The No. 16 Wisconsin men's hockey team took another step toward home ice in the first round of the WCHA Playoffs by taking three points from rival No. 17 Minnesota this weekend, winning Friday's game 3-1 and coming back to tie Saturday's affair 2-2.
Freshmen stole the show for UW, as forwards Kyle Turris and Patrick Johnson and defenseman Ryan McDonough all played well in the series.
Friday's match saw Wisconsin jump out to an early lead with McDonough's goal.
A 2-on-1 opportunity for UW resulted in the goal, as sophomore forward Blake Geoffrion's pass to Turris was too far in front, forcing Turris to take the puck behind Minnesota's net. Turris then hit McDonough in stride as he skated up the slot, and the shot was too quick for freshman goaltender Alex Kangas to stop.
Mr. McDonough played at a level that we had not seen. He was very good tonight,"" head coach Mike Eaves said. ""The more ice time we gave him the better he got, and that was fun to see.""
About midway through the second period, Turris once again brought the crowd to its feet, but this time with a goal of his own.
Turris was able to find room between the Gopher defenders and, thanks to a pass from senior defenseman Davis Drewiske, found himself one-on-one with Kangas. Turris then deked to his right once and put the puck to Kangas' left, all while
Minnesota freshman defenseman Cade Fairchild was draped on his back. The goal gave UW a 2-0 lead.
Minnesota had stolen much of Wisconsin's momentum after a Gopher goal by junior forward Blake Wheeler cut the lead in half going into the third period.
However, the Badgers came out strong in the third and sealed the win at the 5:13 mark as junior forward Ben Street wristed a shot past Kangas. Street's 11th goal of the season was the result of some fancy footwork and passing by sophomore forward Michael Davies.
The 3-1 victory not only put UW in sole possession of fifth place in the WCHA but was a huge confidence boost as well.
""The guys are starting to gain confidence. Tonight wasn't our best game as a team, a lot of guys know that, but we found a way to win,"" Street said. ""Earlier in the year we would kind of find a way to lose it seems like and be on the other side. It's nice that we are back on the winning train again.""
Saturday's game started off on a different foot, as Wisconsin allowed two goals in the first period and spent the rest of the game battling back to earn a much deserved tie.
Heading into the second period down 2-0, Wisconsin turned to its younger players to pick up the pace.
At the 11:32 mark of the second, freshman forward Patrick Johnson put a one-timer past Kangas during a Wisconsin powerplay. Fellow freshman forward Podge Turnbull made a cross-ice pass to Johnson, who shot it just between Kangas' left shoulder and the pipe.
It wouldn't be until the 12:36 mark of the third that UW would score the equalizer.
Sophomore defenseman Jamie McBain was in a ""tug-of-war"" with sophomore forward Jay Barriball, and while the two were in their scuffle the puck was just laying on the ice. That's when Johnson grabbed the puck from the blueline and threw it on net, hoping for a rebound.
But what Johnson and UW received was a goal, as sophomore forward Aaron Bendickson, who was screening Kangas, was able to tip the puck into the net for his fourth goal of the season.
A valiant effort by both teams in the rest of regulation and overtime - the first this year at the Kohl Center in WCHA play - would not result in a winning goal, as Minnesota escaped the weekend with one point, while Wisconsin was able to tie Minnesota-Duluth for fourth place in the conference standings.
""I was pretty nervous for Minnesota just because it's Minnesota, [our] biggest rival,"" Johnson said. ""We played pretty well, came out with three points, so it was a pretty good weekend.""
