Eleventh-ranked University of Wisconsin-Stout found itself trailing by two goals early in the second period but five unanswered goals, including a natural hat trick by Derek Hanson, enabled the Blue Devils to post a 7-4 win over Augsburg.
The visitors dominated play at even strength but early penalties put them in danger early.
After even strength goals by Nick Klaren and Paul Henderson gave the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead just nine minutes, 19 seconds into the game, the Auggies stormed back with three goals to take a one-goal lead into the first intermission.
Joel Sauer’s power-play tally at 13:18 cut the lead in half before Jim Jensen, on the power play, and John Lennartson scored 28 seconds apart in the period’s final two minutes.
Mario Mjelleli’s power-play goal, 4:16 into the second period, made it a 4-2 game before UW-Stout started its comeback.
Joel Whited scored at 6:13 of the second, with Jeff Wheeler contributing his third assist of the game, before Hansen scored his hat trick, which began with the game-tying goal, knocking in his own rebound, with 3:48 to play, in the second period.
Hanson’s second goal came when he knocked in a rebound of a shot by Klaren on the power play, a goal which would wind up as the game winner. He finished the hat trick, scoring his seventh goal of the season in just three games, with 9:02 to play and Matt Morin added an insurance tally with 5:38 remaining in the game.
The Blue Devils outshot the Auggies, 34-25. They held a 25-17 advantage at even strength while outscoring Augsburg, 6-1, while the teams skated 5-on-5.
