Once the Badgers were locked into last place in the Big Ten, Saturday night was always going to be the last game on home ice for at least three seniors on the University of Wisconsin’s men’s hockey team. But, they skated off the ice at the Kohl Center for the last time as winners.
The Badgers (12-20-0, 5-17-0 Big Ten) earned a split with Michigan State (16-16-2, 10-12-2) after flipping the script on the Spartans in the series finale Saturday. But Friday night was a pretty big disaster.
After his great outing against Minnesota that earned him Big Ten Third Star of the Week, Kyle McClellan guarded the net for the Badgers in game one, but it quickly turned into a nightmare for the Badgers. The Spartans scored four times in the first period — three that counted — all while UW outshot them 13-12 in the opening 20 minutes.
The Badgers weren’t quite ready for the Spartans in the second period, either. The Badgers got themselves on the board, thanks to a power play shot from Tyson Jugnauth tipped in by Jack Gorniak. But just 3:12 later, Michigan State responded with a pretty passing play finished off by Spartans defenseman Viktor Hurtig.
The Badgers would again pull within two goals after a gift from Michigan State goaltender Dylan St. Cyr, putting a puck right on the stick of Zach Urdahl, who buried it into a wide-open cage. But Michigan State would quickly respond and squash the UW momentum just over a minute later. The fifth goal occurred on just the Spartans’ 12th shot on goal, and that was the end of the night for McClellan.
Jagger Joshua would add a power-play goal in the third to clinch the 6-2 Michigan State victory on Taylor Swift night at the Kohl Center.
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After such a convincing defeat on Friday, the Badgers’ response Saturday night was impressive. The winning effort was spearheaded by two of the three aforementioned UW seniors — Brock Caufield and Gorniak.
Both super seniors recorded multi-point games in their last at the Kohl Center. Gorniak assisted on UW’s first goal of the evening, which came just 4:20 into the game. Liam Malmquist banged home a rebound opportunity off the shot from Gorniak that gave UW a 1-0 lead, and the Badgers were off and running.
Later in the period, Carson Bantle scored on the power play for UW after a gift of a turnover from David Gucciardi when the Badgers were forced to vacate the zone on a delayed offside. Bantle sniped it past St. Cyr, who was not nearly as sharp Saturday as he was on Friday.
On the other side, Jared Moe was dialed in for Wisconsin. He was one of the honorees of senior night, but the Winnipeg Jets draftee does have another year of eligibility remaining if he chooses to use it. He made 25 saves for the Badgers in picking up the win.
In the second period, the teams would trade goals twice. UW scored the first after Mathieu De St. Phalle redirected a great pass from Cruz Lucius on the welcome mat. Michigan State would respond with a Nash Nienhuis goal before Gorniak got his second point of the night and fifth goal of the year with an assist from Caufield.
After Michigan State pulled back within two before the end of the second, the Badgers would get some additional breathing room in the third with goals from De St. Phalle and Ceulemans to polish off the script-flipping 6-2 win and send the seniors off in triumph on the night that belonged to them.
“Senior night is special,” Granato said. “To finish their senior careers at the Kohl Center and come up with a win and how we did it is extremely special.”
Meanwhile, not to be the only one of the three honorees not to get on the scoresheet, Mersch picked up a penalty with 3.1 seconds left on dueling minors with Nicolas Müller.
Stars of the Weekend
1 – Jack Gorniak. The fifth-year senior and Wisconsin native had a goal in each game and an assist in the finale to finish off a three-point weekend in his last home series.
2 – Mathieu De St. Phalle. His two-goal, three-point performance was the driving force behind UW putting up a six-spot in game two.
3 – Jared Moe. After entering the game in relief of Kyle McClellan in game one, the Jared Moe from earlier this year came back at a good time for UW as he stopped 36 of 39 Spartan shots.
Looking Ahead
The Badgers have already clinched last place in the Big Ten, but they will look to play spoiler as they head to University Park to take on Penn State in the regular season finale. With one win versus the Nittany Lions, the Badgers will have beaten each Big Ten foe at least one time this year.
