UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Senior Ture Linden (Great Falls, Va.) tallied a pair of first period goals including the eventual game-winner to lift No. 10 Penn State to a 6-1 victory over Wisconsin in Big Ten Conference action on Friday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions improve to 20-12-1 overall and 10-12-1-0-3-0 in Big Ten play with the victory while the Badgers drop to 12-21-0 on the year and 5-18-0-0-0-0 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lions started fast scoring the opening goal just 14 ticks into the game as Linden won an offensive zone draw and classmate Ashton Calder (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) poked the puck to sophomore Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and he beat Badger net-minder Jared Moe past the glove for the early 1-0 advantage.
- Penn State extended the lead with a powerplay tally as Dzhaniyev circled the net and fed a pass through the slot to Linden for a one-timer from the left circle and the senior did not miss making the score 2-0 at 6:41 of the first period.
- That line continued to pressure the Badgers and it was Linden again pushing the lead to 3-0 off a beautiful cross-ice, tape-to-tape pass from Calder as he went bar-down over the blocker of Moe at the 16:36 mark.
- The Nittany Lions continued to roll in the second period as senior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) found classmate Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) off the rush for the 4-0 edge at the 3:02 mark.
- Later it was senior Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) redirecting a point shot from freshman Dylan Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) past Moe for the 5-0 margin at 10:38 of the middle frame.
- Penn State extended the lead to 6-0 with another goal off the rush as senior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) found sophomore Simon Mack (Brockville, Ontario) streaking through the slot and he roofed a chip shot over the glove of Moe at 16:30 of the second period.
- Brock Caufield got the Badgers on the board spoiling the shutout with a powerplay tally midway through the third period for the 6-1 final.
GOALTENDING
Junior Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) improves to 17-11-1 after stopping 24-of-25 shots in the victory while Moe dips to 10-16-0 after making 34 saves in the loss.
NOTES
- Penn State held the commanding 40-25 edge in shots on goal while both teams went 1-for-2 with the man-advantage.
- Friday night's victory marked the 20th of the season for Penn State as it is the fifth time in the 11-year history of the program the Nittany Lions have reached that milestone and the first since the 2019-20 season. Penn State's single-season record for wins in 25 achieved during the 2016-17 season.
- The Nittany Lions improve to 27-18-3 all-time against the Badgers and have now won six-straight dating back to last season.
- Penn State scored the opening goal of the game for the 23rd time in 33 games this season running its record to 16-6-1 in such games with the victory.
- With a pair of goals and an assist, Linden ties his career-high in points and goals, marks he has achieved four times prior. The multi-goal game is the fifth of his career and his first as a Nittany Lion while the multi-point game marks his seventh of the season and 21st of his career.
- With a pair of assists, Calder secures his third multi-point effort of the season and the 33rd of his career.
- Dzhaniyev registered his fourth multi-point effort this season and the eighth of his career with one goal and one assist.
- With a pair of assists, Wall notches his fifth multi-point game of the season and the 19th of his career while moving past Casey Bailey for 10th on the all-time points list with 81 for his career.
- Freshman Jarod Crespo (Eastampton, N.J.) tallied a pair of secondary assists marking the first multi-point game of his career.
- Friday night's crowd of 6,371 marks the eighth largest in Pegula Ice Arena history and the sixth largest this season.
- Penn State is now 99-1-2 all-time when scoring five or more goals.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow evening to conclude the regular season with a 5 p.m. puck drop.
For more information on the 2022-23 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: 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.