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MADISON, Wis. -- The No. 14 Penn State men's hockey team grinded out a 2-1 victory over Wisconsin at the Kohl Center in front of 7,618 fans. Tommy Olczyk (Long Grove, Ill.) netted the game-winner in the second period and Andrew Sturtz (Buffalo, N.Y.) provided a first-period tally.
Eamon McAdam (Perkasie, Pa.) made 26 saves as the Nittany Lions won their 20th of the season. McAdam improved to 11-4-1 and is 3-0-1 in his last four starts.
Penn State (20-9-4, 10-6-1-1 Big Ten) opened the scoring 14:32 into the game when Sturtz potted a power play goal, his second such tally of the season. David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta) received Kevin Kerr's (Bensalem, Pa.) pass from the point and delivered an inch-perfect pass to a waiting Sturtz, who upped his team-leading total to 16 goals.
Wisconsin (6-17-8, 1-12-4-2 Big Ten) evened the score less than two minutes later on a controversial goal by Luke Kunin's 16th tally of the season. Jake Bunz sent the puck into the zone from behind the red line and Penn State was first to the puck for an icing call that never game. Cameron Hughes won the puck and found Kunin alone in front for the equalizer. PSU held an 11-7 edge in the first.
The second period saw McAdam nearly put a pass in his own net as Wisconsin's follow up attempt was cleared off the line by Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.) midway through the frame.
Penn State took advantage of a Wisconsin line change as Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) intercepted a Badger entry and sent a pass off the boards to a wide open Olczyk who came off the bench. Olczyk went in unopposed and beat Adam Miller (28 saves) with a backhanded shot that went top shelf for a 2-1 lead. UW earned an 11-8 edge in shots.
Penn State looked for an insurance tally and took 11 of the first 13 shots in the period, but a desperate Wisconsin side fought back. During one prolonged stretch, over nine minutes went off the clock without a whistle as the Badgers were able to double shift and pepper McAdam's net, but to no avail.
Wisconsin was offered a final lifeline as David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.) took a cross-checking penalty during a 4-on-4 with a minute remaining. UW won the faceoff and pulled Miller for a 5-on-3, extra attacker power play. McAdam stopped all three Badger attempts and the Nittany Lions staved off the comeback attempt.
Final shots were in favor of the Nittany Lions, 30-27, and PSU was 1-for-1 on the power play and killed off the only Badger power play chance. PSU blocked 16 shots led by Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.) and Kerr with three apiece. Berger went 13-6 at the faceoff dot.
NITTANY NOTES
Penn State won its seventh straight game against Wisconsin to improve to 8-6-0 all-time vs. the Badgers.
The Nittany Lions won their first game when scoring two or fewer goals since March 20, 2014 vs. Michigan (2OT in the Big Ten Tournament). The Nittany Lions are now 1-4-4 this season when scoring two or fewer goals.
Penn State improved to 16-0-2 when scoring first and 18-1-0 when leading after two periods.
Tommy Olczyk became Penn State's fifth double-digit scorer with his 10th tally of the season. Friday's goal was the third game-winner of the season and the seventh of his career.
Andrew Sturtz scored in back-to-back games for the third time this season.
David Goodwin's seven-game point streak came to an end on Friday night.
Play went on for nearly 9:30 late in the third period without a whistle. Penn State took 11 of the first 13 shots in the period, but Wisconsin took the final seven in the frame.
Penn State clinched no worse than the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament with the victory. Penn State has 32 points and is three behind second-place Michigan, who fell to Ohio State at home tonight.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State returns for the series finale Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET. BTN Plus ($) will stream the game with free live streaming audio on GoPSUnow and radio on the Penn State Sports Netwrk.