CHN Staff Report
Gavin McKenna has had his ups and downs this season, but Friday’s on-ice performance ranks as spectacular.
McKenna had 1 goal and 7 assists (5 primaries) in Penn State’s 11-4 win over Ohio State. The 8 points in one game are the most since CHN started recording game-by-game statistics. The last player to have seven in a game was Maine’s Brian Flynn, in 2010.
It’s believed the last player in an NCAA Division I men’s game, playing against another D-I team, to get 8-plus points in a single game is North Dakota’s Bob Joyce, who had 9 (6 goals) on Jan. 23, 1987.
The freshman phenom who lit up Major Junior last season and arrived to the NCAA with much fanfare, has been a solid point producer for the Nittany Lions all season, but gotten criticized for some parts of his game, leading to him getting dropped on some draft rankings. But the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NHL Draft now has 41 points in 27 games.
The goal and three of the assists came on the power play, as Penn State went a whopping 5-for-5 on the night with the man advantage.
The night as a whole was uplifting for the Nittany Lions, which had been winless in the last four, playing against the two top teams in the country — Michigan and Michigan State. Prior to that, Penn State had won seven in a row, and maintains its No. 5 spot in the NPI.
Penn State also got two goals each from Matt DiMarsico, Luke Misa and Shea Van Olm. Aiden Fink had 1-4—5.
“We’ve always been a team that scores with depth and I think it’s really important for how we play, and it’s really important to take pressure off Gavin and everybody else,” said Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky, who picked up his 250th career win as a head coach at the school.