The win may have come one night too late for Wisconsin, but the important thing was that it came at all.
The Badgers broke a seven-game winless streak with a 3-1 victory over Colorado College Saturday night at the Kohl Center that, if anything, gives them a tiny bit of momentum heading into the playoffs.
“We got our 20th win tonight, which has been up there for a long time. It’s really been a monkey on our back,” UW head coach Mike Eaves said.
With Wisconsin up 2-0, Colorado College pulled to within one at 11:39 of the third period as the Tigers got a three-on-two rush. Archie Skalbeck put the puck off of Badger defenseman Justin Schultz’s skate and past UW goaltender Scott Gudmandson’s right pad to make the game 2-1.
But for most of the night, Gudmandson was a wall. The senior made 33 saves and looked confident corralling rebounds.
“He was excellent. He made some unbelievable saves, but the thing that was most impressive from the bench was his rebound control,” Eaves said. “Any shots that were up in his chest, around his arm padding, he just controlled like he was a Hoover vacuum cleaner.”
Gudmandson kept the Badgers in the game, and although the Tigers gave them chance after chance to break the game open, UW seemed to politely decline to do so, going 1-7 on the power play – which included a five-minute man advantage within the first four minutes of play.
But when the Badgers got one last crucial opportunity, they finally converted.
Schultz pushed the lead back to two goals and finally put the Wisconsin power play unit on the board with a goal at 15:35 of the third period. The Tigers pushed the Badgers back into the neutral zone, and Schultz caught them off guard by knifing his way up the slot alone and putting the puck top-shelf over CC goaltender Josh Thorimbert.
Patrick Johnson scored the game winner on a two-on-one with Tyler Barnes.
Initially, it looked like Wisconsin’s winless streak might continue. Unable to produce on the five-minute power play, the Badgers managed just four shots on goal in the first period to the Tigers’ 10.
And fittingly, Wisconsin’s first goal in a game where the Badgers struggled on the power play came shorthanded. Center Craig Smith took the puck up the right wing and fired a shot on Thorimbert’s five-hole that trickled underneath and over the goalline.
UW’s 1-0 lead at 1:57 of the second period was the first time in eight games the Badgers scored first in a contest.
Friday night, two-and-a-half periods of great play were overshadowed by bad bounces in the last six minutes as UW lost 3-2.
Up 2-1 thanks to goals by Jake Gardiner and Johnson, the Badgers seemed to be playing not to lose. Colorado College spent most of the third period in Wisconsin’s zone and outshot the Badgers 9-4.
A Stephen Schultz shot at 14:37 of the period found its way past UW goaltender Brett Bennett to tie the game at 2. The play was reviewed, and it looked like CC’s Jaden Schwartz hit Bennett with his stick as the puck went by, but the goal was upheld.
Colorado College got the game winner when David Civitarese took on Craig Smith one-on-one. The puck ended up going off of Smith’s stick and past Bennett.
John Ramage was called for a checking from behind major penalty with 4:12 left to play, and while Nick Dineen was called for retaliatory roughing, the Badgers couldn’t generate anything during the two minutes of four-on-four and finished the game shorthanded.
But as Eaves said Saturday, maybe a seed has been planted with the victory. Wisconsin’s first win since Jan. 29 moved its record to 20-14-4, 12-13-3 in the WCHA. Colorado College finished the regular season with a .500 mark in conference play at 13-13-2 and 19-16-3 overall.
Still, CC got what it needed from the trip to Madison, earning home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs. St. Cloud State’s loss to Denver Saturday means the Tigers will host the Badgers in Colorado Springs next week for potentially three more games.
But for now, the Wisconsin seniors are enjoying going out as winners in their last game at the Kohl Center.
“After the game, a bunch of the seniors had a little bit of tears in their eyes because there’s no place like this place,” Johnson said. “You can play in the NHL, but still, the fans aren’t as good as they are here. It was really emotional tonight.”
