Trying to gain momentum after a rough month of November, the No. 15 Wisconsin men's hockey team made the long trek north to face off with the University of Alaska-Anchorage this weekend.. Unfortunately, the Badgers will still have questions to answer, splitting the series with the Seawolves. UAA used some last -second heroics Friday night to steal the series opener by a score of 2-1, before the Badgers, behind a strong power play, rebounded to force the split Saturday, winning 3-1.
In the series opener, the two teams battled through a scoreless first period before the short-handed Seawolves struck first to take the early 1-0 lead in the second frame. Senior forward Craig Parkinson pushed a loose puck in the crease past Wisconsin senior goaltender Scott Gudmandson.
The Badgers would tie the game at one with five minutes left in the period on the power play when junior forward Jordy Murray notched his 11th goal of the season after deflecting a shot from the point.
The Wisconsin penalty kill unit kept the Badgers in the game during the third period. The Badgers were whistled for five penalties, and were able to kill off all four of the ensuing power play chances for Alaska-Anchorage.
After a hard-fought game with the clock winding down in the third period and the teams skating four on each side, it was senior forward Tommy Grant who came up with some late-game magic for the Seawolves when he was able to redirect a centering pass past Gudmandson for the game winner with 8.1 seconds left on the clock.
To ensure they wouldn't leave Anchorage without a point to show for it in the standings, Wisconsin had to rebound in the series finale on Saturday.
For the second night, it would take until the second period for the first goal to be scored, but this time it was the Badgers who were able to find the back of the net first when sophomore defender Justin Schultz blasted a one-timer home on the power play for his 10th goal of the season.
Wisconsin used another power play goal from sophomore forward Craig Smith to extend their lead to two goals just before the second intermission.
After Tommy Grant cut the deficit in half for Alaska-Anchorage with just over six minutes remaining, the Badgers held off the Seawolves rally,and Schultz provided the proverbial dagger with an empty-net goal on the power play for his second of the game.
Despite the split, the Badgers had great special teams play all weekend. They went 3-for-9 on the power play, and the penalty kill held Anchorage to an 0-for-6 mark with the man advantage.
After earning two points this weekend the Badgers find themselves in a three-way tie for sixth place in the WCHA with 10 points.
The Badgers welcome the Bemidji State Beavers to the Kohl Center next weekend for their last series before the break. This the first season in the WCHA for the Bemidji State men's hockey program and they currently sit one point behind the Badgers in the conference standings.
—UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
