The Wisconsin men’s hockey team (2-5-3 WCHA, 2-7-3 Overall) entered this weekend in a precarious position, having failed to escape the last three series with a win.
This weekend represented more than just a chance for the Badgers to redeem themselves, with freshman forward Nic Kerdiles making his debut for UW after coming off suspension for NCAA violations.
Leading up to their pair of games against Denver, the Badgers had five of their 11 previous games end in a tie or decided by a single goal.
Wisconsin added to their number of nail biters Friday after the Pioneers equalized the score at 1-1 with two minutes left in the game and managed to escape the night with a tie.
Saturday was a different story, as the Badgers found the offensive spark that has eluded them for much of the season so far, scoring two goals in the first period en route to a 3-1 victory, their first since an Oct. 26 contest against Minnesota Duluth.
Denver came into Friday with the No. 1 scoring offense in the conference with 35 goals so far this year (4.38 goals per game).
Sophomore goaltender Joel Rumpel and the Wisconsin defense were able to keep the Denver scorers quiet for the majority of the night, however, only allowing one goal on 31 attempts.
Wisconsin junior forward Michael Mersch, also one of the WCHA’s top scorers, finally broke the 0-0 stalemate seven minutes into the third period on a redirection shot from senior captain and defenseman John Ramage.
The Pioneers, having only been shut out one time this season, found the back of the net when sophomore defenseman Joey LaLeggia shot a strike past Rumpel with 1:56 left in the game.
The score would stand throughout the overtime period, giving the Badgers their third tie this year—one more than last season—with over half the season left to play.
Senior forward Derek Lee opened up the scoring Saturday a little earlier, converting on a turnover just five minutes into the game.
Kerdiles, playing in only his second collegiate game, was credited with the assist, and came up big with another assist only eight minutes later when junior forward Jefferson Dahl redirected his pass into the net.
Wisconsin, in the driver’s seat for the first time in about a month, saw its lead lessen after Denver cashed in on a power-play opportunity when sophomore forward Daniel Doremus pounded a centering pass past Badger sophomore goaltender Landon Peterson.
Though Denver outshot Wisconsin 10-5 in the second period and 13-6 in the third period, the Badgers were able to shut down the typically high-powered Pioneer offense for the rest of the way.
An empty netter by Ramage sealed the game at 3-1 with eight seconds left to play, giving the Badgers their first win in over a month.
Peterson posted his first victory of the year in goal for Wisconsin, improving his to 1-2-1.
Peterson had 35 saves in the game, while the Pioneers outshot the Badgers 36-25.
Wisconsin hopes to continue its turnaround next weekend at the Kohl Center against Michigan Tech.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
