In a high stakes series to end the regular season, No. 11 Wisconsin men’s hockey (21-11-2, 14-10-0 Big Ten) upset No. 6 Penn State (20-12-2, 12-10-2 Big Ten), beating the Nittany Lions [7-3] Thursday and [5-2] Friday.
After splitting their series with the now-No. 1 Michigan Wolverines two weeks ago, Wisconsin has now beaten top 10 teams in three of their last four games. In their last meeting with Penn State on Jan. 23-24 at home, Wisconsin was swept. By returning the favor this weekend, Wisconsin has signaled they’ve turned the corner since their six-game losing streak and helped firm up their NCAA Tournament positioning.
Back from an injury, freshman goaltender Daniel Hauser backstopped the Badgers over the weekend. Coming off rocky starts in late January and early February, Hauser was instrumental in Wisconsin’s weekend success, finishing with a .902 save percentage and 51 saves against the Nittany Lions.
Freshman forward Oliver Tulk was back on second-line right wing, while freshman forward Vasily Zelenov had senior forward Simon Tassy and freshman forward Blake Montgomery on his wings.
As a team that has flipped their starting goaltenders throughout the season, Penn State played both Joshua Fleming and Kevin Reidler over the weekend, where both netminders struggled against a fired-up Wisconsin offense. Both goalies had a save percentage of over .900 going into the series.
Scoring depth
On Thursday, the Badgers’ broke open a tie game in the third period to win 7-3.
Knowing they needed to make a good showing against a top-10 team, Wisconsin flew onto the ice and tested Fleming early. With a power play 3:15 into the game, Wisconsin dominated the offensive zone but couldn’t capitalize on the man advantage.
6:25 into the first period, Penn State went up 1-0 after four Badgers put on a rough defensive showing and left Hauser alone to defend Cade Christenson’s shot from between the circles.
The next three minutes were tight, as Hauser made four saves and Montgomery blocked another Christenson shot. With just over 10 minutes remaining, junior forward Quinn Finley grabbed Montgomery’s pass and wristed in the 1-1 tie goal from his knee.
Senior forward Tyson Dyck sat two minutes for tripping one minute later as Gavin McKenna took revenge for the Nittany Lions. Skating alone on open ice in the Badgers’ defensive zone, McKenna’s wrist shot gave Penn State the 2-1 lead.
Wisconsin put a few more shots on Fleming before the end of the first, but there was nothing to show for it until the second period.
Skating in from the neutral zone, Zelenov skated past a Penn State defender and rushed Fleming with 2:29 into the second to tie the game 2-2.
After a short minute of Nittany Lion control, sophomore forward Adam Pietila broke out of the neutral zone with freshmen forwards Grady Deering and Finn Brink. Pietila’s shot ricocheted off the pipe 4:14 into the period and Deering bounced it off his stick into a wide-open net for the 3-2 lead.
The Badgers went on the power play a minute later and couldn’t keep it in the offensive zone, as Hauser was forced to make a save halfway through the two-minute minor.
With 11:58 to go in the period, Montgomery cross checked Ben Schoen in the neck. Assessed a five minute major for cross checking, Montgomery was ejected from the game with an automatic game misconduct.
The Nittany Lions went on a five-minute power play before a Penn State two-minute minor penalty began a one minute, four-on-four play. Wisconsin held off Penn State’s offense as Hauser made three saves.
Without scoring on the power play, Penn State dominated the puck for the rest of the period. With 1:06 remaining, Aiden Fink tied the game 3-3 with a snipe through sophomore forward Ryan Botterill that bounced off Hauser’s glove.
Desperate to break the tie, the Badgers opened the third period with offensive power. Keeping control of the puck to start the final 20 minutes, Wisconsin held off Penn State until the score changed.
Four minutes into the period, Tassy skated low around the net for a wrap-around goal that put the Badgers up 4-3.
After three saves by Fleming, Botterill replicated Tassy’s wrap-around and bested Fleming with intense traffic in front of the net to widen the gap 5-3 with 13:36 to go.
Following a few wide shots from the Nittany Lions, the game went into a back-and-forth lull. Hauser held onto the game for the Badgers in the defensive zone, but Wisconsin defenders were on top of their game.
With 6:08 remaining, Pietila poked in Brink’s pass in front of Fleming to beat the netminder stick side for a statement 6-3 lead.
Penn State let the game get away from them, and with 4:11 to go in the period, the Nittany Lions were called for too many men on the ice. A minute later, another went to the box for slashing.
On five-on-three play, sophomore forward Gavin Morrissey shot from his knee between the circles to make the score 7-3.
The game ended with a whimpering Penn State team on the penalty kill, as Lev Katzin was assessed a two-minute minor for interference and a 10-minute misconduct. Wisconsin continued their onslaught of shots on Fleming before the final buzzer.
Revenge tour
Wisconsin then backed up their Thursday performance with a 5-2 win on Friday, showing the Big Ten they will be a force in this week’s conference tournament.
After a poor .829 save percentage Thursday from Fleming, Reidler started in net for Penn State.
The Badgers didn’t have many scoring chances early in the game. They went on the power play 3:37 into the period and didn’t manage a shot on goal.
After, the game progressed on both sides of the ice as Hauser and Reidler both made major saves. The scoreboard was quiet until Finley took the spotlight
8:23 remaining in the first, Morrissey tossed the puck up the ice to senior forward Christian Fitzgerald. Two-on-two with Penn State, Finley knocked Fitzgeral’s feed into the net in front of Reidler for the 1-0 lead.
Wisconsin dominated the offensive zone after the goal. Keeping control of the puck, Penn State was assessed a cross checking penalty with 3:06 remaining. Riedler had one save and the game remained at a one-goal deficit heading into the second.
Hot off the intermission and redirecting senior defenseman Ben Dexheimer’s shot, the puck bounced off Morrissey’s stick and slid past Reidler’s for a 2-0 game 22 second into the second period.
Joining the early-scoring party 1:29 in, Tulk knocked in Botterill’s pass from outside Reidler’s crease to widen the gap 3-0.
The next four minutes were a Badgers’ controlled game. Back from his ejection on Thursday, Montgomery’s one-timer from the blue line gave Wisconsin the 4-0 lead with 15:08 to go in the second.
Reidler was pulled and replaced by Fleming after four goals against. The Badgers had chances on Fleming, but nothing to show for it on the scoresheet.
With 10:57 to go, Tulk was called for cross checking. Senior forward Jack Horbach had one short-handed attempt before the Badgers were called for too many men on the ice.
Penn State didn’t manage a shot during the 15 second five-on-three play, but Shea Van Olm scored the Nittany Lions’ first of the game with 7:17 remaining. A one-timer from the right circle flew over Hauser’s glove on the penalty kill.
An energized Penn State responded again with 6:04 to go as Reese Laubach grabbed their second goal of the game with Wisconsin up 4-2. A sprawling Hauser left an open net the Badgers couldn’t defend.
Wisconsin wanted another goal before the end of the period, but Fleming held them off until the third.
Repeating his second-period goal, Botterill and Tulk raced up the ice for a two-on-one. Botterill passed from the left circle to Tulk in the right who snapped it in for the 5-2 lead 1:59 into the third period.
As the game progressed, Penn State’s frustration was evident, as a string of physical plays broke out. Wisconsin went on the power play 3:17 into the third after cross checking and managed one shot on Fleming.
With 13:16 to go, JJ Wiebush and Fitzgerald were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct and the teams skated four-on-four for a dull two minutes.
30 seconds after a Penn State faceoff win, Montgomery laid out Jarod Crespo with 9:49 remaining. Upset with Montgomery from his misconduct on Thursday, the freshman was assessed a five-minute major for cross checking and an automatic game misconduct that ejected him from the game.
Montgomery’s second game misconduct on Friday was his third of the season so he’ll be forced to miss the quarterfinal game of the Big Ten Tournament.
Penn State didn’t score on the major power play as junior defenseman Joe Palodichuk blocked three shots and Hauser made three saves.
Wisconsin went into defensive play as Penn State kept control of the puck the rest of the game. Scrappy play near the end sent Tassy and the Penn State defender Nolan Collins to the box for 10 minutes for persisting in misconduct with 33 seconds left in the period as Hauser made a save to close out the game.
The Badgers went one-for-eight on the power play and two-for-six on the penalty kill. They played a Penn State team that was off their game and surprised by the force of the Badgers, given Penn State had swept them at the Kohl Center in January.
Clinching the home ice advantage in the Big Ten Quarterfinal, Wisconsin will face Ohio State Mar. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
