Penn State men’s hockey took the ice Tuesday afternoon for an open practice, and it gave an early look at the new squad ahead of Friday’s season opener at the Ice Breaker Tournament.

The team was split into blue and white jerseys and worked through offensive zone drills, five-on-five rushes, four-on-two situations, and a three-on-three small-area scrimmage.

After practice, head coach Guy Gadowsky and several players met with reporters for Penn State’s media day availability.

Here are a few things we noticed from Tuesday’s practice.

Possible Lines

It’s way too early to call anything a set line, but a few combinations kept popping up throughout practice.

Marco Mignosa, Justin Larose, and Justin Poirier spent some time together, while Shea Busch, Reese Laubach, and Luke Misa got a decent amount of work together as well.

Keaton Peters and Kaden Pitre also seemed to be together quite a bit. Braedon Ford skated with them for some reps, while Lev Katzin got a look there later.

Penn State also mixed things around as practice went on. Andrew Kuzma got some time with Mignosa and Larose, and there were plenty of other combinations depending on the drill.

Standout Players

One thing that didn’t take long to notice was the shot on Larose. Larose was one of the more noticeable players throughout the practice. He and Kuzma were the first two Nittany Lions on the ice, and both found the back of the net during consecutive drills early.

Poirier had a few really good looks, too. His shot came off his stick all afternoon, and he eventually ripped a slap shot from the point past Ryder Fetterolf.

Pitre also got on the board during practice and had a nice finish of his own while getting plenty of reps alongside Peters.

Dane Dowiak’s Return

Dane Dowiak was another standout.

Dowiak suffered a season-ending upper-body injury against Michigan in February and underwent surgery shortly after, cutting his junior season short after 27 games.

Back on the ice, he moved extremely well and had one of the cleaner sequences of the day with Kale Dach. The two went back and forth on a two-man break before Dach tapped it into the back of the net.

Dowiak also got some extra faceoff work toward the end of practice, taking draws with Laubach while other players continued skating.

“It’s been a long recovery the last six months, but I feel great,” Dowiak said during post-practice media. “I feel 110%, and I feel back to normal. I’m ready to go.”

Luke Misa’s Movement

Misa had a few good moments and created one of the better chances of the day,

During a drill, Misa found Casey Aman around the net, and Aman finished the feed past Josh Fleming. Misa also spent time skating with Laubach and Busch during different parts of practice.

Gadowsky pointed to Misa as someone Penn State expects more from this season.

“I think Misa is a guy that you can look at,” Gadowsky said. “We expect him to really take off.”

Goaltender Battle

Fleming and Fetterolf handled most of the work in net, and both looked strong.

They saw plenty of chances during the four-on-two work before getting another test during one-on-one opportunities against skaters.

Both made several stops during that stretch and held up well despite facing a plethora of quality chances. Nolan Collins also had one of the cleaner individual finishes of the day, beating Fleming on a breakaway.