For the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team, this past weekend was a chance to perhaps move into first place in the WCHA standings and bolster its case for an NCAA Tournament bid.
Instead, the Badgers did neither of those things against the Denver Pioneers, as they fell 4-3 in overtime Friday and were blanked 5-0 Saturday at the Kohl Center.
Friday’s loss left a bad taste in the mouth of UW head coach Mike Eaves and his team. Leading 3-2 late in the third period, Wisconsin (16-13-3, 13-9-2 WCHA) appeared to be on its way to a win against a good Denver squad.
But a goal by DU’s Joe Colborne with 14.4 seconds to go in regulation tied things up, and Brian Gifford provided the game-winner just 41 seconds into overtime.
So how would Eaves’ team respond Saturday night?
Twenty minutes and three Denver goals later, that question was answered.
“I think there was a hangover from last night from the result,” Eaves said. “I think our guys tried to battle through it, and in the end, getting off to the start we did tonight really put us in a hole.”
Wisconsin goaltender Shane Connelly had a weekend to forget, and it was capitalized by the first period of Saturday’s contest. Connelly allowed three goals in the first 20 minutes and was pulled after one period in favor of sophomore backup Scott Gudmandson.
“I just wasn’t playing on my game tonight,” Connelly said. “I didn’t give the team a chance to win from the get-go. Coach thought it would be best to change the momentum, get Scott [Gudmandson] in there and see if he can spark the team.”
Connelly’s rocky first period led to a Denver power-play goal eight minutes into the game. After the puck was sent into the Badger zone, Connelly went behind his net to play it off the end boards. But the puck took an awkward bounce off the boards, and Connelly had trouble handling it. In came DU’s Luke Salazar, who stole the puck and had no trouble putting it home in a wide-open net.
For Connelly and the Badgers, it was a sign of things to come.
“After that first goal, my body language and I think everyone just started to go down a little bit,” Connelly said.
Denver (19-9-4, 15-7-3 WCHA) would score again at the 16:33 mark, this time on a nice play by assistant captain Rhett Rhakshani, who skated from behind the net into the slot and beat Connelly for a 2-0 Pioneers lead.
Just when it seemed like Wisconsin would escape the first period down only two goals, Anthony Maiani broke through with 12 seconds to play before intermission, collecting a rebound off a shot by teammate Dustin Jackson. Jackson had split a pair of Badger defenders at the blue line, both of which went for the unsuccessful body check, leaving Jackson wide open and no defensemen back to clean up the rebound.
“That was a mistake on my part,” UW defenseman Jamie McBain said. “I went for the big hit and missed him. … It wasn’t the greatest move for me.”
But perhaps the goal that took any remaining life out of the Badgers came midway through the second period from a former Wisconsin recruit. Patrick Wiercioch — who before the season gave a verbal commitment to UW but then committed to DU, which had a spot for him to play immediately — rifled a shot from the point for Denver’s second power-play goal of the night and a 4-0 edge.
“I thought that fourth goal really buried us,” Eaves said. “It was a long night.”
The night got a little longer in the third when Maiani notched his second goal of the game and the third of the evening on the power play for Denver. The Pioneers were able to crack the Badger penalty kill unit, which was the best in the WCHA heading into the series.
“They have an effective power play,” McBain said. “They have the guys out there that are skilled enough to make plays. A couple of them are shots that just got through that we didn’t block.”
The 5-0 loss was especially tough to stomach for the Badgers given what happened just 24 hours earlier.
Tied 2-2 to start the third period of Friday’s contest, Wisconsin seemed in control, outshooting Denver 26-11 through two periods. UW’s Michael Davies broke the tie just over two minutes into the final frame, putting the Badgers in position to earn a win over the No. 8 Pioneers.
But as it has done numerous times this season, Wisconsin failed to hold onto a lead — this time letting it slip away in the final seconds.
Unable to score with an empty net, the Badgers allowed the Pioneers to get the puck into the UW zone with under 30 seconds to go.
A goal by Joe Colborne with 14.4 seconds to play made the missed empty-netters come back to haunt Wisconsin, as Colborne’s goal sent it to overtime, tied 3-3.
In a game of momentum, Denver had all of it entering overtime. And just 41 seconds after the puck dropped in the extra session, the Pioneers came away victorious when Brian Gifford capitalized on the Badgers’ inability to clear the puck, giving DU a 4-3 comeback win.
“We played 95 percent of the game tonight pretty well,” UW captain Blake Geoffrion said. “We just couldn’t get it out [in overtime], and it was a turnover. It resulted in a goal, obviously.”
It was Geoffrion’s goal that got Wisconsin on the board early in the first. Patrick Johnson made it 2-0 in favor of UW, but DU answered with two goals of their own — compliments of Kyle Ostrow and Tyler Ruegsegger — before Davies gave Wisconsin the lead again in the third.
Following the weekend sweep, the Badgers now find themselves in fourth in the WCHA standings and tied for 17th in the PairWise rankings. With two series left in the regular season, each game now becomes crucial for a team hoping to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
But the Badgers will have to put this weekend behind them first.
“We know we kind of let a few slip away this weekend,” McBain said. “But as far as the guys in the room, we’ve got the character and the will to kind of forget about this weekend.”
