After going winless in six straight games, including a tie Friday against Michigan, the Wisconsin Badgers finally ended the streak beating Michigan State 4-1 Saturday in the College Hockey Showcase.

It was a tale of two starts as the Badgers came out slow and ended up earning a tie in game one while a quick start in game two led to a much-needed win.

Sophomore defenseman Justin Schultz recorded a hat trick Saturday to lead Wisconsin to a comfortable victory over MSU.

Schultz started the scoring by banging home a rebound with just over a minute gone in the first period but the Spartans tied the game with a powerplay tally three minutes later as the puck went off Schultz’s skate and into the back of the net.

Frankie Simonelli then gave the Badgers a lead they would not relinquish as he buried a centering pass from Derek Lee to give UW a 2-1 lead.

Head coach Mike Eaves finally got the quick start he was looking for.

“We talked about having a great start, and what it takes to create that great start, both physically and mentally,” Eaves said. “Coming out and playing hard, playing with energy, not respecting your opponent too much – playing with that edge.”

The Badgers carried that edge into the final two periods where Schultz scored in both frames to give UW an eventual 4-1 victory.

UW got the goals they needed and benefited from some stellar play in net from Scott Gudmandson who rebounded nicely after a poor outing a week ago against Minnesota-Duluth where he was pulled from the game. The senior made 21 saves and was only beat by the skate of a teammate.

“I thought I played pretty well,” Gudmandson said. “After the last game against Duluth, I was pretty upset with how I played, I thought it was frustrating when I got pulled, and I wanted to respond.”

But aside from the great individual performances, the Badgers were pleased to finally come away with a ‘W.’

“It was nice to just get the win more than anything tonight,” Schultz said.

A hard-fought, resilient effort gave the Badgers opportunity to end their overtime winless streak Friday against Michigan, but a scoreless five minutes resulted in a 4-4 tie.

UW was admittedly lifeless to start the game and it put the Badgers in a 2-0 hole. Michigan forward Luke Moffatt took advantage of Brett Bennett’s mistake playing the puck behind the net to open the scoring and Carl Hagelin added a powerplay tally minutes later, but the Badgers found a way to respond.

Wisconsin answered back with two goals and the two teams traded goals the rest of the way with the tilt ending in a tie.

It was a strong come-from-behind effort, but Eaves was unhappy with the way his team came out of the gates.

“We certainly didn’t like our start, getting behind the way we did,” Eaves said. “We need to figure out how the heck do we get ourselves to come out and play like we do in the second and third which was tremendous.”

Schultz ripped a slap shot past UM goaltender Shawn Hunwick on the power play to allow UW to close out the first period down just 2-1.

Immediately following the first intermission, captain Sean Dolan added the game-tying goal. Dolan redirected Jake Gardiner’s shot past Hunwick just 43 seconds into the period.

Michigan took the lead a minute later as Chris Brown deflected a shot past UW goaltender Brett Bennett, but Gardiner and the Badgers struck once again on the powerplay.

The junior defenseman fired a one-timer into the back of the net midway through the second frame, but the Wolverines took the lead thanks to an unassisted goal from Louie Caporusso with just minutes remaining in the period.

But Gardiner stepped up once again on the powerplay, slotting the puck past Hunwick after receiving a perfect pass from Mark Zengerle 49 seconds into the third period. Zengerle worked himself free into the slot but elected not to shoot and instead threaded the puck through to Gardiner who streaked down from the blue line to tie the game at four.

“The goalie was out pretty far there so I saw Gardiner coming and thought it was the best play to pass it over,” Zengerle said. “It worked out well.”

UW found a way to even the score and come away with a tie but Eaves knows his team could have just as easily come away with a win given a better start.

“We showed great resolve and had some spectacular plays,” Eaves said. “But the beginning was disappointing.”