Four out of the five Big Ten teams in action last weekend enjoyed playing another round of non conference games at home — all five enjoyed some success, going a combined 7-1-1 .<\/p>\n
Here are three things I saw.<\/p>\n
1. Wisconsin rebounds against Lake Superior State<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>The Badgers’ losses to Boston College and Boston University kind of got a lot of press, and it didn’t help that Wisconsin had to wait two weeks before taking the ice again. A solid win and tie against a Lake Superior State squad that was undefeated heading into the weekend was a great way to respond.<\/p>\n The Badgers’ 3-3 tie against the Lakers on Friday night may have been more impressive than their 8-1 win on Saturday night. Wisconsin fell behind 3-0 in the first period on Friday, but fought back with a goal late in the first and two goals by Tyler Barnes in the third period.<\/p>\n “Well we were hoping for a different start. As a matter of fact, it felt like we were in Boston again,” Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said. “It felt like holy-smokes we still haven’t got the demons from Boston out of our system yet.”<\/p>\n Barnes’ game-tying goal came late in the third with Wisconsin’s net vacant, albeit for only eight seconds.<\/p>\n “This is exactly what we needed for our guys,” Eaves said. “This is the kind of game to get some sound feedback that says we are a pretty good team that overcame some adversity.”<\/p>\n Wisconsin picked up right where it left off on Saturday. The Badgers had a 4-1 lead after two periods on Saturday night, and then netted four more goals in the third. Wisconsin got 44 shots on goal Saturday night, compared to the Lakers’ 22.<\/p>\n Landon Peterson started both games for Wisconsin, he gave up four goals on 47 shots.<\/p>\n 2. Penn State gets five goals from five players <\/strong><\/p>\n Penn State picked up its second win of the season against Robert Morris Friday, and it was a team effort.<\/p>\n The Nittany Lions got goals from Eric Scheid, Luke Juha, Tommy Olczyk, Casey Bailey and Mike Williamson in Friday night’s 5-4 win over the Colonials. Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky said that the team moved the puck well during the game, just not necessarily on its scoring plays.<\/p>\n “We moved it around well in the first period and didn’t have anything to show for it,” Gadowsky said. “We got a couple power play goals in the off of a face off, and that’s part of it for sure, but it wasn’t the movement that got us the goals. Maybe it’s appropriate, because we did move the puck pretty well.”<\/p>\n Though he gave up four goals, goaltender Matthew Skoff was huge for Penn State with 48 saves.<\/p>\n “He’s a battler,” Gadowsky said. “And I think the team feels pretty confident with him back there, even when things are getting a little hairy.”<\/p>\n 3. Ohio State splits with Minnesota-Duluth, continues hot streak<\/strong><\/p>\n After starting the season 0-3, the Buckeyes have won four of their last five contests. Ohio State rebounded from a 3-1 loss with an impressive 4-2 win against Minnesota-Duluth at home on Saturday night.<\/p>\n “We played in spurts [Saturday night], but all in all I thought it was our best weekend of hockey this season,” Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik said. ”We can be a pretty good hockey team when we play a full 60 minutes.”<\/p>\n OSU was vastly outshot on Saturday, but freshman Matt Tomkins made 39 saves. Tomkins has a 4-3 record this season with a 3.04 GAA.<\/p>\n The Buckeyes have an opportunity to stretch their hot streak into something substantial. Their next two series are at home against Niagara (1-4-1) and Canisius (1-4).<\/p>\n Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n Paula has the column this week, it’ll be posted Thursday morning.<\/p>\n Follow both of us on the Twitter <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Four out of the five Big Ten teams in action last weekend enjoyed playing another round of non conference games at home — all five enjoyed some success, going a combined 7-1-1 . Here are three things I saw. 1. Wisconsin rebounds against Lake Superior State The Badgers’ losses to Boston College and Boston University […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1425],"tags":[1391,1509,1192,1510,1193,1511],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n@drewclaussen<\/a>
\n@paulacweston<\/a><\/p>\n