Although two losses weren't exactly what the team was looking for, last weekend wasn't a total loss for the No. 1 Penn State men's ice hockey team.

Amidst the feelings of shock and disappointment, the Icers came out of the 0-2 weekend against No. 2 Eastern Michigan having learned some things about themselves.

These revelations have come just in time to face No. 8 Kent State, which is quite possibly the most improved ACHA team since last season.

The Icers (10-2-1) will meet up with the Golden Flashes (10-8-4) for the second time this season at 9 p.m. today at the Ice Pavilion. In early January, the Icers will play three road games, one against York University on Jan. 3 and two against Seneca College on Jan. 5 and 6.

"Originally (the losses) hit us pretty hard -- as any first loss does -- but we were able to find a lot of positives," Penn State defenseman Scott Curry said. "We are really proud of our effort. We were in it to the end against an opponent that's at the top of the league and we really learned a lot about ourselves in those games."

The biggest thing the Icers learned was how much they miss their injured teammates. Although the players who came off the bench played well for Penn State, the skill and experience of players like Alon Eizenman, Paul Sealock and Josh Mandel were what the Icers really needed.

Their loss was most evident in Penn State's penalty kill unit. Eizenman, Sealock and Mandel, along with Neil Price -- who was injured in the preseason -- are Penn State's top four penalty killers.

In their absence, Eastern Michigan capitalized on three power plays during the weekend when Penn State had only given up six for the whole season. The Icers also allowed a short-handed goal in Saturday's game.

"Where we don't really have the depth right now is on special teams," Penn State coach Joe Battista said. "Right now we need the discipline to stay out of the box."

Despite the injuries, however, Battista said Penn State still has the strength to start four solid lines against Kent State, which only started three lines against the Icers when they met in mid-November.

Curry said that might be one of the biggest advantages the Icers hold over the Golden Flashes, who are proving to be a challenger for the top teams this season.

Including a 2-1 loss to Penn State at home, the Golden Flashes played Eastern Michigan to the same deficit one month prior and most recently tied No. 6 Iowa State on the road.

In its game against the Icers last month, Kent State opened the scoring in the first minute of the game and continued to compete for the full 60 minutes.

The Icers' winning goal was scored on a power play in the second period and the Golden Flashes held the Icers without a point in the third period.

And, to the credit of the Golden Flashes, they did it while the Icers still had their top players.

Now that the Icers are without Eizenman, Mandel and Sealock, some minor concerns have arisen as to whether Kent State might deal Penn State its third loss in as many games.

"We do respect them as a team," forward Mike Blevins said of Kent State. "They've been having a pretty good year so far, and we're a little worried."

But the Icers are counting on several advantages they will have against Kent State that they didn't have against Eastern Michigan.

With the late announcement of the injuries to Sealock, Mandel and Eizenman, the revised special teams units didn't have a chance to practice together until this week. Battista said both the power play and the penalty kill units are practicing well and should do better this weekend than last.

But overall, the team feels if it could hang that tight with the No. 2 team, it should fair much better against the No. 8 team.