Officially, it’ll go down as a tie.
The unranked Wisconsin Badgers (1-3-3 Big Ten, 5-7-3 overall) matched up against the No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions (2-2-1, 10-3-1) Friday night, and after three periods and an overtime session the official score ended in a 3-3 tie.
Freshman Daniel Lebedeff got the nod in the starting lineup in goal, and had his work cut out for him all night.
The Badgers came out flat in the first, and Lebedeff had to face a barrage of shots early in the game. Lebedeff and the defense responded well, stopping every attempt Penn State had on goal in the first four minutes. When the second line switched in the Badgers offense sped up to pace, and freshman Brock Caufield found the back of the net six minutes and 15 seconds in.
Caufield's first strike was one of the high points for Wisconsin's inconsistent offense.
Penn State answered six minutes later when Nikita Pavlychev finally found the back of the net after a string of dangerous shot attempts for the Nittany Lion’s were deflected away. Penn State continued to dominate the rest of the period in possession, and carried that momentum into the second period.
Just one minute into the period Liam Folkes buried a wraparound shot to put Penn State up 2-1.
But the Badgers were able to respond, and played Penn State evenly for the next eight minutes, capped by a Max Zimmer goal off a beautiful assist from senior forward Seamus Malone. That goal, plus a Penn State penalty seconds later, whipped the crowd into a frenzy, and Caufield once again found the goal for the Badgers with five minutes left in the second to put them up 3-2.
“Sometimes it felt like a track meet out there” Caufield said.
Nittany Lions center Evan Barratt showed that speed when he skated by the entire Wisconsin defense, and answered with a minute left in the period, sending the game tied at 3-3 into the third period.
After 40 minutes of fast-paced play and six goals, both teams settled down defensively in the final frame. A flurry of shots and breakaway attempts defined the third period, but ultimately neither team found the back of the net, and the game was sent to overtime tied 3-3.
Overtime looked a lot like the third period, and after five minutes of play the game ultimately officially ended tied 3-3. Lebedeff ended up with almost 40 saves on the night,
“He was really fantastic all night for us, like he has been all season for us,” head coach Tony Granato said.
Even with the outcome officially a tie, the game wasn’t over there.
With a point still at stake in the Big Ten standings, the game went to a second, three-on-three overtime period to decide who would get the extra point. With only six players on the ice, nobody on either side was able to break out or get a meaningful scoring chance, so the contest went to a shootout.
Penn State ultimately won the shootout 2-1, and claimed the extra point for the Big Ten standings.
For a young Badger team, a tie against the No. 6 team in the country isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Compared to two weeks ago, when Wisconsin was swept by then No. 6 Ohio State, tonight was a marked improvement. “As we grow as a team throughout this year, we’ll figure out how to start turning these games into wins,” Granato said.
The two teams play again tomorrow night at 7 P.M. back at the Kohl Center.
