In the opening series of the inaugural Big Ten hockey season, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team (2-0-0) wasted no time defending its No. 3 ranking as it took on Northern Michigan (0-2-0) this weekend at the Kohl Center, earning 5-2 and 2-1 victories over the the Wildcats in its first home-opening sweep since 2004.
The Badgers wasted no time finding their rhythm early Friday night, pressuring the Wildcats’ defense and forcing turnovers, giving the Badgers ample scoring opportunities.
The first goal came just five minutes into the first period from junior forward Joseph LaBate, while senior forward Michael Mersch and sophomore forward Nic Kerdiles both notched their first assist of the season.
About two minutes later, Wisconsin picked up the first of many penalties on the evening, but also its second goal. Junior defenseman Jake McCabe cashed in on a shorthanded opportunity, giving the Badgers a two-goal lead.
Even with a two-goal lead the Badgers increased their offensive zone pressure, allowing the Wildcats few opportunities to carry the puck out of their zone and effectively halting any chance for an offensive rush.
Junior Landon Peterson got the nod in goal Friday, and despite the low number of NMU shots head coach Mike Eaves said Peterson was on point when the puck came his way.
“There was only 20 shots, but he had to be good,” Eaves said. “Of those 20 shots there will be a lot of scoring chances for [Northern Michigan]. He was given the game puck because of his performance, and he was key.”
The Badgers quickly put the Wildcats in a 3-0 hole on a power play goal from Mersch just eight seconds into the second period as he picked up a rebound from a pad save by Northern Michigan freshman goalie Mathias Dahlstrom.
The Wildcats seemed to have the most difficulty scoring on the power play, going 0-for-3 in the first period alone. They were finally able to find the back of the net with a man advantage during the second period after redshirt freshman forward Morgan Zulinick was called for holding.
“They are getting a lot more strict this year about the holding calls,” McCabe said. “We’ve got to tighten up there. Our best penalty kill is not to give penalties at all.”
Despite Northern Michigan scoring another power-play goal late in the third period, the Badgers went on to win Friday night’s game 5-2 on goals from senior right wing Tyler Barnes and freshman left wing Grant Besse.
Saturday night proved to be an entirely different game.
Both teams rotated goaltenders, with Joel Rumpel in net for UW and sophomore Michael Doan for Northern Michigan. Wisconsin was slow off the draw, and constant miscues with the puck and sloppy passes allowed Northern Michigan some chances early on.
Despite the pressure the Wildcats gave, it was the Badgers who found the net first on a slapshot from Kerdiles, his first goal of the season and third point in the series.
Kerdiles missed the first 10 games last season due to an NCAA suspension, and after his return the team went on to record 33 points and win the WCHA championship.
After participating in his first home-opening series, the Irvine, Calif. native is picking up right where he left off.
“I think I feel pretty comfortable right now,” Kerdiles said after Saturday night’s game. “I think we have a lot of confidence as a group and that’s kind of translating to my game a little bit right now. It’s important to feel comfortable on the ice and I’m playing with two great linemates.”
The remainder of the game was much slower paced than the previous night’s, with less penalties and scoring chances.
With just under 10 minutes left Northern Michigan seemed to have a burst of energy after NMU junior defenseman Luke Eibler beat Rumpel with a slapshot.
Just when it seemed like the chances of a home-opening sweep would be stifled by overtime, it was freshman left wing Grant Besse who sealed the victory for Wisconsin after a two-on-one rush with just under four minutes left in the third period. Besse picked up his second goal of the series off an assist by Mersch.
Northern Michigan pulled its goalie, but couldn’t find the net, giving Wisconsin a 2-1 victory and a sweep on the weekend.
