Three takeaways from Penn State's road series against Wisconsin

Penn State started Big Ten play with a bang, sweeping the Wisconsin Badgers on the road. The Nittany Lions are now the only true undefeated team in college hockey sitting at 8-0-0. There were a mix of positives and negatives in the series so let's take look at three things that stood out.

The Nittany Lions played fantastic defensive hockey this series. One thing that was very noticeable was how they had their sticks in passing and shooting lanes. Christian Berger blocked four shots and Kevin Wall blocked two along with scoring the opening goal. Simon Mack blocked three shots

There were times however when Penn State was careless with the puck, particularly in the neutral zone, and that allowed Wisconsin to go on the counterattack quickly.

"We watched some film and saw some lapses in our d-zone [coverage]," Connor McMenamin said. "We learned from it and the second night, we tried to focus on it and shut those plays down that we were letting up."

Furthermore, the penalty kill was a perfect 6-for-6. The Nittany Lions held the Badgers to just three shots on the man-advantage combined.

"We worked hard at improving our team defense," coach Guy Gadowsky said. "It's been a bit of a process and we felt that this was our best weekend with a number of components."

Penn State's power play was poor. There was no sugarcoating it. It did have its fair share of looks, but it didn't have a lot of high-danger chances. The Nittany Lions had nine power play opportunities in this series and only converted once in Game 2 from Ashton Calder. That was the first goal on the man-advantage in 15 consecutive attempts without scoring one.

Penn State had 11 shot attempts combined on the man-advantage in the series. The Badgers also had a couple of short-handed opportunities. The coaching staff know's that it is a problem.

"Not every power play was very good in Wisconsin, but there were a few that that gave us [looks] we wanted," Gadowsky said. "It looked good. It created tempo."

The line composed of Christian Sarlo, Xander Lamppa and Tyler Paquette was the best trio for Penn State in this series.

Paquette was the extra skater in Game 1, but ended up scoring the game-winning goal from a near impossible angle. He replaced Ben Copeland in Game 2 and was a more dynamic winger, creating numerous scoring chances.

"They're all hard players. They're not just fancy, but they're hard players and they're fun to watch," Gadowsky said. "I love the offense that they create."

Ever since Gadowsky moved Lamppa to center, he has been more noticeable and a more effective player. Along with having three points in the series (one goal, two assists), Lamppa won 17 draws.

"We all know our roles. We play hard and I think we all contribute to each other's games," Paquette said. "It is easy for me to play with them because [Sarlo and Lamppa] have really good minds."

Sarlo didn't put up any points in either game, but in the first game he had six shot attempts. He led the team in that category in Game 1.

This line is going to be relied upon heavily when Michigan comes to town this weekend.