Aaron Bendickson’s shorthanded goal to put the Wisconsin men’s hockey team up 4-1 over Minnesota State looked inconsequential at the time. But when the Mavericks got a late goal to make it 4-2 and a penalty shot to make it 4-3, Bendickson’s tally turned out to be the game winner in UW’s win.
Tonight the Badgers will hope to find a way to finish – both at the net and in the series. MSU got a series split earlier in the season, winning 3-2 in the Saturday game due to late five-minute major penalties, and UW would like to avoid that kind of letdown at the Kohl Center.
Despite outshooting the Mavericks 44-24 last night, it took the Badgers until the back end of the second period to finally score. Senior Michael Davies got two power play goals in a span of 35 seconds to put UW up 2-1, and he found Blake Geoffrion later to make it a 3-1 game.
It will take a strong start tonight if the Badgers want to sweep the Mavericks and stay in the thick of the McNaughton Cup race. St. Cloud State won 4-3 over North Dakota last night and sits alone in first place in the WCHA with 31 points. Third place Denver took down visiting Minnesota 3-1 to keep its place in the standings. Completing the sweep against ninth-place MSU will be critical to Wisconsin’s hopes of a regular season title.
Join Herald Sports editors Adam Holt and Max Henson as they cover the action live from the Kohl Center.
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