Kicking off its final series of the regular season, No. 6 Penn State hosted No. 11 Wisconsin on Thursday night in Pegula Ice Arena.
Despite jumping out to an early lead, the Nittany Lions collapsed in the third period, falling 7-3 to the Badgers.
“I actually thought it was a pretty good game for two and a half periods, and I really don’t like what went on after that,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said after the game.
How it happened
Wisconsin picked up an early power play when Jarod Crespo was assessed a minor for hooking, but Penn State escaped unscathed. Back to even strength, defenseman Cade Christenson scored his fourth goal of the season to take an early lead.
Badger right wing Quinn Finley quickly erased the deficit, rifling the puck past netminder Josh Fleming from the slot.
Midway through the opening frame, Tyson Dyck was called for slashing, giving the Nittany Lions their first power-play opportunity. Just 10 seconds in, Gavin McKenna wristed the puck past Daniel Hauser to give Penn State a 2-1 lead. Wisconsin challenged for goaltender interference after JJ Wiebusch made contact with Hauser, but the call was upheld.
Penn State kept up the pressure, taking a 15-9 shot advantage into the first intermission.
The Badgers benefitted from some friendly bounces in the second period, allowing them to take their first lead of the night. Shortly into the frame, the puck bounced awkwardly off the glass before Vasily Zelenov tucked it into the net. Less than two minutes later, a shot from Adam Pietila rang off the post and landed right in front of Grady Deering, who fired it in to put Wisconsin in front 3-2.
“I think that part of it is puck management, putting us in a bad defensive position,” Gadowsky said. “We didn’t manage the puck well on our own end, and we also weren’t tough enough in our one-on-one battles.”
Wisconsin got an opportunity to add to the lead when Ben Schoen was sent to the penalty box for roughing, but the Nittany Lions survived. They picked up their own man advantage when Ben Schoen was cross checked after the whistle by Blake Montgomery, resulting in a five-minute major.
Within the time frame of Montgomery’s penalty, Matt DiMarsico was called for interference, causing four-on-four action.
Wiebusch missed a wide-open shot on net, the best look during the stretch, allowing the Badgers to hold on for the kill.
After a pair of zone entries were foiled by offsides calls, Penn State made it into the attack zone and Aiden Fink — in his 100th game as a Nittany Lion — netted his ninth goal of the season to tie the score before the second intermission.
Wisconsin’s Simon Tassy got the best of Fleming on a wraparound, beating the goaltender to his stick side to take a 4-3 lead.
“They did a very good job of below our goal line and finding men in front,” Gadowsky said.
The Badgers kept the pressure on and Ryan Botterill furthered the lead with a rebound on the doorstep. Penn State fell into a deeper hole when Pietila scored off a feed from Finn Brink, doubling up the Nittany Lions 6-3.
Three late penalties kept Penn State on its heels during the final minutes of the game, allowing Wisconsin to tack on another point before the final buzzer.
“We had a chance to win the game, and we made some errors and then got stupid,” Gadowsky said. “That’s what I don’t like about it. I think you fight right until the end, and that (tonight) was giving up in my mind.”
Team leaders
Goals: Cade Christenson, Gavin McKenna, Aiden Fink, 1
Assists: Jackson Smith, Matt DiMarsico, JJ Wiebusch, Ben Schoen
Saves: Josh Fleming, 34/41
Up next: Penn State closes out the series and the regular season at 7 p.m. on Friday against Wisconsin before hosting a quarterfinal game in the Big Ten tournament next week.
