Guy Gadowsky preaches defense by committee. Given Penn State’s struggles in keeping pucks out of its net, committing all five skaters to the task makes sense.
One line is head and shoulders better at the task, however, and is led by a player who is literally head and shoulders above anyone else on the ice.
While Gadowsky relies on each line to be defensively reliable, he looks to the trio of Nikita Pavlychev, Sam Sternschein and Blake Gober when matching up against an opposing team’s top line.
It’s been hard to argue with the results.