If the Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team wants to advance in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs, it will have to perform on the road.
Despite a three-point weekend at Minnesota-Duluth, featuring a 3-1 win Friday and a scoreless tie Saturday, the Badgers were able to move only one rung up the WCHA standings, finishing in a tie for sixth with Michigan Tech.
Michigan Tech lays claim to the sixth seed on the basis of head-to-head competition with UW. Just last weekend, the Huskies swept the Badgers.
The first round of the WCHA playoffs begins next weekend. The Badgers will square off against fourth-place Denver. The winner of that series will subsequently advance to the Final Five, scheduled to take place March 15-17 in St. Paul, Minn.
Heading into the postseason, the Badgers will carry some sense of momentum out of a well-played series.
Friday night, senior Jake Dowell scored the game-winning goal with just 1:40 remaining in the third period. UMD got on the board first in the second period, but sophomore forward Tom Gorowsky's rebound goal three minutes later evened the score. Junior defenseman Kyle Klubertanz added an empty-netter with just three seconds remaining.
Senior goaltender Brian Elliott stopped 34 shots for Wisconsin, which went 0-3 on the power play.
In the back end of the series, sophomore goalie Shane Connelly turned away 38 shots for his third shutout of the season. UW had a chance late to turn the game in its favor, when UMD was whistled for a two minute penalty with 47 seconds remaining. Yet the Badgers, who went 0-4 on the power play, could not take advantage.
After finishing the season 12-13-3 in the WCHA (15-17-4 overall), UW now shifts its focus to the first round of the conference playoffs. The Badgers were 1-3 this season against the Pioneers, who will host the first round for the fourth straight year.
—uwbadgers.com
contributed to this report.
