You win some, and you lose some. Unfortunately for Penn State hockey, this past weekend resulted in the latter happening twice. 

Guy Gadowsky’s squad traveled to East Lansing, Michigan, to take on the No. 1-ranked Michigan State Spartans in a top-five clash. The eyes of the Big Ten and college hockey world descended upon Munn Ice Arena to watch two teams with national championship aspirations duke it out.

While Friday’s game was close, with Penn State dropping a close 2-1 contest in overtime, Saturday’s matchup was nothing of the sort. The Nittany Lions fell to Michigan State 5-0, marking the first time all season they have been shut out and swept.

Over the course of the season, Penn State has seen much of its production from the line comprised of Matt DiMarsico, Charlie Cerrato, and JJ Wiebusch. The trio has accounted for over half of the team’s points, recording a combined 38, which includes 17 goals. 

However, after more than six periods of hockey up north, the three Nittany Lion forwards accounted for zero points. Despite this, it’s difficult to blame them for the weekend struggle. After all, the team has a lot of depth that it must rely on to come through in these rough patches.

“It’s difficult to be successful every single weekend,” Gadowsky said. “Absolutely other lines have to step up.”

But while the wins and losses are important, these early conference games are also a great chance for the team to grow as a unit, and learn more about improving its shortcomings. 

After the Michigan State series, the coaching staff spent an atypically long amount of time analyzing film and digesting what it saw from the team’s on-ice production. In fact, it wasn’t until after Monday afternoon that it finally started to turn the page and look toward Michigan.

The coaches will look at certain analytics that they believe are crucial in yielding success, and implement them at practice throughout the week.

“Specifically because of Saturday, we’re going to have a couple days that are based on what happened the weekend before,” Gadowsky said. “We have to improve the lessons that we learned from Michigan State before we move on.”

It’s not just the coaching staff that is looking to use the second-game shutout as inspiration for the future. The team is fired up after the sweep and will aim to improve on its shortcomings and use them for fuel moving forward. 

One of these areas that the team will look to enhance is consistent structure away from the puck. The Nittany Lions will need to focus on positional play and maintaining a composition that will help them return to playing a Penn State brand of fast, physical hockey.

After falling behind to a 0-9 record in conference play last season, many of the veterans on the team are using their experience of facing adversity as a mechanism for growth.

“I think what happened last year is something that I hope everybody that was in that program last year will benefit from,” Gadowsky said. “You certainly don’t come out of it by pouting or complaining or pointing fingers.”

The team has avoided getting down on itself quite well. The locker room is close-knit, led by the leadership of junior captain Dane Dowiak. The players have succeeded in building one another up while maintaining a good mindset both on and off the ice.

“They’ve been fine. They have fun together. They’re a fun group,” Gadowsky said. “We have to put in the work to get the opportunity to have fun. They seem pretty hungry to get back to that.”

Carter Schade is one of those guys who has been able to keep a positive mindset while staying accountable. 

“It’s a group effort,” Schade said. “I did a couple of things wrong, I know I did. So just kind of being positive in that way, taking what you do, and just trying to watch your shifts back to try to fix those things.”

This coming weekend, Penn State will return home to take on the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines at Pegula Ice Arena. The team doesn’t diminish the impact a home crowd has on impacting the game and turning a bad stretch around.

“[I’m] extremely excited,” goaltender Kevin Reidler said. “So far, the Roar Zone has been amazing. From what I’ve heard, Big Ten [play] is going to be even better.”

The same applies to Gadowsky, who is also looking forward to returning to familiar territory, where he expects the home barn to be rocking with another top-five matchup looming.

“Knowing that you get to play at Pegula Ice Arena, in this atmosphere, in front of the Roar Zone, it’s a nice blanket to have as a coach,” Gadowsky said.