After trailing entering the third period, Penn State scored three goals in the final frame to beat Wisconsin 3-1 and secure a massive road sweep over the Badgers. The Nittany Lions are now in a tie with
Michigan for first place in the Big Ten. Penn State won its seventh straight Big Ten game, the longest streak in program history. Kevin Reidler made 40 saves, and Reese Laubach scored the game-winning goal with seven minutes left in regulation.
First Period
Jack Horbach took a two-minute penalty for head contact to Nick Fascia to give Penn State an early power play chance. After a rough start to the man advantage, Matt DiMarsico got robbed by Daniel Hauser near the front of the net. Moments later, Christian Fitzgerald took an outlet pass from Tyson Dyck and backhanded home a shot through Kevin Reidler on a breakaway to give Wisconsin a 1-0 lead.
The McKenna-Dowiak-Fink line finally got some sustained offensive zone time and a couple of good chances at even strength, but an interference penalty on Reese Laubach sent the Badgers to the power play. Penn State’s high-pressure penalty mostly forced Wisconsin to the outside, and Penn State got the kill. Wisconsin produced a flurry of chances in front of Reidler shortly after the return to 5-on-5 play, but Reidler held strong.
Penn State went back to the power play when Quinn Finley hooked Nic Chin-DeGraves. Aiden Fink and Mac Gadowsky had a couple of good chances, but the period expired with Wisconsin ahead 1-0.
Second Period
After the power play expired, Penn State was disjointed for long stretches of the second period. Nolan Collins eventually took an interference penalty behind the net with Wisconsin pressuring in the offensive zone. The penalty kill was successful again to prevent the deficit from growing.
Luke Misa had a point-blank chance in front of the net off a great feed from Ben Schoen, but Hauser made a blocker save to keep PSU off the board. Wisconsin took a too many men on the ice penalty to give the Penn State power play a third chance to get on the board. Again, the power play found some good chances in front, but Hauser remained a brick wall.
Wisconsin appeared to take a 2-0 lead late in the period, but Tyson Dyck interfered with Kevin Reidler in the crease to wipe out the goal. The Badgers created another chaotic scramble in front of the net, but again Reidler held down the fort with the defense out of sorts. Wisconsin held a 1-0 lead entering the final period.
Third Period
After two frustrating periods for the offense, JJ Wiebusch tied the game from the high slot with just over 15 minutes to play:
Kevin Reidler made a big save on a Blake Montgomery shortly after the tying goal to keep the game level.
With seven minutes left in regulation, Penn State rushed through the neutral zone 4-on-2. Jarod Crespo gained the zone and made a nice cross-ice pass to Luke Misa. The initial shot from Misa was saved by Hauser, but Reese Laubach had enough room to backhand home the rebound to give Penn State its first lead of the game:
Wisconsin pressed for the tying goal and pulled Daniel Hauser, but Gavin McKenna hit the empty net from 150 feet to ice the game in the final minute. A brawl in the final 10 seconds resulted in multiple game misconducts on both teams, but Penn State skated off the ice with a 3-1 win and a road sweep.
Scoring Summary
First Period
- WISC: Christian Fitzgerald (11)- Tyson Dyck (9)- SH- 6:50
Third Period
- PSU: JJ Wiebusch (13)- Dane Dowiak (5), Carter Schade (3)- 5v5- 4:54
- PSU: Reese Laubach (5)- Matt DiMarsico (15), Jarod Crespo (9)- 5v5- 13:08
- PSU: Gavin McKenna (10)- Unassisted- EN- 19:07
Shots By Period
- PSU: 12-11-10-33
- WISC: 16-9-16-41
Takeaways
- Kevin Reidler- There has been growing sentiment that Josh Fleming should be the full-time starter, but Kevin Reidler turned in an excellent 40-save performance tonight. The offense struggled to find its footing for over 40 minutes, but Reidler made several huge saves to prevent the deficit from spiraling.
- Defense- The defense had me nervous at several moments in this one. They struggled to clear the zone and left Badgers wide open in front of the net. The closeout after Penn State took the lead was strong, but the goaltending is covering up some defensive issues.
- Hometown Hero- Madison native JJ Wiebusch scored a huge goal in the third period to tie the game. When the offense desperately needed someone to step up, he came up clutch.
- Resilient- Penn State is 8-5 when the opponent scores first and 5-4 when trailing after two periods. Unbelievable resilience from this team all season long.
- How Sweep It Is- Penn State has swept three straight Big Ten series and has won seven straight conference games, all in regulation. The Nittany Lions have swept Wisconsin at the Kohl Center in back-to-back seasons.
- Hi, Micah- Micah Parsons was in attendance tonight, and he was having a great time. You love to see it.
Standings & Such
Penn State and Michigan are tied for first place, with Michigan State nipping at their heels just one point back. Next weekend’s series with the Spartans is critical for the conference title race. It should be a raucous atmosphere at Pegula on Friday night, a perfect lead-in to what should be an exciting atmosphere at the outdoor game on Saturday afternoon.
At the time of posting, Penn State has moved up to No. 4 in the NPI. There is a long way to go, but Penn State is in excellent position to compete for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It’s still too early to tell exactly how close the Lions are to securing a spot in the tournament, though a road sweep of a top 10 Wisconsin team likely moves Penn State close to lock status.
What’s Next
Penn State will return home for a series against Michigan State. Friday’s game is at 6pm at Pegula Ice Arena before the big showdown at Beaver Stadium on Saturday at 1pm.
