In what has been a prolonged fall from grace for the Wisconsin men’s hockey program, Saturday may have been the low point.
Hudson Fasching’s goal 12 seconds into the game would prove to be a bad omen for the Badgers (1-7-2 Big Ten, 4-12-6 overall) as they suffered a 9-2 loss at the hands of archrival Minnesota (8-2-0, 13-10-0) Saturday night.
Fasching’s early tally personified the Badgers’ defensive effort for the rest of the game. He took the puck from center ice, glided into the zone, beat a Wisconsin defender and then snapped a point-blank wrist shot under the glove of goalie Matt Jurusik.
All game, the Badgers gave up far too many easy chances to the Gophers. Each of the four Minnesota goals in the first period came on an open shot in front of the net. Shortly after Fasching’s goal, junior Justin Kloos skated into the offensive zone with ease, much like Fasching, and beat Jurusik with a low-blocker wrist shot.
“A young goaltender struggled, we weren’t good enough in front of him and didn’t do enough good things to get off to a good start,” UW head coach Mike Eaves said after the game.
As dismal as the first period was, the Badgers recovered in the second period and came out with a renewed offensive vitality.
Junior Jedd Soleway received a pass on the left wing and fired a shot into what appeared to be a wide-open net before goalie Eric Schierhorn robbed him with a pad save. Wisconsin found the back of the net shortly after on a goal by Cameron Hughes and Grant Besse countered a Gopher goal with a score of his own, breaking a three-game scoreless streak.
Although Wisconsin trailed 5-2 heading into the final frame, the Badgers looked to have done a 180 and put themselves in position to play a competitive hockey game.
But Wisconsin returned to its first period form in the third, allowing Michael Brodzinski to score a hat trick in those 20 minutes. The game got out of hand shortly after senior defenseman Eddie Wittchow was ejected for a hit on Tommy Novak that left him motionless on the ice. Minnesota would go on to score two power-play goals, the second coming on a 5-on-3 after the Badgers received a second penalty.
“You’re gonna have nights like this, it’s disappointing, they happen,” Eaves said. “We don’t have to overanalyze this.”
However, a striking failure of Wisconsin in the loss was its inability to capitalize on prime scoring chances. In the first, even after succumbing to an early deficit, UW had two chances with Schierhorn completely out of position to find the back of the net. Both times, Wisconsin could not convert. Soleway, as mentioned before, could not finish on an open net from the wing. Right after the Wittchow power play, Besse had a one-on-one breakaway opportunity that he was not able to get past Schierhorn. And at the end of the game, freshman Seamus Malone rung a shot off the post.
No team has the ability to score on every chance, but if Wisconsin had converted on just two of those five opportunities, the game would have played out much differently. Momentum could have swung in the Badgers’ direction and at the very least, the contest would have been a little closer.
“If you’re not getting the chances, that’s when you start to worry. I guess as a group we’ve got to start bearing down,” said Hughes.
Wisconsin takes on Alaska at home next weekend in an attempt to erase the fans’ memories of Saturday’s dumpster fire.
“We know we’re better than this and let’s get going again,” Eaves said.
“It’s one that you’d like to be able to forget, but you gotta learn from your mistakes and that’s how we’re going to get better,” said senior defenseman Kevin Schulze. “We’ll get back to work, we’re still committed to this.”
