UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The No. 7 Badger men’s hockey team (4-3-0, 0-1-0 Big Ten) dropped its Big Ten-opening matchup of the 2019-20 season, falling on the road against the No. 12 Penn State Nittany Lions (5-1-0, 1-0-0 Big Ten) Thursday night, 6-1. Freshman Cole Caufield scored his nation- leading eighth goal of the season with only seven seconds left in the first period, but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the crafty play by a veteran Penn State team. Penn State scored in the game’s first minute, at 1:03 of the second and added four power-play goals to reach its total. Wisconsin and Penn State including 24 combined penalties and 59 combined penalty minutes in a hard fought Big Ten opener. Wisconsin has dropped two of their three series openers so far this season, but in all three series the Badgers have come back stronger in game two and prevailed. Wisconsin will look to do the same tomorrow during the rematch in University Park. Notes to know:
- Sophomore forward Linus Weissbach notched his eighth assist of the season and sixth assist to Cole Caufield alone
- Goalie Daniel Lebedeff had a season high 38 saves
- Wisconsin’s 39 shots on goal are the most they have recorded all season
Straight from the rink:Head Coach Tony Granato”They’re a mature team. A lot of upperclassmen in their lineup. They played like an experienced team that was ready for this game. We were not quite as good as I thought we’d be considering its the opener of the Big Ten season.””They were much more aggressive and understanding that to score you’ve got to shoot. They were much hungrier.”
