Michigan Tech (3-2-2) jumped in front of the Wisconsin men’s
hockey team (5-2-1) in both games over the weekend, but the Badgers were
unfazed and came away with two comeback victories to sweep the previously
unbeaten Huskies.
After a scoreless first period in game two Saturday, MTU
forward Alex MacLeod gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead with a powerplay goal at the
midway point of the second period but the Badgers stormed back behind three
goals in a near five-minute span.
Justin Schultz leveled the score at the 14:06 mark with a
wrister in the high slot that snuck through the legs of MTU goaltender Kevin
Genoe. Sophomore forward Craig Smith put UW ahead just over four minutes later
with a shot that was too quick for Genoe’s glove.
With time ticking down in the second period, forward Ryan
Little gave the Badgers a 3-1 lead after Patrick Johnson found him all alone in
front of goal with a precise backhand pass from behind the net.
Later, captain Sean Dolan capped the night off with the play
of the weekend at the start of the third period. With his teammates working to
kill off a 5-on-3 MTU powerplay, Dolan came out of the penalty box and saw an
opportunity to create some offense shorthanded.
Dolan found the puck that had been cleared to neutral ice, made
a move to get past the lone defender and lifted the puck top shelf to give UW a
4-1 advantage that proved to be the final score.
Safe to say, that goal ranks pretty high on Dolan’s career
highlight reel.
“Probably number one,” Dolan said with a smile. “I was watching it on
the replay at the end and it was pretty neat.”
As he was bearing down on Genoe, Dolan channeled his inner Derek Stepan,
who’s trademark move – pulling the puck around the defender and back to
himself – was used throughout his days as Dolan’s teammate before starting his
pro career with the New York Rangers.
“It was something I’ve watched Derek Stepan do for two years now so I
kind of just took a page out of his book and now kind of know what it feels
like,” Dolan said. “I was able to poke it up to myself, and used that Derek
Stepan move of pulling it in and got a lucky bounce right to my stick and was
able to put it home.”
The second period scoring outburst led to the Badger victory, but Eaves
credited goaltender Brett Bennett specifically, who made 28 saves on the night.
“Brett was given the game puck,” head coach Mike Eaves said. “His play
allowed us to cover up some of our mistakes, some of our inconsistencies if you
will. His effort tonight was excellent.”
The Badgers were staring at a two-goal deficit after Scott Gudmandson
had some trouble controlling his rebounds in the first period Friday night, but
five unanswered goals led to a comfortable 5-2 victory.
Freshman forward Michael Mersch deflected a Jake Gardiner slap shot past
Genoe at the 9:53 mark of the second period to get Wisconsin on the board and then UW went to work on the
powerplay.
MTU defenseman Carl Nielsen received a five-minute major for checking Johnson from behind and he was ejected after receiving a subsequent game misconduct. Johnson was slow to get back to his feet but he missed no time due to injury.
The Badgers took advantage of the foolish penalty with a game-tying goal from senior forward
Podge Turnbull, who redirected a centering pass from Mersch through Genoe’s legs with just
over two minutes remaining in the second frame.
And thanks to Tyler Barnes and Johnson, Wisconsin scored the
game-winner with almost eight minutes gone in the third period.
Barnes worked himself free behind the MTU net and the freshman slotted a
perfect pass to Johnson who was camped out at the side of the post. From there,
Johnson buried the golden opportunity for his first goal of the season.
“It was a great look by [Barnes],” Johnson said. “All the credit goes to
him.”
Mersch added his second goal at the 13:26 mark of the third, and Smith
sealed the win with an empty-netter in the closing seconds.
“As the game kept going they stayed with it, and their persistence paid
off for us tonight,” Eaves said.
