Wisconsin turned in a dominant effort in the third period to cruise to a 7-3 win over Penn State on Thursday night. The Nittany Lions have suddenly gone cold with the postseason approaching. The game was tied entering the third period, but an ugly meltdown by Penn State allowed the game to spiral out of control.
First Period
After an early penalty kill by Penn State, the Nittany Lions created an odd-man rush opportunity. Ben Schoen passed to JJ Wiebusch as he gained the offensive zone, and with four Badgers committed
deep in the offensive zone, a gulf of space was created for Cade Christenson, who fired home the first goal of the night to give Penn State a 1-0 lead:
Quinn Finley tied the game midway through the period when the Penn State defense broke down in transition and allowed Finley to walk into the slot uncontested.
A slash to Aiden Fink’s hand drew the first man advantage of the night for Penn State. Gavin McKenna wasted no time making Wisconsin pay, as the Badgers’ penalty kill failed to cover the right faceoff circle. McKenna wristed home a beauitful shot through traffic to give Penn State a 2-1 lead. Wisconsin challenged for goaltender interference, but JJ Wiebusch was outside the crease when he made contact with Daniel Hauser, and the goal stood:
Penn State largely carried the territorial advantage through the first period, a drastic change from the first series where it felt like the Lions were holding on for dear life in their own zone. The Nittany Lions outshot the Badgers 15-9 in the first period and took a 2-1 lead into the intermission.
Second Period
Penn State came out swinging in the second period and stacked a few strong shifts together, but Wisconsin tied the game on their first offensive pressure of the period. The puck took a tough bounce on Josh Fleming from behind the net and snuck past him after he stopped a shot by Vasily Zelenov.
The momentum snowballed quickly, and after Adam Pietila’s shot hit the post, Grady Deering deflected the rebound in off his skate to give Wisconsin their first lead of the night at 3-2.
A brutal cross check on Ben Schoen by Blake Montgomery resulted in a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct, but Penn State could not capitalize.
In the closing moments of the period, Aiden Fink ripped home a wrist shot from the left circle after a Wisconsin turnover to tie the game at 3:
Third Period
Simon Tassy gave Wisconsin the lead back early in the third with a wraparound goal and Josh Fleming late to move across the crease. Ryan Botterill extended the lead to 5-3 two minutes later withe the Badgers again crashing to the front of the net and pressuring Josh Fleming.
Wisconsin started pouring on the offensive pressure, and a quick pass in front by Finn Brink from behind the net led to a goal for Adam Pietila. A too many men on the ice penalty and slashing call on Nic Chin-DeGraves against Penn State continued the meltdown and handed the Badgers a 5-on-3 in the closing minutes. Gavin Morrissey scored the final dagger in the low slot after some excellent passing by Wisconsin on the power play to extend the lead to 7-3.
To add insult to injury, Lev Katzin took an interference penalty and game misconduct for a reckless hit. Wisconsin was content to salt the clock on the ensuing power play and skated away with an easy 7-3 win.
Scoring Summary
First Period
- PSU: Cade Christenson (4)- JJ Wiebusch (18), Ben Schoen (11)- 5v5- 6:25
- WISC: Quinn Finley (14)- Blake Montgomery (8), Joe Palodichuk (12)- 5v5- 9:11
- PSU: Gavin McKenna (14)- Jackson Smith (14), Matt DiMarsico (23)- PP- 10:56
Second Period
- WISC: Vasily Zelenov (5)- Ben Dexheimer (17), Joe Palodichuk (13)- 5v5- 2:29
- WISC: Grady Deering (7)- Adam Pietila (4), Jack Phelan (7)- 5v5- 4:14
- PSU: Aiden Fink (9)- Unassisted- 5v5- 18:54
Third Period
- WISC: Simon Tassy (11)- Vasily Zelenov (10), Jack Horbach (5)- 5v5- 4:00
- WISC: Ryan Botterill (9)- Unassisted- 5v5- 6:24
- WISC: Adam Pietila (7)- Finn Brink (8), Weston Knox (4)- 5v5- 13:52
- WISC: Gavin Morrissey (7)- Quinn Finley (13), Ben Dexheimer (17)- PP- 17:32
Shots By Period
- WISC: 9-11-21-41
- PSU: 15-10-6-31
Takeaways
- Goaltending- Penn State has some goaltending issues entering the postseason. Josh Fleming appears to have been figured out now that teams have enough film on him. The way this team plays defense (or doesn’t), the goaltending cannot be a liability in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.
- Script Flipped– Last year, Penn State was playing its best hockey at the end of the season. They had to, of course, just to make the NCAA Tournament, but I don’t see the same fire from this year’s team. It seems they are content to mail it in until the postseason.
- Unglued- The third period was an avalanche of penalties, horrific defense, weak goaltending, and just generally giving up. For a team that has been so strong in the third period this season, that was tough to watch.
What’s Next
The two teams will meet again tomorrow night at Pegula Ice Arena. Puck drop is at 7pm on Big Ten Plus.
