In a weekend series that contained a plethora of bizarre moments, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team was only able to salvage a split against cellar-dweller Michigan Tech.
Friday night established only the first of numerous uncanny examples for the Badgers. Michigan Tech (3-6-1 overall, 1-6-1 WCHA) dominated UW, blanking them in a 1-0 victory. This marked the first time the Huskies have beaten the Badgers in Madison.
It also highlighted the first time this season that UW has found itself unable to place points on the board.
After lying dormant Friday night, UW (6-4, 4-2) put the fight back into its game Saturday, literally. The two teams racked up a total of 38 penalties resulting in 122 minutes of disciplinary time, something that is not typical of the UW program.
The tone for the game was set within the first five minutes of the contest.
UW’s Alex Leavitt and MTU’s Rob Rakin tangled in the first of many scuffles in the game. This fight proved to give the Badgers momentum, as they managed to do something they failed to accomplish the previous night — score. Seventy-eight seconds after the scuffle, Andy Wozniewski notched his third goal of the season, slipping the puck between Huskie goalie Brian Rogers’ stick and the goal pipe.
Two minutes later David Hukalo lit the lamp on a 4-on-3 power play. Hukalo redirected Brian Fahey’s shot to the upper shelf of the goal, beating Rogers glove side. This gave UW an early 2-0 lead.
Then, 43 seconds later, Matt Hussey got into the act, scoring his fifth goal of the season. Hussey beat his defender wide before angling back into the goal, faking Rogers out with a series of jukes. This gave UW a three-goal lead at the end of the first period.
The second period didn’t witness any offense, but it set the stage for a final period that would transform the Kohl Center rink into a makeshift boxing ring.
In a third period that was laden with penalty minutes, referees handed out an astonishing 23 penalties totaling 92 minutes and granted two disqualifications.
Wisconsin lost Kent Davyduke and Michigan Tech lost Paul Cabana on account of major misconduct penalties; both received one game suspensions.
“I wasn’t pleased with the third period,” said head coach Jeff Sauer who was obviously upset with not having senior captain Davyduke at his disposal for next Friday’s game.
The tiff began after six minutes had melted away in the final period. A brutal (but legal) hit was placed on MTU’s Jon Pittis, knocking the sophomore forward to the ice where he laid momentarily.
Tempers were ignited yielding three penalties, and leaving UW’s Leavitt and MTU’s Greg Amadio in the penalty box chatting with one another in the comfort of the surrounding plexiglass.
Twenty-eight seconds later, Cabana tangled with Davyduke. Simultaneously, Andy Wheeler and Chris Durno went toe to toe, but were separated seconds later.
While the crowd was standing electrified, Davyduke and Cabana duked it out, leaving a reminder of the fight — a small pool of blood — on the ice before both were ejected.
“I don’t know if there was one specific thing that happened,” Sauer admitted. “In defense of Davyduke, I don’t think he had any choice (but to fight). It’s part of the game; I just don’t condone it.”
It took just 47 seconds after the above incident for UW to add insult to injury, tallying yet another goal when Dan Boeser knocked a slap shot by the Huskie goalkeeper, finalizing UW’s win, 5-0.
“We came back and we needed to win a hockey game,” said Sauer. “We did a lot of things better than we did last night. I was pleased with the effort – we got the job done.”
UW goalie Scott Kabotoff got the win in his first shutout of the season. The junior net minder saved 31 shots and disallowed goals on six power plays. For the weekend, Kabotoff saw 66 shots and stopped all but one.
“I knew I could play well,” said Kabotoff. “But I didn’t know how well. I’m just out there having fun.”
In a weekend where the molds were broken of Wisconsin’s prior eight games, UW couldn’t break the most important mold: getting two wins on home ice.
