The UW men's hockey team will have to wait another year to beat Minnesota in its house after getting swept at Mariucci Arena this weekend. The team fell short Friday 3-2 and again Saturday by a score of 4-2. The No. 5 Badgers dropped to 3-3-0 in the WCHA (5-3-0 overall) after starting the season 5-0.
On Friday a physical matchup between the two teams came down to a penalty shot, but UW hurt itself by being outshot 45-28 in the game, including a stretch of 1:06 during the first period when the Badgers had a two-man advantage but no shots on goal.
UW came out quickly in the second period on a goal by sophomore forward Andrew Joudrey. Then, a power-play goal at 8:00 of the second period by freshman defenseman Kyle Klubertanz gave the Badgers a 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission. Minnesota, however, responded quickly, scoring just 11 seconds into the third period.
Senior goalie Bernd Br??ckler had a season-high 42 saves, but allowed two third-period goals, doubling the amount of goals the Badgers had allowed in the final period all season.
\The good thing is that the Bernd we know and love is back,"" Wisconsin Head Coach Mike Eaves said.
The game-winning goal came on a controversial penalty shot after Joudrey tripped Minnesota sophomore wing Danny Irmen as he raced down the ice with only Br??ckler in his way. The last time the Badgers allowed a penalty shot was Feb. 13, 1998.
In the second game, the Badgers flat-out looked tired and Br??ckler found little support when the Gophers took an early 3-0 lead. Minnesota outshot UW 14-4 in the first period, but only managed to tally one goal by sophomore forward Ross Carlson from the top of the circle, giving the Badgers some hope heading into the second period.
Unfortunately, Irmen struck again for the Gophers with his second goal of the game and his third of the weekend, which essentially put the game out of reach for Wisconsin even after they outshot Minnesota 12-2 in an aggressive third period.
""As the game went on, we got stronger,"" Eaves said. ""We got ourselves into too big a hole to get out of, but we didn't quit. We showed our character.""
Saturday's loss marked the 10th consecutive loss at the Arena for the Badgers and the third straight loss for UW. It also marked the first three-gaming losing streak for the Badgers since the end of the 2002-'03 season. They will look to get back on track at home next weekend against North Dakota.
-uscho.com contributed to this report.
