Everything was going well for the Badgers. Until it went really, really bad.
The No. 20 Wisconsin Badgers (0-1-0 Big Ten, 4-5-0 overall) were cruising, up two goals to none on the No. 16 Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-0-0, 2-4-0) midway through the second period when all hell broke loose on the ice.
With 10 minutes and 40 seconds left in the period Gopher winger Tyler Sheehy found himself tangled up with Badger goalie Daniel Lebedeff, who had no chance when Minnesota's Ben Brinkman fired a shot into the top corner of the net. It took a lengthy review but the goal was confirmed, and just 21 seconds later Rem Pitlick found the net again to tie the game for the Gophers 2-2.
“We were stunned,” said head coach Tony Granato.
It didn't stop there.
With nine minutes and 26 seconds remaining, Minnesota netted their third goal in just one minute and 14 seconds, silencing the crowd and capping the Gophers run from two goals down to in the lead.
The Badgers fought admirably in the third, but it wasn’t enough and the final stayed 3-2 in favor of Minnesota.
Wisconsin struggled all night to maintain possession in the offensive zone, and Minnesota took advantage of it. The Gophers ground out possession after possession, and wore down the Badger defense as the game went on. They took advantage of a Badger lapse in concentration in the second, and after the dust cleared Minnesota had flipped the script on Wisconsin.
Other than the momentary second period collapse, freshman goaltender Daniel Lebedeff looked like a star. Excluding the first goal on which he was interfered, the Golden Gopher offense pounded 26 shots on goal, and Lebedeff stopped 24 of them for a .923 save percentage.
The Badgers transition offense was fantastic all night as well. Crisp assists by freshman forward Roman Ahcan in the first, and senior forward Max Zimmer in the second led to easy Badger goals by freshman forward Brock Caufield and sophomore defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk. Wisconsin flew to missed passes and botched shots all night and made the Gopher defense pay.
But the Badgers lapsed, and it made all the difference.
“It’s about playing a full 60 minutes instead of taking a few minutes off here and there,” Zimmer said.
Ultimately, Wisconsin's effective offense and solid goaltending just wasn’t enough to overcome that minute and 14 seconds in the second period.
“We have to learn (from our mistakes),” Granato said. “They took advantage of a penalty and we got back on our heels.”
Wisconsin and Minnesota will face off for their second game of the series Saturday night in Madison. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
