DeNaples Scores Golden Goal, Men's Hockey Defeats Wisconsin, 5-4, in OTDeNaples Scores Golden Goal, Men's Hockey Defeats Wisconsin, 5-4, in OT
Sami Reilly

DeNaples Scores Golden Goal, Men's Hockey Defeats Wisconsin, 5-4, in OT

MADISON, Wis. – A night after leaving the game early due to a major penalty for facemasking, senior captain Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) scored the Golden Goal in overtime to give Penn State the, 5-4, victory over Wisconsin earning a weekend split in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday evening at the Kohl Center.

The Nittany Lions improve to 11-8-0 at the unofficial halfway point of the season and 3-7-0-1-0-0 in the Big Ten while Wisconsin drops to 5-12-1 on the year and 3-7-0-1-1-0 in conference action.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Penn State opened the game fast playing in waves in the offensive zone and it would be junior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) finishing a rebound into a yawning net after freshman Danny Dzhaniyev's (Brooklyn, N.Y.) initial shot was turned aside for the 1-0 edge just 103 seconds into the contest.
  • The Nittany Lions doubled the lead on a beautiful passing display between freshman Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) and junior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) with the latter finishing off a backhanded shot past the glove of Badger net-minder Jared Moe for the 2-0 score at 7:59 of the opening frame.
  • Wisconsin cut the deficit in half taking advantage of another five-minute major penalty as Carson Bantle finished near the far post on a backdoor feed for the 2-1 score at the 11:19 mark.
  • Penn State regained the two-goal advantage heading into the first intermission as Schoen finished off a rebound at the far post after freshman Ryan Kirwan's (DeWitt, N.Y.) initial bid was turned aside with just 52.2 seconds remaining in the first period.
  • The Nittany Lions continued the pressure early in the second period and pushed the lead to 4-1 as Dzhaniyev was the beneficiary of an odd-man rush as he finished off a pass from junior Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) just 104 seconds into the middle frame.
  • Wisconsin cut the deficit to 4-2 early in the third period as Bantle slapped a loose puck between the pads of Nittany Lion senior goaltender Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) at 3:26 of the final stanza.
  • The Badgers kept pressing and used another man-advantage tally to cut the deficit to a single goal as Corson Ceulemans fired through a screen from the slot for the 4-3 score at 16:19 of the third period.
  • Wisconsin then tied the game with just 39.5 seconds remaining in regulation with the goaltender pulled as Jack Gorniak fired through a screen and just inside the far post for the 4-4 score.
  • Just 1:41 into the extra frame Kirwan skated across the blue-line and sauced a pass right on the tap of DeNaples who made a quick forehand-backhand move for the finish and the 5-4 victory.

GOALTENDING

  • Autio improves to 8-6-0 on the year following a 21-save performance and with his 19th career victory moves past Eamon McAdam for third all-time in Penn State history.
  • Moe falls to 3-7-1 on the year after stopping 47 shots in the loss.

NOTES

  • Penn State opened the scoring for the 13th time in the first 19 games this season improving to 10-3-0 in such contests while moving to 10-1-0 when leading after two periods of play.
  • The Nittany Lions held the commanding 52-25 lead in shots on goal while going 0-for-2 on the man-advantage. Wisconsin went 2-for-5 on the powerplay themselves.
  • Penn State is now 89-1-2 all-time when scoring five or more goals and have now won 31-straight games when doing so.
  • The goal for DeNaples was his first since Valentine's Day 2020 also against Wisconsin at the Kohl Center.
  • With one goal and one assist, Schoen collects his second multi-point effort this season tying his career-high with two points.
  • With one goal and one assist, MacEachern collects his fifth multi-point game this season and the nine such game of his career.
  • Dzhaniyev added one goal and a pair of assists for a new career-best three points while securing his third multi-point effort this season.
  • With a pair of assists, Kirwan now has three multi-point games this season.
  • The win for Penn State is just the second in the last 10 meetings against Wisconsin in Madison.

NEXT UP

  • Penn State will have the next three weeks off for the holiday season before returning to action with a nonconference series against Maine on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day at Pegula Ice Arena.
  • Tickets start as low as $10 and can be purchased HERE.

For more information on the 2021-22 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: the Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.