than continuing to rip shot after shot and hope that at some point there will be a slip up.
“We have to somehow figure out a way,” Gadowsky said.
The Morris mess ups haven't happened often this season as his .945 save percentage -- the second-best mark in Division I men's hockey -- indicates, but trying to maximize their chances without changing their identity has been the basis of Gadowsky's conversations with his coaches this week.
"I’m going to sound do stupid, but he’s just so good at stopping the puck," Gadowsky said, trying to explain why Morris has been so successful. "I don’t know how – goaltenders all have different styles – but I don’t know how but he stops the puck. I know that’s a really bad answer, but that’s all I have.”
What makes Morris good was something that Berger, who played against him a few times in juniors, couldn't put into words either.
"He makes the saves and I have no idea why," Berger said with a smile.
Come Saturday night as Penn State tries to defend their conference title they'll have to figure out if their hot streak will somehow outlast Notre Dame's hot hand.
WORTH NOTING
• Gadoswky said Nikita Pavlychev is day to day after not playing last weekend. Those were the first two games Pavlychev missed all season.
While the Lions would like to have him back this weekend, Gadowsky made it clear that the magnitude of the game has no bearing on Pavlychev’s availability. It’s strictly a medical decision.
“If he’s 100 percent and he’s good enough to go, he’s going," Gadowsky said. "If not, we’ll wait.”
Brett Murray, who was drafted in the fourth round by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2016 NHL Draft centered the fourth line in place of Pavlychev last weekend.
"I thought he did really well, especially for someone who hadn't played in a while and the other part of that is he's someone who hasn't played center in college," Gadowsky said. "I thought he did exceptionally well. ... You have to admit that part of Nikita's effectiveness has to do with the fact that he's 6-7 and he's such an imposing figure. Every team that sees Nikita is out of the lineup is happy and then they see Brett Murray who is maybe an inch and a half shorter. I think he did a really good job of diminishing the loss."