No. 12 Penn State men’s hockey (18-13-5, 9-10-5 Big Ten) will take on No. 5 Notre Dame in South Bend after advancing past Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.

The Nittany Lions swept the best-of-three quarterfinal at Pegula Ice Arena. Penn State solidified its NCAA tournament credentials with the sweep and is now a virtual lock to qualify for the tournament. Conference newcomers Notre Dame stand in the way of Guy Gadowsky’s second consecutive conference title. Will the road to a Big Ten title continue to run through South Bend or can Penn State knock off the regular season conference champion?

The General

Notre Dame (23-9-2, 18-6-1 Big Ten) dominated in its first season competing in the Big Ten. The Fighting Irish won their first 15(!) in-conference games of the season, but limped into the postseason after winning just three of its final seven conference matchups.

Although its recent form may not look great, the team is still one of the truly elite programs in college hockey. Notre Dame clinched the regular season title with five games left on its schedule, so it’s possible that the Fighting Irish took it easy as the season came to a close.

Notre Dame’s defense carried the team to a No. 1 ranking and a regular season conference title. Starting goaltender Cale Morris was phenomenal all season, posting a 1.92 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage in 2017-18. Both of those numbers top the entire conference and ranked sixth and second in the nation, respectively.

In addition to the strong goaltending, two of Notre Dame’s best players are nominated for the conference’s defensive player of the year. Senior captain Jake Evans and Jordan Gross — the team’s top defenseman — are up for the award alongside Penn State senior Trevor Hamilton.

Evans is a five-tool player who is capable of doing it all. In addition to the defensive player of the year nomination, he led Notre Dame in assists (27) and points (38) this season. Cal Burke led the team in goals, scoring 13 while playing in 32 games.

Although these numbers do not pop off the page, the team is extremely well-balanced when it comes to goal scoring. Eleven skaters have scored at least ten points on the season, and of those, six have more than 20 points. The team has goal-scoring threats scattered throughout the lineup, making it one of the most dangerous in all of college hockey.

Zeroing In

Notre Dame has leaned on its strong defense and goaltending this season as it further solidified its spot among college hockey’s elite. The Fighting Irish have allowed 2.18 goals per game throughout 2017-18, good for No. 8 in the nation and second in the Big Ten. Penn State’s dynamite offense (3.75 goals per game, No. 3 in the nation) will create a matchup of an unstoppable force against an immovable object.

Penn State has proved that it can hang with the Big Ten’s top dogs in each of the four prior matchups between the teams. The Nittany Lions held Notre Dame to a tie in the teams’ most recent meeting on February 3, preventing a 4-0-0 sweep after the Fighting Irish took each of the first three games.

The November 11 meeting between the teams was an extremely tight affair, and you can expect more of the same Saturday evening as a spot in the Big Ten Championship game is on the line.

Prediction

This is going to be an incredible hockey game regardless of the final score. Two fantastic teams are going head-to-head with conference supremacy on the line. The game will be extremely close, but I think the crowd at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend will push the Fighting Irish past the Nittany Lions 3-2.