Despite flashes of offensive firepower, the No. 20 Wisconsin men's hockey team came up empty in Denver this weekend, losing consecutive 6-5 and 7-4 games to the No. 4 Pioneers at Magness Arena.
Though they were outshot 9-0 in the first four minutes of the game Friday night, Wisconsin (0-4-0) took the early lead on a power-play goal from junior forward Michael Davies. As the Badgers cycled the puck through the offensive zone, it ricocheted off Davies' stick on the far side and into the net, giving UW a 1-0 lead.
Denver's Tyler Bozak tied things up on a two-man advantage with 36 seconds left in the period as DU's Tyler Ruegsegger set a screen in front of senior goaltender Shane Connelly. Though the game was tied 1-1 at the end of one, the Pioneers (3-0-0) dominated much of the action, outshooting the Badgers 24-5.
The Wisconsin offense came alive in the second period, as the Badgers recorded three goals in 81 seconds. With his team on the power play, junior forward Blake Geoffrion stepped in front of the crease, and junior defenseman Jamie McBain sent a shot sailing past DU goalie Marc Cheverie to put the Badgers up 2-1.
A minute later, junior forward John Mitchell fired a wrist shot from the high slot, sneaking the puck past Cheverie's left pad. Twenty-one seconds later, sophomore defenseman Ryan McDonagh picked up a loose puck just inside his own blue line, broke into the offensive zone and shelved one, putting the Badgers up 4-1. Denver added another goal late in the period, making the score 4-2 at the end of two.
Denver's Patrick Wiercioch cut the Wisconsin lead to one with a 4-on-4 goal six minutes into the third period, and the Pioneers' Anthony Maiani tied things at 4-4 with just over nine minutes left. Freshman forward Jordy Murray put Wisconsin ahead a little over a minute later, but it was all Denver from there on out. Wiercioch and Ruegsegger closed out the scoring for the Pioneers, completing the comeback and giving DU the 6-5 win.
Ten minutes into Saturday's game, the Badgers found themselves trailing 3-0. Wisconsin finally got on the board midway through the second period on junior forward Andy Bohmbach's first goal of the season.
Two minutes later, sophomore defenseman Brendan Smith blew a slapshot past Cheverie off an assist from sophomore defenseman Cody Goloubef. With just under five minutes to go in the second period, Geoffrion evened the score with help from McBain and freshman defenseman Jake Gardiner.
Denver's Rhett Rakhshani put the Pioneers ahead for good late in period two, and Luke Salazar added another goal to give DU the 5-3 edge going into the third. Denver added a pair in the final 20 minutes to seal the win. McDonagh closed out the scoring for the Badgers, but it was too little, too late, and Denver skated to the 7-4 victory. Sophomore goaltender Scott Gudmandson stopped 28 of 35 shots in the loss.
Wisconsin looks to rebound next week against the No. 9 Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first series of the year at the Kohl Center. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
