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Wisconsin comes from behind to tie

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Also by Tyler Mason:

Wisconsin comes from behind to tie (February 25, 2008)
Border Battle continues (February 22, 2008)
3-pointers propels Wisconsin (February 21, 2008)

by Tyler Mason

Monday, February 25, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS — All week long, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team stressed how crucial each point was in the weekend’s Minnesota series.

Yet on the heels of a 4-2 loss Friday and a 4-4 tie Saturday against the Gophers, the Badgers escaped Mariucci Arena with just one point.

“At this time of year, it’s about getting points,” UW head coach Mike Eaves said after Saturday’s tie. “It’s a good point. It’s a point that could make a difference for us down the road.”

Eaves’ squad fell behind early Saturday night courtesy of a Patrick White goal. White’s shot was deflected off UW defenseman Cody Goloubef’s stick, catching goaltender Shane Connelly out of position.

Wisconsin had an answer later in the period when John Mitchell’s shot from the left faceoff circle was mishandled by Minnesota goalie Alex Kangas and trickled across the goal line.

“It was kind of the end of the shift, and I was really tired. There was no way I was going to try and make a move,” Mitchell said. “I just kind of threw it on net.”

The scoring would prove to be back and forth for the remainder of the game. The Gophers’ Evan Kaufmann gave his team a 2-1 lead late in the first period following a defensive lapse by the Badgers.

UW’s Matthew Ford battled at the blue line but was unable to clear the puck, allowing Mike Howe to gain possession. Howe then left a drop-pass for Kaufman, who beat Connelly stick-side.

Wisconsin responded in the form of a Michael Davies second period goal. While he didn’t receive an assist on the play, Blake Geoffrion set everything up. He battled along the boards to keep the puck in and allowed teammate Ben Street to collect in and fire a pass to Davies.

“[Blake] played his game,” Eaves said. “He was battling and blocking shots and kind of being everywhere. That’s the kind of game when he plays that he’s effective.”

A power play goal by Ben Gordon put Minnesota back up, but Wisconsin’s Podge Turnbull knotted the game at 3-3 with a fluky goal that somehow snuck between Kangas and the left post.

“As a team, we recognized that the game plan was just to get pucks on net and get bodies to the net, and that was the case on the third goal,” Turnbull said. “Sometimes those go in, sometimes they don’t.”

Each team scored once more in the third, both on a pair of intercepted passes. Minnesota’s Jay Barriball stepped in front of a Kyle Klubertanz pass and turned into a goal, while Wisconsin’s Patrick Johnson disrupted a pass, collected the puck and fired on Kangas.

“I was just kind of throwing it on net right between the player’s legs,” Johnson said.

Wisconsin salvaged a point on the night after neither team was able to find the back of the net in overtime, ending in a 4-4 tie.

“I guess a tie is kind of like kissing your sister,” Mitchell said. “Being down a goal in the third, being down the entire game, you can’t complain with the outcome of a tie.”

The Gophers jumped all over the Badgers Friday night after UW failed to score until the third period and allowed Minnesota to score three in the same timeframe.

“We were spectators for two periods,” Eaves said after the game Friday. “You could tell which was the more desperate team. We didn’t get the good start; Minnesota got it.”

Defenseman Derek Peltier opened the scoring floodgates for the Gophers in the first period after taking a cross-ice pass from forward Mike Carman and beating Connelly stick-side.

It was Minnesota’s only goal in the first period, but they would go on to add two more in the second. After the Badgers’ Cody Goloubef took an unnecessary interference call, the Gophers took advantage on the power play when Carman collected a rebound and put it in the open right side of the net, making the score 2-0 in favor of Minnesota.

Less than two minutes later, the Gophers struck again. This time it was Patrick White finding the net, scoring off a rebounded puck that Connelly was unable to handle.

After looking shaky for two periods, Connelly was pulled and Scott Gudmandson played the third period between the pipes for Minnesota.

Eaves said the move was not a result of Connelly’s performance, per se, but was more a statement to his struggling squad.

“It had nothing to do with Shane’s play,” Eaves said. “It was a message to the team that we’ve got to wake up here and start playing better in front of your goaltender.”

The team responded by scoring twice in the third with Gudmandson in net. Blake Geoffrion collected a pass from forward Kyle Turris and one-timed it past Kangas on the back doorstep, ending Wisconsin’s scoring drought just two minutes into the final frame.

But UW was unable to bottle the momentum to cut into the lead any further. Minnesota’s Jay Barriball extended the lead back to three with a power-play goal that beat Gudmandson, the only puck he let by in his period of work.

Minnesota native Aaron Bendickson notched the Badgers’ other goal at the 11-minute mark off a deflection of a Blake Geoffrion pass, but that would be all Wisconsin could muster, falling 4-2.

“We didn’t come to play until the third period,” Bendickson said. “It takes more than that to win a hockey game.”

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