No. 17 Penn State can't overcome slow start, fall 6-3 to No. 6 Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. – No. 17 Penn State couldn’t recover from a fast start to No. 6 Wisconsin, falling 6-3 in the Kohls Center.

The Badgers opened the scoring early in the first period, with a goal from William Whitelaw off a brilliant between-the-legs feed from Simon Tassy just over four minutes into the contest.

The red and white doubled their lead a minute later thanks to Carson Bantle finishing on an odd-man rush.

Dylan Lugris got the Nittany Lions back into the contest after his shot knuckleballed into the back of the net behind Kyle McClellan, snapping a six-game goalless streak for the junior forward.

Once the two teams came back onto the ice for the middle frame, it was all Wisconsin.

Deja vu to the first period, two quick strikes by the Badgers put them ahead 4-1, after defensive breakdowns on a partial breakaway and a turnover.

The blue and white had their chances to claw back in the middle frame after being awarded two power plays, one full and one partial, but could not convert.

Penn State finished the contest 0-5 on the man advantage and has now gone scoreless on 11 straight power plays, dating back to the end of the Lindenwood series.

Whitelaw earned his second tally of the game six minutes into the third period to put the game out of reach for Penn State.

The Nittany Lions attempted a late third-period comeback, with goals from Alex Servagno and Jacques Bouquot to make it a 5-3 contest.

It was too little too late for the blue and white, however, as Carson Bantle secured the season's first hat trick for the Badgers and the first of his career with under five minutes to go in the third period.

For just the second time this season, the blue and white found themselves outshot in the contest, falling to 0-2-0 on the year when such a feat occurs.

The only other game this season when Penn State did not outshoot its opponent was in a 6-4 loss to the Michigan Wolverines on Nov. 17.

Penn State falls to 2-4-3 this season when allowing the first goal, while Wisconsin moves to 11-0-0 when netting the first tally.

The Nittany Lions will look to go for their third Big Ten series split of the year in Game 2 at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Joshua Bartosik is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu.