Even if the result of the weekend – getting just one point against a team below it in the standings – wasn’t in Wisconsin’s favor, coach Mike Eaves could at least admit it was appropriate.

After a 5-2 loss Friday where the Badgers never seemed completely in it, they fought back for a 3-3 overtime tie against Minnesota Saturday. The result of the home series mirrored the outcome of Wisconsin’s trip to Minnesota back in November, where the Badgers dominated the first game before the Gophers rallied to a tie in game two.

“I said to (Minnesota coach Don Lucia) Donny when we shook hands, it was ironic that it was just a complete flip-flop from what we had in the fall,” Eaves said. “We went in and beat a team 6-0, which was a total surprise and we played last night like they did that Friday night, which was uncharacteristic.”

UW fell behind 3-2 just 44 seconds into the third period when UM’s Jacob Cepis took a long entry pass from Cade Fairchild and beat goaltender Brett Bennett.

But unlike the night before, Wisconsin had a timely answer.

Working the puck along the end boards in the Minnesota zone, forward Mark Zengerle bought time for his linemates to get off the ice. He then was able to keep the puck and circle around the net, where he found fellow freshman Jefferson Dahl in front, who put the puck past Gophers goaltender Kent Patterson to tie the game at 3.

Dahl downplayed his own effort in his first career goal.

“You’ve got to give all the credit to Mark Zengerle,” Dahl said. “We were on a line change there, and he held the puck down low and created the turnover, which led to the tying goal.”

The Badgers and Gophers couldn’t find any more scoring in regulation and the offense faded even further in overtime, where UW had the only shot on goal.

“We just ran out of time,” Eaves said of the tie. “I firmly believe in my heart, as Vince Lombardi said, we just ran out of time.”

Unlike the night before, Wisconsin had a response when Minnesota scored.

Nate Condon scored a power-play goal at 13:06 of the first period off a rebound to put UM up 1-0.

Just 17 seconds later, defenseman Justin Schultz tied it, zipping a puck through a screen and just past Patterson.

But momentum was hard to hold onto in the weekend.

In the box for hooking Cepis, Patrick Johnson flew out as the penalty expired and found himself alone in on Patterson. He made a move to his backhand and slid the puck past to give UW a 2-1 lead.

Jake Hansen tied the game at 2 for Minnesota at 12:37 of the second, redirecting a shot through a screen and setting the Gophers up for a furious end of the period.

Jordy Murray and Tyler Barnes took penalties for the Badgers, giving the Gophers almost a minute and a half of 5-on-3 power play. Thanks to some timely blocks and big saves by Bennett, the Badgers escaped the period safely.

“That goes a long way in a game,” Bennett said of the blocks. “That puck maybe hits me and a guy taps in a rebound, or I don’t see it and it goes in.”

And while the Badgers had answers Saturday, they were stuck searching for positives in a 5-2 loss Friday night.

The momentum that was so hard to bottle all weekend was never more fleeting than the first 3:30 of the second period.

Down 1-0, Wisconsin started the period on the power play and got a goal from Jake Gardiner to tie it. Craig Smith fired a shot off the post from the left circle, which ricocheted right to Gardiner, who had an open net to shoot at. During the play, Mike Hoeffel was called for hooking, giving the Badgers another power play.

But a minute later, Michael Mersch was called for interference to make it four-on-four, and seconds later, Cepis made it a 2-1 game, at 1:42 of the period.

At 3:31, Taylor Matson poked a rebound in to extend the Minnesota lead to 3-1 and just about put the game away.

“It was good for us to get that goal to start out the period, but to kind of have that momentum swing definitely hurt us,” forward Sean Dolan said. “We played on our heels the rest of the game.”

Minnesota got two more goals in a game where Eaves said the Badgers “were there, but weren’t there.”

Adding to the frustration were three shots the Badgers put off the post or crossbar and Gardiner breaking his stick on a shot where he had an open net.

Wisconsin is now 19-11-4 and hanging on to fifth place in the WCHA by one point over Minnesota (13-12-5).