UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Sophomore Liam Folkes (Scarborough, Ont.) scored the opening goal and the last goal as No. 14 Penn State took two points from No. 15 Wisconsin with a 1-0 shootout victory after a 3-3 tie in Big Ten Conference action this evening from Pegula Ice Arena.
The win runs the Nittany Lions unbeaten streak to ten games (7-0-3) marking the second longest in program history as PSU improves to 12-7-3 on the year and 5-4-3-2 in Big Ten play. Wisconsin now stands at 10-10-3 overall and 4-6-2-0 in league action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring again after killing off a five-minute major penalty just 17 seconds in the Nittany Lions got a power-play of their own and we able to capitalize as Folkes slipped the puck five-hole off a great feed from classmate Brandon Biro (Sherwood Park, Alb.) for the 1-0 lead at 13:11 of the opening period.
- Wisconsin responded just 88 ticks later as Wyatt Kalynuk fed Linus Weissbach for a one-time effort below the right dot for the 1-1 score at 14:39.
- A physical second period ended with a 2-1 Nittany Lion lead after sophomore Nikita Pavlychev (Yaroslavl, Russia) sprung junior Alec Marsh (Bridgewater, N.J.) into the Wisconsin zone on a 2-on-1 break and he slid the puck to freshman Sam Sternschien (Syosset, N.Y.) at the right circle and the rookie finished short-side over the glove at 19:01 of the middle frame.
- PSU wasted little time extending that advantage in the third period as junior Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) punched home a rebound off classmate Andrew Sturtz‘s (Buffalo, N.Y.) initial shot for the 3-1 margin just 56 seconds into the period.
- Wisconsin answered as Sean Dhooghe was the beneficiary of a great pass by Wyatt Kalynuk as he lit the lamp at 3:41 of the frame for the 3-2 deficit.
- The Badgers then tied the contest as the Nittany Lions caught a tough break after Biro blocked a shot from the point players scrambled in front of sophomore goaltender Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) and the puck bounced to a vacant spot of the ice where Peter Tischke reached back and fired a wicked slapshot into the top right corner of the net for the 3-3 score at 18:08 of the final stanza.
- Penn State thought they won the game just 1:07 into the extra session as Sturtz tucked the puck in past the left post after a pair of shots were saved by Badger net-minder Kyle Hayton. However, the goal was reviewed and disallowed as senior James Robinson (Cochrane, Alberta) was called for contact with the goaltender.
- The game would end in a tie and advance to a shootout where Folkes was once again the hero as he was patient holding onto the puck long enough to pull to the right of the crease and slip the puck past Hayton’s pad to secure the extra point.
- Jones was perfect in the shootout making saves on the first two shots before the Badgers final attempt missed the net.
GOALTENDING
Jones stopped 26 shots to improve to 11-5-2 on the year while Hayton made 35 saves and now stands at 7-7-3.
NOTES
- Penn State held the 38-29 advantage in shots including a 20-10 clip during the third period and overtime.
- This marks the first-ever tie between the two programs in 23 all-time meetings as PSU holds the 14-8-1 advantage and are now 13-2-1 in the last 16 meetings.
- With his third assist this season, Jones has now set a new single-season Penn State record for assists/points by goalies and his five career assists/points are also a new program record passing Eamon McAdam for both. Jones now has a two-game point-streak.
- After going 1-for-7 with the man-advantage in the game, Penn State has now registered at least one power-play goal in five straight games. The Nittany Lions were also a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill including killing off the entirety of a five-minute major.
- Sucese extends his point-streak to four games (6-2-8) after a first period assist. While Sturtz extends his career-long point-streak to eight games (3-9-12) with his third period assist as he now has a career-high five-game assist streak.
- Biro continues his career-best point-streak, which now sits at six games (1-6-7), as he has registered at least one point in nine of his last 10 games.
- By scoring their ninth four-on-four goal of the season in the third period tonight, the Nittany Lions now lead the nation with nine such goals this season.
NEXT UP
Penn State remains home next weekend as they welcome No. 8 Ohio State to Pegula Ice Arena for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday evening.