Kevin Wall scored his third goal of the young season but Penn State fell 6-3 on Monday evening against Wisconsin and 0-3 on the year despite a massive disparity in shots favoring the Nittany Lions.
In a game that showcased how shot totals and not a indication of how close a team is to scoring, Penn State’s offensive attack rattled off 52 shots towards Wisconsin goalie Robbie Beydoun en route to its third-straight loss to open the 2020 season.
Wall started off the scoring midway through the first period for his fourth goal in as many games dating back to last season but Wisconsin would respond just minutes later to tie the game, beating Penn State goalie Oskar Autio in his second start of the year.
The Badgers added a second goal late in the period to take a 2-1 margin into the first intermission.
Despite a fairly dominating opening period of play by Penn State, Wisconsin found itself ahead for good, adding another early in the second period before Tim Doherty etched his name to the box score with his first goal as a Nittany Lion just seconds after the Wisconsin tally. Sticking to the evening’s theme, Penn State would out shoot the Badgers 24-2 in the middle frame.
Two Wisconsin goals in the opening seven minutes of the third period would put the game out of reach at 5-2 before Wisconsin added another. Connor McMenamin posted his first of the year with less than a minute to go in regulation to give the Nittany Lions their third of the night.
By the end of the evening Penn State had out shot Wisconsin 52-20 but quite obviously found far less success generating high-quality chances and chances that would ultimately find the back of the net.
While Penn State has managed to win plenty games under the support of massive goal differentials, Monday night is the second time in 2020 the Nittany Lions have broken the 50 shot mark, doing the same back in February against Minnesota in the second to last game of the regular season.
That game ended in a 3-3 tie.
