If the Wisconsin men’s hockey team (9-6-7 WCHA, 12-9-7 overall) has experience with one thing this season, it’s close games. For the 15th and 16th times, the Badgers played in games this weekend that were decided by one goal or less.
Wisconsin settled for a 2-2 tie against Bemidji State (4-13-5, 5-17-6) Friday without senior forward Derek Lee and sophomore defenseman Jake McCabe, while the return of Lee, the de facto “glue of the team,” Saturday gave UW the spark needed to come away with a 3-2 win, despite the absence of McCabe and junior forward Tyler Barnes.
In a game that started slowly and featured multiple shifts in line configuration, the Badgers jumped out ahead halfway through the first period on a power play goal by freshman forward Nic Kerdiles.
Head coach Mike Eaves attributed the changing lines to an attempt to find a little “magic.”
“I didn’t like what we were seeing,” Eaves said. “That’s why there were so many changes going on.”
At the halfway mark of the second period, Bemidji State struck back with a goal of its own after Beaver freshman forward Phil Brewer knocked the puck off sophomore goaltender Joel Rumpel’s skate into the goal, equalizing the score at one.
Sophomore forward Brendan Woods and junior defenseman Frankie Simonelli were then subsequently sent to the box, leaving Wisconsin to kill off a huge two-minute, five-on-three penalty.
Rumpel held out for the duration of the Beaver power play, allowing the Badgers to take the lead late in the second period when redshirt senior forward Ryan Little deflected a shot from his brother, junior forward Sean Little.
A turnover seven minutes into the third period resulted in Bemidji State sophomore forward Danny Mattson slapping a goal over Rumpel’s shoulder, tying the game at two.
The best chance for UW to capture the lead once again came when junior forward Mark Zengerle found himself alone in front of the goal with less than 10 seconds left, but Beaver senior goalie Mathieu Dugas blocked it, leaving the game tied as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
“I guess he just read me well.” Zengerle said.
Finding some much-needed energy to start off Saturday’s game, UW gained a two-goal first-period lead, holding off a late Beaver surge going into the first intermission.
Halfway through the second period, Wisconsin gained a 3-1 lead when a shot by Kerdiles took a favorable bounce for the Badgers out of the Bemidji goalie’s glove, allowing freshman defenseman Kevin Schulze to find the back of the net.
A few minutes later, Lee was called for tripping and the Beavers capitalized on the power play and put themselves on the board going into the final period.
Early in the third Bemidji smacked another goal through sophomore goaltender Landon Peterson’s legs, bringing the Beavers within one goal.
The Badgers played shut-down defense the rest of the way through, despite Bemidji State’s 17 attempted shots to Wisconsin’s eight in the period.
Eaves compared the finish to landing a crashing plane.
“The fuselage was on fire and we got it on the tarmac and that’s a good thing,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of storms here … we had some people out and we survived.”
The Badgers pick up play Friday against Minnesota at the Kohl Center and again Sunday against the Gophers at Soldier Field in Chicago for the OfficeMax Hockey City Classic.
