Penn State men’s hockey is in the win column, folks.

With a sweep over Canisius, the Nittany Lions ended their skid to begin the season. With Big Ten play right in front of them, it might be easy for a team to get ahead of itself now that it has some momentum.

Head coach Guy Gadowsky isn’t going to let that happen.

“We judge our play on a lot more than just what the scoreboard says,” Gadowsky said after the Nittany Lions completed the sweep on Saturday. “Very happy that the guys pulled it out. But man, we’ve got some work to do.”

Even with the two wins, discipline has remained a problem for the Nittany Lions, especially in crunch time. The team committed six penalties in the third period across the two-game series against Canisius, even if it was better overall against the Golden Griffins.

Gadowsky emphasized that while there was some improvement in staying out of the box, it’s still a coaching point going forward.

“I think it was a step. I don’t think it was a big enough step yet,” he said. “We actually decided we have to coach this. We can’t just talk about it. So we did.”

However, Gadowsky does realize there is more nuance to the game of hockey than simply focusing on not committing penalties.

He doesn’t want to micromanage his team into not playing the aggressive, fast brand of play that’s become the Nittany Lions’ identity.

“If you’re trying to score a goal and you’re going to net and you happen to go into the goaltender, we’re not going to ask you to change,” Gadowsky said. “We always tell the guys that we will have your back. If your stick’s on the ice, you don’t hit them in the head, you don’t hit them from behind, we will have your back.”

Keeping a balance between being aggressive and undisciplined creates a difficult line to walk as the team enters Big Ten play and physicality ramps up.

Gadowsky praised defenseman Caeden Herrington in particular for doing a good job navigating a scrum late in the game Saturday.

“[Herrington] could have done something stupid really easily. He didn’t. And yet at the same time, it’s not backing down,” Gadowsky said. “It’s non-arrogant toughness.”

That toughness will only matter more as the Nittany Lions prepare to open Big Ten play on the road against Minnesota. Gadowsky is making sure not to become relaxed at the first step in the right direction.

“We have a lot of work to do. I think we took a step … but we’re not close to where we have to be,” Gadowsky said. “Comfortable is not the word. I would say excited … I would say whatever the word is when you welcome a challenge.”

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