UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Behind six unanswered goals and a four-point night by junior Denis Smirnov (Moscow, Russia), No. 19 Penn State defeated Wisconsin, 8-2, on Friday evening in Big Ten Conference action from Pegula Ice Arena.
With the victory the Nittany Lions improve to 18-11-2 overall and 10-10-1-1 in the Big Ten while the Badgers fall to 10-16-5 on the year and 6-10-5-2 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After clanking the iron twice in the opening minutes, the Nittany Lions eventually took the 1-0 lead as junior Brandon Biro (Sherwood Park, Alberta) was left all alone in front and used some slick mitts to finish off a feed from sophomore Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) at 10:20.
- Smirnov then snapped an 11-game goalless drought as he ripped in a rebound to the right of the net off senior Kevin Kerr’s (Bensalem, Pa.) initial blast from the point for the 2-0 edge at 12:53.
- Wisconsin cut into the deficit in the second period as Mick Messner picked the corner over the glove of PSU junior net-minder Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) from the left circle for the 2-1 score at 7:47 of the frame.
- The Badgers then tied the contest as Wyatt Kalynuk snuck one through traffic from the blue-line that Jones never saw for the 2-2 score at 11:46 of the middle stanza.
- Penn State regained the lead shortly after as it was Smirnov again cashing in on the doorstep after sophomore Alex Steven’s (Plymouth, Minn.) initial bid was saved for the 3-2 advantage at 13:51.
- The hosts pushed the margin back to a pair just 86 seconds later as Smirnov sent the puck around the end boards and sophomore Cole Hults (Stoughton, Wis.) ripped a one-timer from the far half-wall that beat Badger goaltender Daniel Lebedeff over the shoulder for the 4-2 score at 15:08.
- Hults then sent a beautiful stretch pass indirectly off the near half-wall hitting sophomore Sam Sternschein (Syosset, N.Y.) in stride as he crossed the blueline, he then proceeded to snipe a shot over Lebedeff’s glove with just 15.6 seconds remaining in the period for the 5-2 lead.
- Penn State wasted little time extended the lead even further in the third period as junior Nate Sucese (Fairport, N.Y.) and senior Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) scored just 60 seconds apart for the 7-2 margin just 4:25 into the frame.
- Biro then registered his second goal of the contest as he received an errant defensive zone pass by Wisconsin and calmly lifted the puck into the top right corner of the net for the 8-2 lead at 11:00 of the third period.
GADOWSKY POSTGAME
Opening Statement
“I actually thought the biggest stretch of the game was in the second period. It started before we got the three goals. A huge save by Peyton Jones when it was 2-2, and it gave us a little momentum then we came back and scored three goals and that was it. I thought that was the biggest stretch of the game.”
Q: How nice was it for you to see Denis Smirnov get back on track?
A: “A few people have said that to me already, it’s really nice. He is working hard and that is often what happens. It’s funny how that works in every business in sports, the harder you work, the more good things happen, and I hope it continues.”
Q: Scoring goals in bunches is not necessarily a hockey thing, but it is something that you guys have been able to do over the years. What is the value in having an offense that allows you to go from a 2-2 game to a 4-2 game in the matter of a few minutes?
A: “I think momentum is very real in hockey, and it doesn’t always have to be goals that get you going for sure, it can be a save, a great defensive play, it can be a lot of different things, but when it snowballs on itself, I think you do see things like that and for whatever reason, you’re right, it seems to happen a number of times. My only explanation is that momentum is very real, and like I said at the start, I think this momentum, was started by a big save.”
Q: Before the Minnesota series, you lost three in a row here [at Pegula], and now have won three in a row and outscored opponents 21-6 in the three home games here. How important is it to get the home ice advantage [in the Big Ten Tournament] again?
A: “It’s no secret, and I don’t think I’m being biased, I think we have the best atmosphere in college hockey and the best student section in college hockey, and both are extremely valuable to having a home ice advantage. They were great tonight, and yeah, it really helps. We are extremely fortunate to have that. We had a question earlier about momentum, and I do really think that atmosphere plays a part in that too. “
GOALTENDING
Jones improves to 14-8-2 on the year following his 29 save performance while Lebedeff falls to 7-10-2 overall after allowing seven goals on 47 shots before being lifted for Johan Blomquist who made eight shots over the final 15:35 of game action.
NOTES
- The Nittany Lions held the commanding 56-31 lead in shots while going 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. Wisconsin didn’t allow a single Penn State power-play all game.
- With eight goals tonight, Penn State now has seven games this season with at least seven goals and they have now reached that number 21 times in program history.
- Berger becomes just the second player ever at Penn State to reach 50 career goals and now sits just four behind Andrew Sturtz’s program record of 54.
- Sucese extended his point streak to six games and after adding a third period goal he collects his eighth multi-point effort this season and the 22nd of his career. Sucese is now just two points shy of becoming just the fourth member of the 100-point club at Penn State.
- Smirnov tied his career-high with four points on two goals and two assists while registering his first multi-goal game of the season and the seventh of his career and also securing his first multi-point game this season and the 23rd of his career.
- Biro registered the first multi-goal game of his career as well as his 11th multi-point effort this season and the 22nd of his career.
- With one goal and a pair of assists, Hults secured his fifth multi-point effort this season and the tenth of his career while securing his first career goal against his hometown team. Hults also moved into a tie for fifth on the all-time goals list by defensemen at PennState with eight for his career as well as moving into a tie with Vince Pedriefor fifth on the all-time assists list by defensemen with 36 for his career.
- Senior Ludvig Larsson (Malmo, Sweden) added a pair of secondary assists to register his fifth multi-point effort this season and the 15th of his career.
- Penn State improves to 12-2-0 when scoring the first goal of the game and 15-2-1 when leading after two periods.
NEXT UP
- Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow night to conclude the season series with a 7 p.m. puck drop.
- Penn State will honor the six members of its senior class prior to puck drop as part of Senior Day.
