No. 6 Penn State men's hockey had a historic 2024-25 season with its first NCAA Tournament appearance that took it all the way to the Frozen Four where it ultimately loss to Boston University.
Gavin McKenna expected to play in critical series for Penn State hockey
Heading into 2025-26, the Nittany Lions were slated to have yet another successful season. While that remains true as they're ranked sixth overall in the country and are almost 100 percent certain to make the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive year, they have yet to breakthrough a ceiling.
Penn State is on a four-game losing streak, including the shootout loss to No. 2 Michigan in the first game of their series (though it technically is marked down as a tie on the teams' records). It most recently sustained a 6-3 loss to the Wolverines on Saturday, Feb. 14 after the 4-4 tie and shootout loss the night before. Two weeks prior, the Nittany Lions fell to No. 1 Michigan State, 6-3 in night one and 5-4 in overtime at Beaver Stadium in game two.
Earlier in the season when Penn State met these two teams, it notched a 4-2 win over Michigan on Nov. 15. The three other contests, the Nittany Lions lost: 2-1 in overtime followed by a 5-0 shutout to the Spartans, and a 7-1 loss to the Wolverines in the first game of their series.
Michigan and Michigan State danced around as the top two teams in the country throughout the season as Penn State fought its way to stabilize as a top 10 team on the USCHO Poll.
The NCAA Tournament isn't that far away and the Nittany Lions don't have anymore regular season matchups versus the top two teams in the nation to prove they can be national champions.
The postseason is the last time Penn State can face Michigan and Michigan State, and that's not a given. As of Feb. 16, the Spartans host Notre Dame in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament and the Nittany Lions host Minnesota. Wisconsin hosts Ohio State in this scenario and Michigan takes a bye. Only if the No. 2 through No. 4 seeds move on from this round will Penn State face Michigan State again. The blue and white will have to beat the Spartans and the Wolverines will have to be the Badgers for Penn State to have another shot at defeating Michigan.
That's the Nittany Lions' final opportunity, if things pan out correctly, before the NCAA Tournament starts. They'll have to do it on the road as well.
It's neither necessary for Penn State to beat Michigan or Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament nor necessary for it to have regular season wins against either team. Anything can happen in the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans experienced that firsthand in 2024-25 when it fell as the second-ranked team to Cornell in the first round, 4-3.
However, if Penn State consistently falls behind to the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country, it's going to take a lot of lucky bounces for it to make it to the Frozen Four and a national title.