Penn State 7, Wisconsin 2: The Great Dane & Gavin

No. 6 Penn State passed its biggest challenge in over two months with a resounding 7-2 win over No. 7 Wisconsin on the road on Friday night. Dane Dowiak and Gavin McKenna each recorded a hat trick, scoring six of Penn State’s seven unanswered goals in the final two periods. The Nittany Lions closed to within three points of Michigan for first place in the Big Ten with a chance to move into a tie tomorrow night.

First Period

Wisconsin started the game with an unusual power play as Penn State was late to warmups, and the penalty became a 5-on-3 for Wisconsin when Nolan Collins took a penalty one minute later. The Nittany Lions’ No. 3 penalty kill kept the Badgers away from dangerous scoring areas and successfully killed off both penalties.

Awful puck handling by Penn State in the neutral zone led to consecutive breakaways for Wisconsin, but Josh Fleming made two huge saves to keep the game scoreless.

In his first game back from injury, Shea Van Olm took a five minute major and game misconduct for boarding to hand the Badgers a third power play opportunity. Tyson Dyck took advantage and put home a rebound to put Wisconsin up 1-0 with eight minutes left in the period. Matt DiMarsico nearly tied the game on a shorthanded rush with Reese Laubach, but Daniel Hauser closed out nicely to make the save.

Oliver Tulk fired home a wrist shot through traffic to put Wisconsin up 2-0. The power play mercifully ended, but Penn State still struggled to get their sea legs. A boarding call on Tulk gave Penn State its first power play of the night, but despite a couple of good chances, the power play fizzled out. Wisconsin led 2-0 after 20 minutes.

Second Period

Simon Tassey took an interference penalty early in the second to give the Nittany Lions another chance to get back in the game on the power play. Mac Gadowsky corralled the puck at the point, moved the puck into the slot, and found Dane Dowiak for a good chance in front. The captain got an awkward shot off, but he put it home to cut Wisconsin’s lead to 2-1:

Penn State sprang an odd-man rush midway through the period with Nic Chin-DeGraves and Alex Servagno, and eventually Quinn Finley took an interference penalty to put the Lions back on the man advantage, and Jack Phelan took a cross-checking penalty one minute later. Penn State had one minute of 5-on-3 time with a golden chance to tie the game. After a puck battle along the boards, Matt DiMarsico fed the puck to an open Gavin McKenna, and the ever-patient McKenna fired home a wrister from the high slot to tie the game at 2:

Penn State set up a shooting gallery with its remaining power play time, and while they could not score on the second man advantage, the sustained zone time left some tired Badgers on the ice. Aiden Fink kept the puck in the zone and passed the puck over to Mac Gadowsky near the wall. Gadowsky passed it to an open Reese Laubach, who hit the post for the second time in the period, but Dane Dowiak was right there on the doorstep to put home the rebound and give PSU their first lead of the game at 3-2:

Wisconsin hemmed Penn State in their own zone a couple of times later in the frame, but Josh Fleming made a few big saves to preserve the Lions’ lead. Penn State took a 3-2 lead into the final period.

Third Period

On the first shift of the third period, Jackson Smith took a shot from the point that deflected off a Badger stick and into the back of the net blocker side high past Hauser to extend Penn State’s lead to 4-2:

Minutes later, Gavin McKenna forced a neutral zone turnover by batting the puck out of mid-air. Uncontested, he walked into the offensive zone and wristed home his second goal of the night to extend the Lions’ advantage to 5-2:

After a disciplined start to the third, Lev Katzin took an interference penalty midway through the period. Josh Fleming made a huge pad save on Quinn Finley, and the Nittany Lions raced back on the counterattack. Aiden Fink’s initial shot was stopped by Hauser, but Dane Dowiak batted home the rebound for his first career hat trick and the team’s sixth of the season:

In the closing minutes, Mac Gadowsky made a nice backhand outlet pass to spring Gavin McKenna on a breakaway, and McKenna finished off his first career hat trick to put home the proverbial extra point and a 7-2 Penn State lead:

Penn State scored seven unanswered goals to seal a critical 7-2 road blowout win over Wisconsin.

Scoring Summary

First Period

• WISC: Tyson Dyck (3)- Logan Hensler (8), Luke Osburn (9)- PP- 11:46
• WISC: Oliver Tulk (5)- Christian Fitzgerald (7), Ben Dexheimer (14)- PP- 14:48

Second Period

• PSU: Dane Dowiak (7)- Mac Gadowsky (8), Aiden Fink (16)- PP- 1:53
• PSU: Gavin McKenna (7)- Matt DiMarsico (13)- PP- 10:48
• PSU: Dane Dowiak (8)- Reese Laubach (11), Matt DiMarsico (9)- 5v5- 12:49

Third Period

• PSU: Jackson Smith (7)- Aiden Fink (17)- 5v5- 0:15
• PSU: Gavin McKenna (8)- Unassisted- 5v5- 8:55
• PSU: Dane Dowiak (9)- Aiden Fink (18), Jarod Crespo (8)- SH- 11:15
• PSU: Gavin McKenna (9)- Mac Gadowsky (10)- 5v5- 17:13

Shots By Period

• PSU: 6-16-12-33
• WISC: 18-18-5-41

Takeaways

• Weather The Storm- Early on, it looked like Wisconsin was going to run Penn State out of the building with a wide 18-6 shots advantage in the first period. Dane Dowiak’s goal early in the second period seemed to settle the team down and let them get back to their game.
• Josh Fleming- While the Nittany Lions were finding their sea legs, Fleming made several big saves to prevent the game from spiraling out of reach. Penn State may have the best goaltender in the NCAA, a huge asset as the postseason draws closer.
• Hat Tricks- Penn State has seven hat tricks as a team this season alone, roughly half of the program’s total entering this season (15).
• Gavin McKenna- After a somewhat pedestrian start to the season, McKenna has found another gear since the holiday break. With five goals in the last two games and eight total points in his last three games, we are finally starting to see his full potential.
• The Great Dane- Dane Dowiak has been great as the second line center after Charlie Cerrato’s injury bumped him up into the role. He has good chemistry with Fink and McKenna, and the line as a whole has been Penn State’s most impactful during the six-game winning streak.
• Road Warriors- A top 10 win on the road by a 7-2 margin is about a good of a win as it gets. It wasn’t perfect, but this was a huge win for Penn State’s Big Ten title hopes and NCAA Tournament positioning.

Standings & Such

Penn State has closed within three points of Michigan, meaning a regulation win tomorrow puts the Lions in a first-place tie. Michigan State beat Minnesota at home to stay one point behind Penn State. Ohio State beat Notre Dame, who has dropped to 0-13 in conference play.

At the time of posting, Penn State is still No. 6 in the NPI, but the Lions should move up to No. 5 when the ranking is updated later tonight.

What’s Next

The two teams will meet again tomorrow night. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:30pm on Big Ten Network.