Penn State vs. Michigan Tech prediction and game preview - March 24, 2023 | NCAA Hockey

The NCAA Hockey tournament is back in action today as the MIchigan Tech Huskies will take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in a battle of NCAA hockey tradition vs. a new era in the sport. The Nittany Lions have been riding their most impressive season in recent memory, while Michigan Tech is having a resurgence after a couple of down seasons.

Michigan Tech and Penn State set to face off in first round of the NCAA Allentown Regional

Both teams in this game had strong seasons that unraveled due to weak showings at their respective conference championship tournaments. The Huskies were the favorites heading into the CCHA tournament but were upset in the second round by Northern Michigan after easily beating St. Thomas. The Minnesota State Mavericks would eventually beat Northern Michigan to clinch an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

The conference tournament was even more disappointing for the Nittany Lions. After having one of their best seasons in the team’s young history, the Nittany Lions dropped two out of three to the Ohio State Buckeyes to be knocked out of the Big 10 tournament in the first round. The Nittany Lions had to sweat a little on selection Sunday but made it in as a three seed.

There’s some hockey talent in this game for both sides. Michigan Tech defenseman Evan Orr was a seventh-round pick for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2017, while freshman forward Kyle Kukkonen was a sixth round draft pick to the Anaheim Ducks in 2021. Kukkonen leads the team in goals this season with 18 in 38 games.

For the Nittany Lions, forward Kevin Wall was taken by the Carolina Hurricanes back in 2019 in the sixth round while fellow forward Chase McLane was taken in the seventh by the Nashville Predators in 2020. Wall leads the team in both points and goals with 16 and 29 respectively.

In net, the Penn State Nittany Lions have leaned on junior Liam Souliere to take a lion's share of the game so far this season. Souliere holds a .913 save percentage with a 2.52 GAA. The Michigan Tech Huskies, however, have one of the best netminders in the NCAA in Blake Pietila. Pietila has stood on his head for the Huskies this season, boasting a .929 save percentage and a GAA of 1.99.

Prediction: This is really a game that brings the idiom “the unstoppable force vs the immovable object”. The Penn State offense vs. Blake Pietila. There is some home ice advantage to the game as well, with Penn State playing two hours away from campus in Allentown, PA. Michigan Tech wins close- 3-1

The winner of this game will play in the NCAA Allentown final against the winner of Colgate and Michigan.