UNIVERSITY PARK, Penn. — The Wisconsin men's hockey team found itself in the same situation as Friday night heading into the third period on Saturday against Penn State, as the Badgers faced a one-goal deficit after 40 minutes of play.  
 
But this time, the Badgers (4-10-6, 1-5-2-1 Big Ten) couldn't find the back of the net in the final 20 minutes in a 4-1 loss at Pegula Ice Arena in the series finale with the Nittany Lions (15-4-3, 5-1-0-0).
 
After overcoming a 2-1 third-period deficit on Friday night, the Badgers couldn't overcome the same deficit to start the third period on Saturday night, as PSU goaltender Eamon McAdam stopped 39 of the 40 shots he faced.
 
"We had some great looks when it was 2-1, and a timely goal would've been great," Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said. "They got the timely save. And then I think in the third period, I think the turning point was the five-on-three."
 
That five-on-three power play opportunity for Penn State , which came a little more than six minutes into the final period, eventually proved costly for UW. Eric Scheid scored one minute into the two-man advantage to give Penn State the momentum and a 3-1 lead at the 7:08 mark of the period.
 
Special teams were a big part of the rest of the game, too. Four of the five total goals in the game came with one of the teams on a power play.
 
Coming off a night where the Badgers killed off all four of PSU's power plays, Wisconsin managed to kill off just two of the Nittany Lions four chances on Saturday night. The other power play goal of the night for Penn State came 7 minutes, 38 seconds into the first period to give it a 1-0 lead, a lead the Nittany Lions never relinquished.
 
"They get the puck at the goalies feet and they just kind of all gather there and see if they can whack something in," Eaves said of the Nittany Lions high-powered offensive attack. "That's one of the reasons they have over four goals a game."
 
But trailing 2-0 heading into the first intermission, Wisconsin didn't back down. The Badgers stayed right with the Nittany Lions, fired off 15 seconds period shots, and eventually solved McAdam on a shorthanded opportunity.
 
With UW on the penalty kill, freshman winger Luke Kunin ripped a shot from the left wing that clipped the post and found its way past McAdam to make it a 2-1 game with 5:55 gone in the middle period.
 
Wisconsin continued to pepper McAdam the rest of the game. But the Badgers couldn't get any closer than one the rest of the way despite almost doubling their shot total from Friday.
 
"That was an emphasis all night—puck at the net," Eaves said. "And we still got 40 shots. We could've had 50, which would've helped us. But we had some good looks. Penn State got the timely saves tonight that they needed."
 
Penn State sealed its sweep with the second goal from Scheid, a shorthanded tally with less than three minutes to play in the third period.
 
"Similar to last night we did many good things, but we didn't do enough to turn the tide," Eaves said.
 
Eddie Wittchow picked up the lone assist on Kunin's goal and now has points in two consecutive games. Wittchow had a 47-game stretch without a point before registering an assist on Friday night. Kunin led Wisconsin with 11 shots on goal, a season team-high.
 
The Badgers now return to the Kohl Center for eight straight home games starting with a matchup next weekend against Minnesota. Faceoff is at 8 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday. The games will be televised by BTN and ASN, respectively.