NEW YORK—After beating Ohio State Thursday, the Badgers not only had an opportunity to play a game in Madison Square Garden, but also had a chance to sweep the No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes in the “World’s Most Famous Arena.” The game lived up to its hype: A furious late-game effort by the Buckeyes sent the contest to overtime, where Cameron Hughes scored the golden goal to send the Badgers’ home happy.
For the first 58 minutes of regulation, Wisconsin (6-2-0-0 Big Ten, 13-8-1 overall) played its best defensive game of the season. Ohio State (3-4-1-1, 12-6-6) tried to beat the Badgers with stretch passes and dump and chase hockey, which the Badgers defense contained from the opening whistle.
“I think one of the things you have to do is have pursuit of the puck in the offensive zone and not allow their defenseman to have to time turn up and identify where their stretch players are,” head coach Tony Granato said. “I think that’s one of the things, and the other thing is as the third forward in the zone you can’t be caught leaning forward. We’re trying to get better at defending against that and I thought tonight was a big step in the right direction.”
All season long, the Badgers have talked about playing 60-minute hockey. And as the game was heading down to the wire, Wisconsin looked like they could complete its most solid 60 minutes of the season, leading 2-0 and limiting Ohio State’s chances to only a few quality opportunities.
“[We did] a ton of things [right defensively],” sophomore goalie Matt Jurusik said. “Boxing guys out, Hughes had a tremendous block in the second period, and as a goalie you notice those sort of things. When they’re picking up guys back door, and they’re not getting beat, they just played a full complete game as defenseman and forwards coming back.”
However, the Badgers did not play a full 60 minutes. With just two minutes to go, Ohio State mounted a comeback, scoring twice, including once on a power play goal after a Hughes tripping penalty. The Buckeyes added another after pulling their goalie, sending the game to overtime.
“Those two goals, it’s a tip and a real big screen,” Jurusik said. “If a goal is going to go in in the last minute of a close game like that, it’s going to be a goal like that.”
But despite giving up the lead that late in the game, the Badgers confidence never wavered.
“I’m learning a lot about our team. I did the other night when we played at Ohio State. We were sloppy for a while and we were holding onto a 2-1 lead and the benched looked at me as I was trying to yell out instructions and they were like ‘okay coach we got this, don’t worry, we got this,’” Granato said. “And that’s the confidence they have now in themselves.”
Throughout the season, the Badgers have prided themselves on being a resilient team. They have often found themselves down early in games, and, no matter the opponent, almost always find a way to battle back and, lately, win.
“Obviously we would have liked to close it it out in regulation, but it didn’t happen,” Hughes said. “I thought we bounced back great and had jump and the bench still had life and we still believed in ourselves. That’s the bottom line. You always believe in yourself and good stuff will happen.”
Even tonight, in a new environment, even under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden, the Badgers found a way to keep that resilient identity and pull out a win on Hughes’ rebound overtime goal.
“For us, it’s whatever happens in the game, like say, they score two late, who cares, just get back at it and do the things that we do,” Hughes said. “You’re going to get bounces or you’re not going to get bounces, but you just got to stick to it and stick to the plan that the coaches put in place and you execute it you’re going to have success.”
For the Badgers, playing at Madison Square Garden, winning in overtime, holding off a comeback and beating a top-ten opponent all combined for a memorable experience. And for Hughes (who once earned the No. 1 highlight on “SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays” for a slick between-the-legs goal) tonight will be remembered as one of the best moments of his career.
“It [ranks] pretty high. Overtime, parents were here, a family friend [was here]. I know my family is watching back home too, so it was pretty cool. Get a sweep too. My first time in New York. The list goes on and on,” Hughes said. “We got the whole experience and capping it off with a win is even better.”
