| 4 | 1 |
| Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa. | 6,103 | |
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Feb. 7, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State men's hockey team completed its first home Big Ten sweep and first season sweep of an opponent on Saturday, defeating Wisconsin, 4-1, in front of 6,103 fans at Pegula Ice Arena. PJ Musico (Orange, Calif.) made 27 saves as the Nittany Lions received goals from four different players.
"It's very difficult (to sweep a season series)," head coach Guy Gadowsky said. "And I think we caught them at a good time. They're a lot more talented than their record shows right now, but they're very, very young and I think everybody knows that. Trust me, they're going to be Wisconsin soon but they're young, and it sort of goes to show how tough this league is.
"It's tough to have a sweep of anybody in the Big Ten, you should be very proud because that's hard to do."
Penn State (15-7-4, 7-2-1-0 Big Ten) never trailed in the game, a feat the Nittany Lions accomplished for just the second time since Dec. 5, a span of 11 games. Wisconsin (2-18-4, 0-8-2-2 Big Ten) skated away without a win for its 10th straight time, a new school record.
With Penn State leading 2-1 eight minutes into the second period, the Badgers looked to have evened the score on an Aidan Cavallini redirected goal. Jason Ford unleashed a shot from the high slot that looked to be going high of frame as Cavallini knocked it down past Musico.
Following a lengthy review, the goal was ruled off due to the high stick with 12:11 remaining. What went to happen 88 seconds later would all but seal the game for Penn State.
Nate Jensen (Shoreview, Minn.) carried the puck into the zone and fired it behind the net. During a prolonged battled on the boards between Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, British Columbia) and Wisconsin's Jake Linhart, James Robinson (Cochrane, Alberta) swooped in, took the puck and beat Joel Rumpel (39 saves) five-hole for the 3-1 lead, a two-goal swing in PSU's favor with 10:43 remaining.
All three of Robinson's goals this season have come against the Badgers after scoring a goal in each game in Madison this past December. Loik collected his 11th assist on the play and Jensen his fifth.
Penn State would cap the scoring with 1:14 remaining as Erik Autio (Espoo, Finland) finished off a tremendous power play for the Nittany Lions with his first career goal from an Eric Scheid's (Blaine, Minn.) second assist of the night. Scheid registered his fifth multi-point game of the season.
The win didn't come easy for the Nittany Lions, who had to fight off a 5-on-3 power play just six minutes into the game. Nevertheless, Penn State's penalty killing was excellent, limiting the Badgers to four shots.
The Nittany Lions would take advantage of their first power play of the game as Luke Juha (Mississauga, Ontario) blasted home his first goal since Dec. 1, 2013 vs. Union with 6:48 remaining in the first period. Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) set up the defenseman, who scored from the right point.
Penn State would double its lead three minutes into the second period when Scheid forced a turnover along the left boards and slid the puck over to an open Dylan Richard (Sherwood Park, Alberta) in the slot for the 2-0 advantage.
The Nittany Lions would dominate much of the second period, out-shooting Wisconsin 16-6, but the Badgers clawed within one as Adam Rockwood's second of the year pieced the back of the net midway through the frame. Grant Besse's ninth assist and Kevin Schulze's sixth helper contributed to the cause.
Penn State's Musico stood tall in the first and third periods where he made 10 and 12 saves, respectively. Musico started his third straight game on Saturday, improving to 4-1-1 the year, while his counterpart, Rumpel dropped to 2-16-4.
The Nittany Lions received crucial scoring from its defensive corps, notching its first game with defenseman goals since Nov. 1, 2013 against Robert Morris. In that game, Juha and Mike Williamson (Leduc, Alberta) tallied the goals.
Penn State out-shot Wisconsin 43-28, a night after the two teams were even at 37. PSU improved to 12-6-4 when out-shooting is opponents. Penn State out-scored Wisconsin 9-3 for the weekend.
The Nittany Lions went 2-for-5 on the power play, scoring two power play goals for the first time since a 5-4 win over Northern Michigan on Jan. 23. Wisconsin was 0-for-5 on the man advantage.
Penn State again won the faceoff battle, 36-29, led by Holstrom (14-8), Scheid (7-3) and Glen (6-3).
The Nittany Lions' win brought the series record vs. Wisconsin to 5-6-0 as the Badgers took all five meetings last year including ending Penn State's season in the Big Ten Semifinals.
GAME NOTES
• The Nittany Lions improved to 10-1-3 at Pegula Ice Arena, which saw its 13th sellout of the season.
• Penn State's record this season is 14-0-2 when giving up two goals or less. PSU held an opponent to two goals or less for the sixth time in eight games.
• Penn State out-scored Wisconsin 18-7 this season. The Nittany Lions have scored four or more goals in eight of their last nine games.
• With Juha's and Autio's goals, the Nittany Lions have 18 different goal scorers this season. Last year, PSU had 16.
• The line of Richard-Scott Conway (Basingstoke, England)-Scheid had a goal and three assists, bringing their total for the season to 13 goals, 21 assists and 34 points with a plus-10 rating. Conway and Scheid are riding five-game point streaks. PSU is 7-0-2 when that threesome plays together.
• While the top line of David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.)-Holstrom-Bailey didn't score, they had two assists. The trio leads the team with 35 goals, 43 assists and 78 points.
• Penn State out-scored Wisconsin 2-0 for the second straight night. Penn State has scored the last eight goals in the third period and out-scored its opponents 20-3 in the third since Jan. 9.
• Entering Saturday night, Penn State (22 points) leads the Big Ten over Michigan (21 points). The Wolverines take on third-place Michigan State (16 points) at Soldier Field in Chicago Saturday night.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State takes on the Spartans of Michigan State in East Lansing for a two-game series beginning Friday at 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised live by Fox Sports Detroit with a stream on BTN2Go for Big Ten Network customers on their phones, tablets and computers. The series finale is slated for 6 p.m. on Saturday for a BTN broadcast.