Friday night was just the latest example of the No. 1 team in the country coming into Madison to find the Wisconsin Badgers less than hospitable.
Although the Wisconsin men’s hockey team (5-6-1, 4-5-1) split the weekend series with Minnesota (10-2-0, 7-1-0), the Badgers welcomed the Gophers to the Kohl Center with a dominant 3-1 victory on Friday, before stumbling in the final period in a 4-1 game two loss.
“Well, [Friday] night, we were the better team,” head coach Mike Eaves said. “The first period [Saturday], they were the better team, the second period was even and the third period, they were the better team. So I would say four out of the six periods I liked what we did. Unfortunately, it’s a six-period weekend.”
Following the game one victory Friday, it seemed both game two and the sweep were Wisconsin’s for the taking. The Gophers jumped on the Badgers with a goal from defenseman Seth Helgeson barely six minutes into the game, but the Minnesota native Tyler Barnes answered for the Badgers before the end of the period, tying the game 1-1.
The game was back and forth for the majority of the second period until Wisconsin forward Michael Mersch was given a five-minute major penalty for contact to the head with 3:12 remaining. Mersch was shown off the ice by one of the officials.
Minnesota entered the series ranked first in the WCHA in power play conversion percentage and Wisconsin ranked last in penalty killing efficiency, but the Badgers were able to fight off the first 3:12 of the penalty heading into intermission and then finished the penalty kill early in the third to escape the threat. The Badgers held the Gophers to 1-for-7 on power plays for the series.
“We looked at the video and Mersch hit his shoulder, actually,” Eaves said. “[Officials] have a tough job; they’re trying to make a snap decision at a glance. Unfortunately, he made the call he did and we had to kill a five-minute [penalty]. It wasn’t a factor in the game as it turned out. Actually, I think we got some momentum by going out there and killing the penalty.”
Coupled with the outstanding penalty killing performance was a visit from various members of the Wisconsin football team, proudly bringing Paul Bunyan’s axe onto the ice.
All of the momentum seemed to favor the Badgers, but several missed opportunities and key mental errors helped the Gophers string three third-period goals together by Taylor Matson, Nick Bjugstad and Nate Schmidt in a nine-minute span to bury the Badgers.
“We had a lot of good scoring chances tonight but we also didn’t have many shots and we might have passed up on some,” Barnes said. “It’s a give, take thing. We’re going to go to the film, take a look at it and learn from what we see.”
Friday night was all about consistency and the dominant play of UW freshman goalie Joel Rumpel in the 3-1 win, which consequently earned him the start on Saturday, as well. It was the first time this season the Badgers started the same goalie in both weekend games.
Rumpel was the star of the game, not allowing Minnesota’s high-scoring offense to put a tally on the board until a power play with just over a minute to play in the game, falling just shy of the shutout but getting the win, 3-1.
“[His performance] impacts more importantly the relationship with the players he’s on the ice with,” Eaves said. “As [assistant coach] Gary Shuchuk said, it almost seemed like [Rumpel] was yawning out there. He was in control, he was moving well, he was big. He had good rebound control, he moved the puck efficiently. So, I’d say the relationship with his teammates and the coaching staff went up after that performance.”
A bit overshadowed by Rumpel was the Badgers’ offense that exploded for three goals in the second period after a back-and-forth first, in which each team had its five shots turned away.
Little more than five minutes into the second period, a series of great passes around the Minnesota defensive zone set up Mark Zengerle for a tap-in that put Wisconsin up 1-0. Less than a minute later, Keegan Meuer sent a high-powered shot toward Minnesota goaltender Kent Patterson, but the puck was deflected an instant before reaching the goal and redirected over Patterson’s right shoulder to extend the lead to 2-0.
“I thought our team stepped up well and we rallied around the passion and the rivalry,” Meuer said. “It’s a good idea to ignore it, but if you embrace it and go at it with the right attitude like our team did tonight where you fight well, you can play well if you rally around that.”
The Badgers’ final goal occurred about midway through the period when Mersch found his way behind a Minnesota line change, giving him a clear breakaway against Patterson. Upon deking left, Mersch brought the puck back going five-hole on Patterson to give Wisconsin a 3-0 lead.
“There was a lot of good detail, not too many turnovers,” Eaves said. “We made some really nice plays in our own zone and coming out of our zone. We played a nice game in a lot of areas.”
