[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]
Coming off a bye last weekend, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team exhibited some rust Friday in a 4-2 loss to No. 13 Michigan Tech (5-3-0, 4-2-0), but shook it off and answered with a 4-2 victory over the Huskies at the Kohl Center Saturday to earn a hard-fought series split.
For head coach Mike Eaves, Saturday’s game was essentially a “must-win” for his Badgers (4-2-0, 1-1-0 WCHA), despite being so early in the season.
“It seems that coaches are always saying that the next game is the most important one of the season,” Eaves said. “We’re only five, six games into our season, and this game tonight is an important game for us in our development as a team because we’re trying to get things established.”
The Badgers came out firing Saturday night, despite having a 0-0 tie to show for it after one period. It was the Huskies who got off to a good start in the second, however, as senior Jordan Foote scooped up Jimmy Kerr’s rebound in front of the net and put the puck past Shane Connelly just 24 seconds into the period.
Wisconsin would come back to score a minute and a half later as sophomore John Mitchell stole the puck in Michigan Tech’s zone and passed it down to Matt Ford. Ford then made a nice pass in front of the net to freshman Sean Dolan, who slid it by goalie Michael-Lee Teslak to tie the game up.
The line of Mitchell, Ford and Dolan was the only line Eaves didn’t change after Friday night’s game.
“Simply, they play to their strengths,” Eaves said of the third line. “They don’t try to get too fancy, and they get the puck in. The reason they were left together is because they were pretty good last night, and they carried forth tonight with the physicalness and heart, and they were rewarded with a goal.”
“We try to keep it as simple as possible,” Dolan said. “We pride ourselves on just working hard every night and every shift we get out there.”
Several minutes later, captain Davis Drewiske fired a shot from the point that beat Teslak, but the goal was overturned after officials reviewed it. Right as the shot was fired, Wisconsin center Andy Bombach had a skate in the crease that referees ruled interfered with Teslak.
“The referee came over and said that the goalie was in the blue and that one of our skates from our forward was in the crease and had an effect on the goalie’s ability to make a save, and therefore it was no goal,” Eaves said. “I’ve got no issues with that. That’s why we put in the replay system.”
It didn’t take Wisconsin long to find the net again, as Kyle Klubertanz got a feed from Kyle Turris just a minute and a half later and lit the lamp to put UW up 2-1.
Six minutes later the Badgers picked up an insurance goal on the power play, as freshman defenseman Cody Goloubef picked up the rebound from Klubertanz’s slapshot and snuck it by Teslak.
It was Goloubef’s first collegiate goal, and it turned out to be a big one. The Huskies pulled their goalie with just over two minutes remaining, and Michigan Tech’s Tyler Shelast scored at the 18:07 mark, making it a 3-2 game. After a penalty gave the Huskies a power play with 30 seconds left, freshman defenseman Ryan McDonagh cleared the zone and sent the puck bouncing all the way into the empty net with one second remaining in the game for a 4-2 Badger victory.
The Badgers started hot Friday night, as Klubertanz netted a goal just five minutes into the first period. The Huskies came back, however, as captain Jimmy Kerr scored his fifth goal of the season nine minutes later on the power play.
With less than a minute left in the period, Kerr again scored on the power play, this time with the advantage of an extra skater as a delayed penalty was also on.
Michigan Tech continued the attack, scoring yet another goal with a man advantage less than three minutes into the second period. Forward Geoff Kinrade received a pass from Teslak and skated the length of the ice, beating Drewiske and netting the puck past Connelly.
Drewiske made up for his mistake nine minutes later, beating Teslak on a pass from Ben Street, for his first goal of the season. It would not be enough, however, as Shelast scored his fourth goal of the season on an empty net with less than two minutes to play for the only goal of the third period.
“The 50-50 battles, one-on-one battles, stuff like that, we lost, which was huge,” Klubertanz said after Friday night’s loss. “They got a veteran team, so I think our guys learned a lot.”
Wisconsin will face WCHA rival and preseason No. 1 North Dakota for a two-game series next Friday and Saturday at the Kohl Center.