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MADISON, WI - JANUARY 27: Wisconsin center Tarek Baker (16) shot is just wide during a college hockey match between the University of Wisconsin Badgers and the Penn State University Nittany Lions on January 27, 2018 at the Kohl Center in Madison, WI. (Photo by Lawrence Iles/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
No. 5 Penn State closes out its regular season with a home series against No. 12 Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions are locked into the three seed in the Big Ten Tournament and are a lock to make the NCAA Tournament. The Badgers are looking to secure their spot in the dance with at least a split. Penn State swept the first series between these teams back in January.
How to Watch
Who: Wisconsin Badgers
NPI Ranking (PSU): 12 (5)
When: Thursday, March 5 and Friday, March 6
Where: Pegula Ice Arena, State College, PA
Times: 7pm (both games)
TV: Big Ten Plus (both games)
Radio: Penn State Sports Network
Projected Lineup
Matt DiMarsico-Reese Laubach-JJ Wiebush
Gavin McKenna-Luke Misa-Aiden Fink
Shea Van Olm-Ben Schoen-Braedon Ford
Lev Katzin-Nic Chin-DeGraves-Casey Aman
Jackson Smith-Jarod Crespo
Carter Schade-Mac Gadowsky
Cade Christenson-Nolan Collins
Josh Fleming
Kevin Reidler
Opponent Preview
Wisconsin comes into this series with a mark of 19-11-2 and a No. 12 ranking in the NPI. The Badgers sputtered in January with a six-game losing streak against Michigan State, Penn State, and Minnesota, but have won four of their last six.
Christian Fitzgerald (15 goals), Quinn Finley (13), and Simon Tassy (10) lead a triple threat of double-digit goal scorers for Wisconsin. As a team, the Badgers are tied for 5th in the NCAA with 3.7 goals per game. They scored just three goals in the first series, but Josh Fleming and Kevin Reidler played out of their minds that weekend. Wisconsin rolled up 40 shots on goal in each game. The Penn State defense has had a rough season in their own zone, and this is likely to be another difficult series for them.
The Badgers have been an overall solid team defensively, giving up just 26.6 shots on goal per game. Penn State had difficulty at getting sustained zone time at even strength in the first series. Goaltending has been a major weakness for Wisconsin, ranking just 54th in the NCAA in save percentage (.887).
Wisconsin was without sophomore point-per-game center and leading point scorer Gavin Morrissey in the first series, but he is back in the lineup. Conversely, Penn State is now down Dane Dowiak at center. The Lions have overcome injuries all season, but the Badgers will have a key reinforcement at center.
Wisconsin is 4th in the NCAA on the power play (28.4%) and 58th on the penalty kill (73.6%). Notably, all seven Big Ten teams are in the top 16 in the NCAA on the power play, but only Penn State is in the top 25 on the penalty kill.
News & Notes
- Friday night’s game will be a White Out.
- It appears Penn State will be debuting a new uniform for the White Out game.
- Penn State leads the all-time series 31-25-3.
Prediction
Last weekend’s series against Notre Dame was very ugly, especially on defense. I am expecting to see a more focused effort at home against a Wisconsin team fighting for their postseason lives. Josh Fleming is likely to have his hands full again tonight against this Wisconsin offense, and I am not sure that the Nittany Lions will be able to rely on .950+ save percentage for another series. The Badgers are not strong enough in net to take both games, but they have enough offense to get the split they need.
Penn State 5-3, Wisconsin 4-3
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