The whistle blows and a dejected player skates over to the sin-bin for two minutes of self-reflection. But the opposition need not fret because with the efficiency of the No. 1 Penn State ACHA Div. I Icers' (10-0) power play, he'll be out soon.
The Icers' power play has been dominant, helping to provide offense during their 10-game winning streak.
This weekend's games saw the Icers convert on 11 of 19 power plays. Four of these came in a span of 12 minutes in the first period of Friday night's 14-1 win against Towson.
"We have two very balanced units which is great," Penn State Icers coach Joe Battista said. "It makes teams have to make decisions. It's hard to defend us."
The Icers use two lines, on the power play -- the red unit and the gold unit. Both of these units bring a different aspect of the game onto the ice.
The red unit, consisting of forwards Glenn Zuck, Kevin Jaeger, Mike Carrano along with defensemen Joe Maglaque and Curtiss Patrick, is a line of finishers. All of these players are more than willing to fire frozen rubber all night at the net.
The gold unit on the other hand, is made up of forwards Justin DePretis, Brendan Roache, Jack Weber, Bill Downey with defenseman Chris Rome. All are much more comfortable passing the puck. It's not rare to see all of these players touch the puck before beating the opposition's goalie.
With four forwards on the ice, Rome understands his role as the only defenseman out there.
"We're playing a 1-3-1 with the forwards rotating back," Rome said. "I have to be careful about jumping up on the play."
With all the scoring on the power play, it's easy to overlook the contributions of the Icers' penalty kill. This weekend, Penn State's penalty kill was 16 for 19 and helped in smothering any hopes Towson or West Chester may have had of getting back into the game.
Battista said the Icers use a very aggressive forecheck on the penalty kill, not allowing the other team to set up its power play. He also said goaltending is key to a successful penalty kill.
Penn State doesn't just sit back and wait for time to expire on the penalty. When they get the chance, forwards are encouraged to jump up on a rush and try to score.
"There are few things in hockey more demoralizing than a shorthanded goal," Battista said. "But we can't get too carried away."
The Icers' special teams have been a thorn in the side of their opposition, taking advantage of both power play and shorthanded opportunities. They have scored 28 power-play goals and added five shorthanded goals this season.
