No. 6 Penn State men's hockey bounced back beautifully from disappointing back-to-back series versus Michigan State and Michigan. On Saturday, the Nittany Lions completed a series sweep against Ohio State and kept their hopes alive for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Gavin McKenna puts on Big Ten record-setting performance against Ohio State
No other than forward Gavin McKenna was the reason why.
On Friday, McKenna had a historic performance in Penn State and Big Ten history. He had seven assists and one goal — an eight-point night that set a single-game record in program and conference history. The seven assists was also a single-game record for both as well. The blue and white triumphed in an 11-4 victory at Pegula Ice Arena.
That winning energy persisted and carried over into Saturday night. While it wasn't a clear takeaway win for the Nittany Lions, they proved their resilience to come out on top in an overtime battle versus the Buckeyes.
In a packed arena at home halfway through the abbreviated extra period of hockey, the puck was back on Penn State's sticks.
McKenna danced around, sending a pass over to defenseman Jackson Smith as the true freshman forward created separation from the Ohio State player on top of him. After Smith passed the puck back over to McKenna, he swiftly dragged around the Buckeyes and didn't hesitate to shoot. The puck bounced inside goaltender Kristoffer Eberly and into the net on Eberly's left.
The buzzer sounded both a Nittany Lion victory and weekend sweep.
Gavin McKenna with a filthy OT game winner to complete the sweep of Ohio State! He finishes the weekend series with 1️⃣0️⃣ points (2 G, 8 A) 🤯 #WeAre #HockeyValley #PennState #CollegeHockey #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/oG3yLiOh3B
— Basic Blues Nation (@BasicBlues) February 22, 2026
Gavin McKenna sinks in overtime winner on Saturday versus Ohio State
Penn State won 5-4 in the overtime battle, maintaining a No. 5 ranking in the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI). The NPI is used to determine selection and seeding for the NCAA Tournament. With a weekend sweep, the Nittany Lions have a 57.034 percent chance of making the tournament.
While Penn State has not knocked Western Michigan off No. 4 on NPI rankings, it still has two more regular season series and the Big Ten Tournament to do so. If the Nittany Lions fight their way into the top four on NPI, they will be one of the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
Penn State heads to South Bend, Ind. for its next series. The Nittany Lions swept Notre Dame in January and seek another two wins on their record following this second series. Puck drop against the Fighting Irish on Friday, Feb. 27 is slated for 7:05 p.m. EST on Peacock. Saturday's game is set for a 6 p.m. EST start time.