No. 10 Penn State took on the Wisconsin Badgers hoping to rebound from the previous home weekend series heartbreak caused by the No.1 Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Penn State had a good bounce-back effort Friday night, beating Wisconsin 6-1 and reaching 20 wins for the fifth time in 11 years.
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— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) February 25, 2023
Penn State came out of the locker room like a rocket sled on rails, instantly getting into Wisconsin’s offensive zone and creating scoring opportunities. It didn’t take Penn State long to break through. Sophomore left wing Danny Dzhaniyev got the scoring going when he buried a shot past Wisconsin’s goaltender Jared Moe, putting Penn State on the board 1-0 within the first 14 seconds of the first-period. But first-period scoring didn’t stop there.
Penn State then found itself on the powerplay and refuse to be denied. Ture Linden got wide open at the top of the circle and cash in on the power play with an absolute rocket of a one-timer at the 13:19 mark of the first period. Linden wasn’t done with scoring in the first period. Linden found himself on the receiving end of an excellent pass at the top of the slot, where he once again buried a shot, this time going top shelf to light the lamp and put Penn State up 3-0 with 3:24 left to go in the first period.
Penn State left the first period with all the momentum.
The second continued to be all Penn State. Senior left wing Tyler Gratton turned Wisconsin Goaltender inside out with a filthy forehand goal that extended the Nittany Lions goal 4-0 with 16:58 remaining in the 2nd period. Senior Right Wing Connor McMenamin would add to Penn State’s lead with a top-shelf deflection, increasing the lead to 5-0 with 9:22 left in the second period. Sophomore Defenseman Simon Mack also wanted in on the scoring fun, quickly crashing the net and pouncing on a loose puck, redirecting it into the back of the net and further increasing the score to 6-0 in favor of Penn State with 3:30 left in the second period.
Penn State left the second period leading 6-0, with no plans of stopping the scoring parade they’d started.
Penn State would mainly play keep-away in the third period. Attempting to keep Junior Goaltender Liam Souliere Shut Out alive. Sadly, Wisconsin’s Brock Caufield would be the only badger to score and bring Souliere’s scoreless game to an end.
Souliere would end his phenomenal night by only allowing one goal on 24 shots on goal and bringing his record to 17-11-1 on the year.
Penn State plays its final game of the year tomorrow night against Wisconsin at 5 pm at Pegula Ice Arena.
