Wisconsin earned its third Big Ten win Friday against No. 19 Minnesota, but could not match that effort in the Saturday game and fell to the Gophers (14-6-0 Big Ten, 19-16-0 overall).
In a similar fashion to their win over Penn State the previous weekend, the Badgers (3-13-4, 8-18-8) took a two-goal lead late into the third period and nearly allowed the Gophers to come back.
Junior forward Grant Besse extended the Wisconsin lead with just over a minute left on an empty-net goal. Just 23 seconds later, Tommy Novak found the back of the net to cut the Wisconsin lead to 4-3, eerily reminiscent of last week’s game against Penn State when the Nittany Lions scored a late goal to make it 4-3.
Then, with five seconds remaining, Minnesota scored a goal that appeared to tie the game at four. But, the play was reviewed and the referees determined that the Gophers were offsides and the goal was waved off.
Wisconsin held on for the remaining seconds and earned its second straight win over a ranked opponent. The win comes after the Badgers were embarrassed by Minnesota 9-2 on home ice in their last matchup.
"We had an opportunity to redeem ourselves. They took it to heart. I think it was a part of what we did tonight," head coach Mike Eaves said.
The top line of freshman forwards Luke Kunin and Besse continued to shine. Kunin notched his team-leading 17th goal of the season during a stretch of 4-on-4 hockey in the first. He also assisted on junior forward Jedd Soleway’s first period goal.
Besse scored twice, the first coming at 11:19 in the second period on a power play. He would go on to score the empty-netter that would ultimately prove to be the game-winning goal.
"He's been snake-bitten quite a bit this year," Eaves said. "The guys gave him heck that finally he scored on a breakaway with the empty netter. Shots that were going in last year aren't as freely going in this year, but for him to come up big there was really nice."
Soleway lit the lamp on a power play with under three minutes left in the third period, scoring in his second straight game.
The victory celebration was short-lived though, as Wisconsin fell to the Gophers 4-1 in the second contest.
Kunin opened the scoring seven minutes into the game to give the Badgers an early lead. Despite this advantage, Minnesota outshot Wisconsin 17-4, a sign the Badgers would be in trouble later in the game.
They would hold onto this advantage until two minutes into the second before Leon Bristedt tied the game at one on a shorthanded opportunity.
“Anytime you give up a shorthanded goal, that takes a little wind out of your sails as well," senior defenseman Eddie Wittchow said.
Minnesota then opened the floodgates in the third, capitalizing on two separate power plays. The Badgers committed five penalties in the final frame, giving Minnesota more than enough opportunities to take a commanding lead.
"We knew to be successful against this team we had to stay out of the box, and we didn't do that tonight," Wittchow said of giving Minnesota seven power-play chances. "Whether we deserved those calls or not, it doesn't matter. We got to find ways to stay out of the box, and then we have to execute if we do go to the box."
Bristedt then scored an empty-netter with 59 seconds left in the game for his second of the night.
In the game before, Wisconsin committed just two penalties, but found itself on the opposite end of the spectrum Saturday night. This ultimately cost them the game and any chance at a series sweep.
Wisconsin salvaged a bit of respect in the conference, going 2-2 in its final Big Ten games and picking up two wins against ranked squads.
The Badgers will get another chance at Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten tourney, which begins Thursday in Minneapolis at the Xcel Energy Center. Faceoff is set for 4 p.m.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
