Wisconsin Badgers
23-8-2, 14-6-1
Penn State
13-15-3, 5-13-3
No. 6 Wisconsin shuts down Penn State, 6-0
February 23, 2024 | Men's Hockey
McClellan records seventh shutout of the season
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Cruz Lucius and Mathieu De St. Phalle each tallied a pair of goals and Kyle McClellan posted his seventh shutout of the season as the No. 6 Wisconsin men's hockey team shut down Penn State, 6-0, on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena.
Wisconsin (23-8-2, 14-6-1 Big Ten) scored two goals in every period, including two on the power play, en route to its 6-0 victory. Senior goaltender McClellan had a perfect performance between the pipes, stopping all 27 of Penn State's (13-15-3, 5-13-3 Big Ten) shots on goal. With tonight's win, UW cliched a top-two conference finish and climbed to within one point of first place with three games remaining in the regular season.
The Badgers got on the board first 6:11 into the first period. Freshman defenseman Joe Palodichuk passed from deep in the Badgers zone to freshman forward William Whitelaw near UW's blue line. Whitelaw then sauced a cross-ice pass up to sophomore forward Simon Tassy in the neutral zone. Tassy rushed into Penn State territory before having it poked away by a PSU player. Whitelaw, who followed Tassy into the zone, picked up the loose puck and fired a shot home for his ninth goal of the season.
A LETHAL shot from Whitelaw (@williammnbrick) 🤯
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 24, 2024
🍎: Simon Tassy & Joe Palodichuk pic.twitter.com/u9yyMhK2Ze
Sophomore forward Cruz Lucius doubled Wisconsin's lead on the power play 10:18 into the opening frame. PSU tried to clear the puck out of its defensive zone, but sophomore defenseman Ben Dexheimer battled with a player to gain possession. He then skated toward the left side of the net before passing across the zone to Lucius, who beat Nittany Lion goaltender Liam Souliere glove side to make it 2-0, Badgers.
TEXTBOOK. 🤓
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 24, 2024
🍎: Ben Dexheimer pic.twitter.com/LCsl6IHz4v
Wisconsin added a third goal 5:02 into the second period. From the left side of the Penn State zone, freshman defenseman Zach Schulz sent the puck behind the net, which was stopped by Lucius and then picked up by senior forward David Silye. Silye passed to his right to meet senior forward Mathieu De St. Phalle in the middle of the left circle, who let a shot fly for his ninth goal of the season.
Matty De St. Phalle (@mattydsp28) is verryyyyy good at hockey. 🤩
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 24, 2024
🍎: David Silye & Zach Schulz pic.twitter.com/SVzmwCdX67
Four minutes later, Cruz Lucius scored his second power-play goal of the evening. David Silye won a face-off in Penn State's zone and passed backward to Ben Dexheimer at the top of the right circle. Dexheimer sent the puck across the ice to Lucius, who lit the lamp on a hard one-time shot.
Cruzin' right into a four-goal lead 😎
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 24, 2024
🍎: Ben Dexheimer & David Silye pic.twitter.com/z27vyqqKZO
Mathieu De St. Phalle tallied his second goal of the contest with 13:35 left in the third period. David Silye sent the puck to the right side boards, and it rebounded onto the stick of junior defenseman Daniel Laatsch. Laatsch skated to the right side of the net and gave a short pass in front of the goal to De St. Phalle who one-timed it into the back of the net.
It's De St. Phalle's (@mattydsp28) world, we're just living in it 😌
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 24, 2024
🍎: Dan Laatsch & David Silye pic.twitter.com/V432QEOSLN
With nine minutes left in the contest, senior forward Carson Bantle scored the Badgers' sixth goal of the evening.
Touchdown, Carson Bantle (@BantleCarson)!
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 24, 2024
🍎: Anthony Kehrer pic.twitter.com/KcTnCZJeOC
Wisconsin went 2-for-6 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 31-27 advantage in shots on goal.
Notes to know:
- With tonight's victory, UW clinched a top-two conference finish
- Kyle McClellan's 21 wins are the most since Joel Rumpel had 21 in the 2013-14 season
- McClellan's seven shutouts this season rank second in UW history behind Brian Elliott's eight in 2005-06
- The Badgers' shutout over Penn State marked its second ever and first since the teams' first meeting on Feb. 24, 2013, a 5-0 victory in Madison
- The Badgers are 16-1-1 when scoring on the power play
- UW is 15-0-0 when scoring four or more goals in a contest
- With 45 Big Ten points, the Badgers stay within one point of Michigan State
Up Next: The Badgers continue their series against Penn State on Saturday, Feb. 24. The game starts at 5 p.m. and streams on B1G+. Audio play-by-play airs on the Badgers Radio network, including 1310 WIBA in the Madison area and 97.3 The Game in Milwaukee. It also airs on the Badgers app and The Varsity Network app. Follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
