MADISON, Wis.—Facing a team with as much firepower as Michigan, Wisconsin knew it needed all hands on deck offensively.
The result—goals from seven different players, which carried the Badgers to a 7-3 Big Ten win Friday night at the Kohl Center.
“We made some nice plays tonight,” Badgers coach Tony Granato said. “We scored goals at some big points of the game when Michigan was getting some momentum going.”
The key sequence came in the second period as the Wolverines, fresh off a pair of impressive comeback games, threatened the Badgers twice with a pair of goals by Tony Calderone. Wisconsin answered with a pair of goals involving the talented Trent Frederic, who had been pointless in his previous four contests.
“It’s been a couple of weeks since I scored, and it felt like forever because our games are on the weekends,” Frederic said. “When you don’t score you think about it all week.”
Two and half minutes after Calderone’s first tally, Badgers defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk let go a point shot that fortuitously kicked out right to Frederic. The sophomore forward ripped a shot at close range under Michigan goaltender Jack LaFontaine’s left arm.
“It was a nice power play for us,” Frederic said. “(Wyatt) took a shot and I just got a lucky bounce that came right to me.”
Nine minutes later Frederic assisted on the dazzling game-winner. After first taking a pass from Sean Dhooghe, the St. Louis, Missouri native found Linus Weissbach cutting through the middle. Weissbach then fed captain Cameron Hughes, who finished the play off in style with a one-timed blast past LaFontaine.
“The power play goal where Linus got the puck over to Cameron was a beautiful play off the rush,” said Granato of the goal which chased LaFontaine from the net.
The Badgers got off to a fast start scoring just 33 seconds into the contest as Josh Ess beat LaFontaine through a screen.
“Josh played outstanding defensively for us tonight, so it was nice to see him get his first (collegiate) goal,” Granato said. “When you play smart and solid like he has you should be on the scoresheet more, so it was nice to see him finally get one.”
It was an advantage Wisconsin would never relinquish, though Calerdone tried his hardest to engineer a third-straight epic comeback for Michigan, cutting the Badgers lead to 2-1 and 4-2 respectively in the second period.
After Max Zimmer scored to give Wisconsin a 2-0 cushion after 20 minutes, the Michigan captain scored just 24 seconds into the middle frame, burying a one-timer from Cooper Marody past Badgers goaltender Kyle Heyton.
Calderone struck again late in the period, this time on more of an individual effort. The senior forward native snuck across the Badgers defense from the left wall and before sending a shot high over Heyton’s glove.
“We were chasing the puck a lot off of face offs tonight,” Granato said. “That gave (the Wolverines) a chance to get their speed game going. They played a lot faster and more offensively than they did last year.”
Michigan added a last gasp tally from Joseph Cecconi with less than 10 minutes remaining in the contest, cutting Wisconsin’s lead to 5-3 after Jason Ford had restored a three-goal cushion early in the third period.
However, Wisconsin finished off the Wolverines with a pair of goals late. Jarod Zirbel scored an empty netter, followed soon after by Tarek Baker’s sixth tally of the season.
Wisconsin (8-5-1, 3-2-0-0 Big Ten) got 34 saves from Heyton, who picked up his seventh win of the season.
“Goaltending was a big difference in the game,” Granato said. “Kyle was good for us tonight and he’s a competitor. When people get around his net he’s not afraid to push back and get in their face.”
Michigan (6-4-1, 2-2-1-0) got just 12 saves on 16 shots from LaFontaine, and another nine stops from Hayden Lavigne.
The two teams rematch Saturday night.
No. 7 Minnesota 4 vs. No. 13 Harvard 2
The seventh-ranked Golden Gophers got goals from four different players on their way to a 4-2 win over the Crimson at 3M Arena at Mariucci. For the second straight game, Minnesota scored four straight goals to open a game, with Brent Gates, Rem Pitlick, Steve Johnson and Casey Mittelstadt all picking up tallies. Jack Badini and Ryan Donato each scored in the third period goals as Harvard cut the deficit to two. Golden Gophers goaltender Eric Schierhorn stopped 26 shots to earn his eighth win of the season, while Merrick Madsen took the loss after 23 saves for the Crimson.
Michigan State 3, Ferris State 2
Taro Hirose goal at the three minutes and 47 seconds mark of overtime gave the host Spartans a 4-3 win over Ferris State at Munn Ice Arena. The Bulldogs, which trailed 2-0 in the second period after a pair of tallies by Michigan State’s Mitch Lewandowski, got a goal from Mitch Maloney in the middle frame and another from Ryker Killins with less than five minutes left to tie the game. Spartans goaltender John Lethemon made 27 saves to earn the win, while Darren Smith stopped 31 Michigan State shots.
No. 4 Notre Dame 3 at Rensselaer 1
Goals by Jake Evans and Cal Burke in the first period, and Bobby Nardella and Jordan Gross in the third period powered the fourth-ranked Fighting Irish to 3-0 win over host Renesselar at Houston Fieldhouse. Notre Dame goaltender Cale Morris made 31 saves to earn his eighth win of the season, while Linden Marshall stopped 25 shots for the Engineers, which got its lone goal from Todd Burgess late in the third period.
Penn State 7 at Arizona State 0
Powered by two goals by Evan Barratt, Penn State rolled to a 7-0 win over Arizona State at Gila River Arena. Sam Sternchein, Nikita Pavlychev, Erik Autio, Nate Sucese and Brandon Biro also scored for the Nittany Lions, while Chris Funkey made 15 saves to earn the win. The Sun Devils’ Joey Daccord stopped 42 shots in the loss.
