Penn State Hockey Begins Postseason With Questions About Focus and Effort

The 10th-ranked Penn State men’s hockey team is reeling at the worst possible time. The Nittany Lions are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games dating to January’s series against No. 3 Michigan State, which featured the historic Beaver Stadium outdoor game.

A spectacle that could have jumpstarted a second straight Frozen Four run instead ended up igniting no fire under the most talented team in Penn State history. Since that two-game series against the Spartans, the Nittany Lions have dipped from No. 5 to tied for 10th in the USCHO Division I poll and have fallen to 11th in the NPI rankings, quickly nearing the NCAA Tournament bubble as the postseason begins Wednesday against Minnesota.

Center Reese Laubach, who was part of Penn State's decorated Frozen Four team, sought to refocus the Nittany Lions last week after a loss to Wisconsin by saying, “I feel like guys are starting to check out.”

“I don't need to say it, but the skill on this team now is light years ahead of the team last year we had, and you guys saw what we did with the team last year, right?” Laubach said after Penn State’s 7-3 loss to Wisconsin on March 5. “We were one game, one goal really, from playing in the national championship game. So we know we can do it, and we know what it takes. It's just that little bit of hunger to do what the team needs you to do. Start playing for the team, not ourselves.”

Penn State hosts Minnesota on Wednesday in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament wondering whether it’s too late to get that hunger back.

Why is Penn State slipping?

The Penn State Nittany Lions take on the Michigan State Spartans in a Big Ten men's hockey game at Beaver Stadium. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Laubach said that Penn State found success at this time last year because the team was bought in with “all of it,” including effort and focus. The Nittany Lions played with their backs against the wall for much of 2025, needing to climb from the bottom of the Big Ten standings to an NCAA Tournament berth in just three months. This year, the team has taken an opposite trajectory.

Penn State (20-12-2) has been near the top of the Big Ten standings and the NPI rankings since its opener against Arizona State in October. The expectations have been through the roof, something different for a program that played club hockey 14 years ago.

Yet even with players who have been in the spotlight their entire life — like superstar Gavin McKenna, the top-rated North American skater in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft — the team limped into the postseason, losing two home games to Wisconsin by a combined score of 12-5.

What’s jarring is that this isn’t a midseason slump. Laubach said that Penn State needs to “buy in,” which is not what you want to hear heading into the postseason. That buy-in needs to begin with defense.

The Nittany Lions have allowed 4.80 goals per game in their past 10. They allowed 1.86 goals per game during their seven-game winning streak before the rut.

“We have little concerns,” Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said of his team’s mentality after Friday’s loss to Wisconsin. “Anytime at this time of year, we have more fatigue on the forward end than usual, because of such a short roster, but that's the way it goes. So we're going to rely on our strength and conditioning staff to make sure that we do what we have to do to be as fresh as possible. Not concerned with our mentality. Like I said, I was really happy to see the mentality tonight, but possibly a little [concerned about] fatigue.”

Can Penn State flip the switch?

Penn State Nittany Lions forward Gavin McKenna (72) during the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Beaver Stadium. | James Lang-Imagn Images

The Nittany Lions followed Laubach’s wake-up call after Game 1 with a 5-2 loss to the Badgers. Gadowsky said after that game that he was more pleased with the team’s effort. However, Penn State was outclassed by the same Badgers team it swept on the road in January.

“I like how they approached the last 24 hours a lot,” Gadowsky said Friday. “I think they recognized the fact that we didn't fight to the end. I think they're disappointed by that. They addressed it. Coaches addressed it. And the result, I thought tonight, from that aspect, was really good. ... We didn't win the game, but night and day difference of fighting to the end, and that is something that I don't think should ever leave Penn State hockey.”

While the Nittany Lions could not flip the switch in 24 hours and end the regular season with a win, they have a four-day break and a home Big Ten Tournament game to get right. According to College Hockey News, Penn State enters the Big Ten Tournament with a 99.8 percent chance to make the NCAA Tournament.

So the opportunity is there, and Penn State is a near lock to make the bracket. All the Nittany Lions need to do is get hot at the right time. And if their offensive attack led by McKenna, forward Aiden Fink, defenseman Jackson Smith and center Charlie Cerrato gets hot, the Nittany Lions can beat anyone, regardless of how the defense plays.

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