Following a 6-3 comeback win over Notre Dame, Penn State men’s hockey will take the ice at 4:30 p.m. Monday to face Wisconsin in the Big Ten Hockey Tournament semifinals.

Wisconsin swept the Nittany Lions in the teams’ first meeting of the season before they split a series at Pegula Ice Arena later on. Now that Penn State has proved it can compete following its 34-day hiatus, it should give Wisconsin a great match.

Here is what to expect of the Badgers heading into Monday night’s game.

Overview

The Nittany Lions are 1-3-0 against the Badgers this year. The team’s only win came when the teams met last in a high-scoring battle at Pegula Ice Arena.

The Badgers enter this game as the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Hockey Tournament and ranked No. 5 nationally with a 19-8-1 record. Even though the Badgers have one of the best records in the Big Ten, they have had some slip-ups this season, showing that they aren’t invincible.

Wisconsin was swept by both Michigan and Arizona State earlier this year while also splitting series with Ohio State and Minnesota. Despite the early struggles, the Badgers finished their season 6-0-1 with sweeps over Michigan State and Ohio State and a tie with Notre Dame.

During that streak, the Badgers developed one of the best offenses in the Big Ten with 3.82 goals per game. The Badgers also lead the conference in power-play goals with the best power-play percentage in the Big Ten.

Wisconsin’s offense is led by sophomore forward Cole Caufield, who leads the nation with 25 goals and 46 points. Caufield scored a hat trick in Wisconsin’s 7-3 over the Nittany Lions in November.

On the defense side of the puck, Wisconsin boasts the third-best goals per game average and second-best penalty kill percentage in the Big Ten. The Badgers also possess the second-best goal margin in the Big Ten (+42). Junior captain Ty Emberson is also up for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

Freshman goalie Cameron Rowe leads the Badgers in the crease and has turned into one of the best goalies in the Big Ten. Rowe leads the conference with a .943 save percentage and .864 win percentage.

Keys To The Game

It’s going to take a complete team performance from the Nittany Lions to conquer one of the most stacked teams in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions will have to find a way to shut down Cole Caufield, Wisconsin’s most dynamic player.

Penn State will also have to get out to a fast start and maintain the momentum. The Nittany Lions are a victim to falling apart after fast starts this season, most recently in both games of their series with Notre Dame last week. Even though Penn State escaped with a slow start yesterday, it will be much more difficult to recover against the Badgers.

Junior goalie Oskar Autio will also need to have one of his best showings this season to conquer the Badgers. Autio has been somewhat of a streaky player this season, but he was riding a hot streak with a 2.33 goals-against average in the nine games before the team’s 34-day hiatus. Autio also made multiple key stops to prevent Notre Dame from stretching its lead yesterday.

After Penn State gave up two goals within the first three minutes in yesterday’s game, the team played a flawless game of hockey. If the Nittany Lions can play the way they played yesterday on all sides of the puck and carry over the momentum, Wisconsin will encounter a lot more trouble than anticipated.

Prediction

This game can easily go either way. Even though Wisconsin is the No. 1 seed with the most stacked team in the conference, the Nittany Lions have proved that they can take down teams with that type of talent this season. Penn State looked like it was on a mission to prove everybody wrong after going down early Sunday.

With the Badgers coming off rest and Penn State coming off a fiery 6-3 win over the Fighting Irish, we believe the Nittany Lions will come out on top 5-3 and advance to the Big Ten Hockey Tournament final.