| 4 | 2 |
| Kohl Center | Madison, Wis. | 10,091 | |
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Dec. 6, 2014
MADISON, Wis. -- The Penn State men's hockey team knocked off another achievement on its varsity checklist, completing a two-game Big Ten road sweep of Wisconsin with a 4-2 win Saturday night at the Kohl Center. The Nittany Lions used three successive second-period goals in an eight-minute span to overcome the Badgers.
"It's a great accomplishment to get two wins this weekend," Guy Gadowsky said. "The team played with poise and got the job done. There is a lot to work on over the break, but I'm proud of this team in the way it fought back from being down to keep their composure and get those goals."
Penn State (9-4-2, 3-1-0-0 Big Ten) scored four straight goals after the first Wisconsin (1-10-1, 0-2-0-0 Big Ten) tally to stake a claim of first place in the conference. James Robinson (Cochrane, Alberta), Max Gardiner (Deephaven, Minn.), Tommy Olczyk (Long Grove, Ill.) and Ricky DeRosa (Aston, Pa.) each scored, while Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) saved 23 shots.
A scoreless first period gave way to an exciting second as the Badgers got on the board when Kevin Schulze tallied from the point for his first goal of the year after just 2:32. The tally was assisted by Corbin McGuire and Matt Ustaski.
The Nittany Lions would reply in kind with a Robinson goal with 15:22 left in the period. Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.) and David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta) rushed the zone and a bouncing puck made its way to Robinson that tapped it in through Joel Rumpel (29 saves).
PSU would go on its only power play and Gardiner tallied his third of the year on the power play just 58 seconds later. Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, British Columbia) whiffed on a Scott Conway (Basingstoke, England) pass that ran to Dylan Richard (Sherwood Park, Alberta). Richard's shot went through the UW defense and Gardiner poked it home for a 2-1 lead.
The Nittany Lions would double the lead on another special-teams goal when Erik Autio (Espoo, Finland) gathered a Wisconsin turnover at the blue line, entered the Wisconsin zone and slid the puck over to Olczyk on the right wing as he scored the short-handed goal with 7:06 remaining in the second period. The assist was Autio's fourth of the season as the Finland native had a game-best plus-two rating.
Penn State's fourth goal came when Olczyk caused a turnover behind Rumpel's net as Conway collected the loose puck, had his shot stopped on the wrap around slid a pass over to an open DeRosa who slotted home his second of the year for a 4-1 lead with 12:07 remaining in the game.
UW's Morgan Zulinick tallied his second goal of the weekend with 5:14 remaining, cashing in on a backhand to cut the lead to 4-2. The Badgers would pull Rumpel for the extra attacker, but Skoff and the Nittany Lion defense stood tall for the victory.
Penn State out-shot Wisconsin, 33-25, while the Nittany Lions held the Badgers scoreless on the power play (0-for-4). The Nittany Lions have killed off 19 of its last 21 penalties in four straight games.
GAME NOTES
• The Nittany Lions improved to 3-6-0 all-time against the Badgers. All three wins have come at the Kohl Center. PSU out-scored Wisconsin 9-4 on the weekend.
• For a second straight game, PSU had different goal scorers without a multi-goal performance.
• Penn State won its ninth game of the season. The Nittany Lions won eight in all of 2013-14.
• Patrick Koudys and Mike Williamson each had three blocks to aid the Nittany Lions' defense.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State heads into a three-week break before traveling to Pittsburgh for the Three Rivers Classic at the CONSOL Energy Center to face Robert Morris Dec. 29 at 7:35 p.m.