When the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers lost starting defensemen Keith Jordan and Andrew Magulick to injury, the defense could have regressed.
Fortunately for the No. 2 Icers, the rest of the team took its game to another level.
In the four games with both players out of the lineup, the Icers gave up only four goals on 77 shots. All three of their goalies got wins in that span, and the team went 4-0.
Now with Jordan back and Magulick practicing after missing 16 games, the Icers are finally playing with their full complement of defensemen.
"With eight defensemen healthy finally, we can rest some of the guys that have been playing an awful lot," Penn State coach Scott Balboni said. "It gives us a couple more options on the power play and penalty kill that we've been limited to because of our personnel.
"It certainly makes practice a lot different because we have been redesigning and readjusting practice drills because we had only six defensemen."
Despite being limited because of injuries, the Icers defense is still one of the best in the country.
Through last weekend's series with West Virginia, Penn State has allowed 29 goals in 22 games. In the same span, the Icers have given up only 476 shots while taking 1,036. Overall, it's been a dominating performance.
Last weekend, Penn State held West Virginia to 34 shots in two games, which was its lowest shot output of the season over two games.
"One of our goals every game is to hold our opponents under 20 shots per game," Jordan said. "It doesn't matter what team we play, we believe we're capable of holding anyone under 20 shots."
A key to the defense's success can be heard when the puck is sent into the Icers' zone.
Goaltenders yell to communicate with the defensemen, letting them know where to send the puck.
"One of the major things is letting them know where the other team is coming from," junior goalie Nick Signet said. "All defensemen like a lot of talk out there.
"Cleaning guys out in front of the net is their job so I can see the puck the whole way and stop shots that get through."
The goaltender is the last line of defense, and the Icers have three goalies playing at a high level, Balboni said.
Signet has 11 wins and a 1.61 goals against average, while freshmen Teddy Hume and John Jay are both undefeated in more limited action. Hume has a 0.74 GAA, which is best in the ACHA for any goalie with more than three games played.
If the stifling defense didn't cause enough problems for opponents, the Icers' defensemen create plenty of scoring opportunities for the forwards.
"We work a lot with our defense with transitions, and it all starts with them," Balboni said.
"If they can't make that initial tape-to-tape pass, our forwards don't get those odd-man rushes that lead to goals.
"Even when they're not setting up the forwards, we've worked a lot on getting pucks on net, and they have been getting shots on goal quickly from the point and off faceoffs."
Penn State's defense is a major reason the team is 18-1-3 and undefeated in conference play. Now with everyone healthy again, the team's confidence is peaking.
"In general we are very aggressive because I personally think we have the best defense in the league," Jordan said. "We're aggressive partially because we know we're probably more skilled than most the teams we play."
