MADISON, Wis. – The 17th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions dropped their series opener against No. 6 Wisconsin, 6-3, in Big Ten conference action on Friday evening inside the Kohl Center.
Penn State falls to 9-6-3 overall and 2-4-3-0-0-2 in conference play with the loss with the Badgers improve to 13-4-0 on the year and 7-2-0-0-0-0 in Big Ten play with the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Badgers opened the scoring just 4:02 into the contest as William Whitelaw finished off a no-look feed from Simon Tassy on the doorstep for the 1-0 edge.
- Wisconsin pushed the lead to 2-0 just over a minute later as Carson Bantle finished a cross-ice feed on an odd-man rush at the 5:43 mark.
- The Nittany Lions cut the deficit in half as junior Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) ripped a shot from the near point that deflected off a Badger stick and floated over the shoulder of goaltender Kyle McClellan and into the back of the net for the 2-1 score at 8:09 of the opening stanza.
- The hosts wasted little time regaining the two-goal lead in the second period as Bantle got in on a partial breakaway up the far side and beat Penn State sophomore net-minder Noah Grannan (Germantown, Wis.) past the glove for the 3-1 score just 48 ticks into the frame.
- The Badgers extended the lead to 4-1 when Quinn Finley caused a turnover at the offensive blue-line and skated up the far side uncontested beating Grannan past the glove at the 5:21 mark.
- Wisconsin pushed the score to 5-1 in the third period as Whitelaw tallied his second goal of the game on a rebound at the near post at the 6:37 mark.
- Penn State got one back late as senior Tyler Paquette (Collegeville, Pa.) dangled through the slot and found sophomore Alex Servagno (Gibsonia, Pa.) wide open at the backdoor for the tap in score and 5-2 deficit at 11:04 of the third period.
- The Nittany Lions continued to fight and seconds after a successful penalty kill Paquette jammed in a rebound after freshman Reese Laubach's (San Jose, Calif.) initial shot was turned aside for the 5-3 score at the 15:06 mark.
- Bantle would end the hopes of a Penn State comeback as he finished at the far post after the puck bounced off the end boards during the powerplay for the 6-3 score at the 16:15 mark.
GOALTENDING
Grannan drops to 3-3-2 on the year after making 26 saves in the defeat while McClellan improves to 12-4-0 after stopping 25-of-28 shots in the win.
NOTES
- Penn State was outshot for just the second time this season as Wisconsin held the 32-28 advantage in that department. The Nittany Lions are now 0-2-0 when being outshot this season.
- The Nittany Lions went 0-for-5 on the man-advantage for the game while the Badgers were 1-for-7 on the powerplay.
- Lugris' first period goal snapped a six-game goalless streak for the junior winger.
- With a pair of secondary assists in the game graduate transfer Jacques Bouquot (South Windsor, Conn.) secures his fourth multi-point effort of the season and the 12th of his career while tying his career-high in assists.
- With one goal and one assist, Paquette notches his first multi-point game this season and the sixth of his career.
- Penn State is now just 2-4-3 this season when not scoring the opening goal of the game while the Badgers improve to 11-0-0 when scoring first.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to the Kohl Center tomorrow evening to close out the weekend series with an 8 p.m. ET puck drop.
For more information on the 2023-24 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.