No. 12 Penn State hockey (6-1-0, 2-0-0 Big Ten) wrapped up its sweep of No. 7 Wisconsin (4-4-0, 0-2-0 Big Ten) with a 4-2 victory on Friday night.

Brandon Biro, Alex Limoges, Sam Sternschein, and Nate Sucese all found the back of the net for the Nittany Lions during a tense, cagey affair at Pegula Ice Arena. Sternschein scored the game-winning goal with 8:10 to play in the third period, and Sucese put the icing on Friday night’s cake with a 175-foot shot into a yawning cage.

Peyton Jones made 25 saves and registered an assist in the victory.

How It Happened

Penn State got off to a lively start by recording the game’s first five shots on goal and took an 8-2 advantage in shots midway through the first period, but Wisconsin found the back of the net first. Jack Gorniak stuffed home his first goal of the season to open the scoring with 9:53 to play in the first.

Sean Dhooghe took the evening’s first penalty — a trip — with 3:35 to play in the first period. However, the Nittany Lions’ power play couldn’t cash in, so Wisconsin took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission despite trailing 12-7 in shots on goal.

The second period began with an Evan Barratt tripping minor, but the subsequent Wisconsin power play came to nothing. Badger defenseman Tyler Inamoto took a tripping penalty less than a minute after Barratt’s penalty expired, and that led to captain Brandon Biro tying the game off a pretty feed from Nikita Pavlychev. Cole Hults picked up the secondary assist on Biro’s team-leading fifth of the year.

Guy Gadowsky’s team re-took over the flow of the game after Biro’s goal. That paid off when Alex Limoges stuffed home his second of the year after a weird bounce off the boards. Liam Folkes’ feed to Limoges was a beauty, and he was credited with the only assist on the goal.

Wisconsin captain Wyatt Kalynuk capitalized on a defensive breakdown by wiring a wrist shot into the top corner of Peyton Jones’ goal. Kalynuk’s first of the year tied things up at 2-2 with 1:40 left in the second period, and that’s how the score stood after 40 minutes of play.

After a tense, choppy start to the third period, Sam Sternschein buried a wrist shot on an odd-man rush. The junior had passing options available, but he absolutely rifled his shot past Lebedeff, who didn’t cover his near post. Penn State took a 3-2 lead with 8:10 to play in the third period after Sternschein’s third of the year was assisted by Nikita Pavlychev and Peyton Jones.

Wisconsin put the pressure on Penn State late in search of an equalizer, but Nate Sucese deposited the puck into an empty net with 1:32 to play. Sucese’s 175-foot shot put the finishing touches on a huge, huge sweep for the Nittany Lions.

Takeaways

• Penn State was flying to start the game, but Wisconsin took over the flow and pace of the game after Jack Gorniak’s opening goal of the evening. I felt like the Nittany Lions got away from their game a bit until Brandon Biro shifted momentum back in Penn State’s favor.
• The second game of this series was much more, uh, calm than Thursday’s. There was definitely still plenty of rough stuff between the teams — which do NOT like each other at all — but both the Nittany Lions and Badgers were much more poised on Friday.
• How about Sam Sternschein’s weekend? The junior scored a pair of goals over the past two games — including a huge one midway through the third period. His line with Aarne Talvitie and Nikita Pavlychev was also phenomenal defensively with a tough assignment in the form of Wisconsin’s big line with Alex Turcotte and Cole Caufield.

What’s Next

Guy Gadowsky’s team will wrap up its nine-game homestand with a series against Michigan State at Pegula Ice Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. Friday, November 8 and 6 p.m. Saturday, November 9.