The Badgers men’s hockey team lost 2-3 to the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday night at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin led 2-0 early into the second period, but the team couldn’t make it past the two-goal wall — a recent trend in their games.
Sophomore forward Quinn Finley scored his sixth goal of the season during the first period with a quick shot from the right side. Junior defenseman Ben Dexheimer passed the puck from the blue line to freshman forward Gavin Morrissey. Morrissey saw no opening on the left side of the net and made a quick pass to Finley, who was open on the right side. Finley sent the puck into the back of the net to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead.
“The takeaway from that first period is that’s the kind of team we can be. It’s figuring out how to keep replicating that…and not letting off the gas,” captain Owen Lindmark said during a postgame press conference.
The Badgers’ second goal of the night came only 90 seconds into the second period.
Junior forward Kyle Kukkonen scored his first goal of the season on a breakaway run with a quick pass from alternate captain Anthony Kehrer. Kehrer caught a Minnesota pass in the air and dropped it near Wisconsin’s blue line before passing it up to Kukkonen who went one-on-one against Minnesota goalie Nathan Airey.
But in the second period, Minnesota fought back with two goals within five minutes of each other.
Three penalties were called around 13 minutes into the second period following a scuffle behind the Badgers’ net. Badgers juniors Simon Tassy and Jack Horbach and Gophers junior Matthew Wood were called for roughing.
Minnesota’s Jimmy Snuggerud capitalized on the opportunity and tied the game on the power play. Snuggerud scored once more — Minnesota’s game-winning goal — in the third period.
The early lead was not enough for a Wisconsin win, nor were the ten penalty minutes Minnesota gave the Badgers. Wisconsin scored once on the power play, but the opportunities for more points didn’t lead to results on the scoreboard.
“At the end of the day, we had a lot of opportunities for guys to go out and take advantage of playing at home in front of a great crowd,” head coach Mike Hastings said.
With senior goaltender Tommy Scarfone out due to injury, sophomore goaltender William Gramme had to step up this week. Toward the end of the first period, Gramme had a major stop during a breakaway sprint by Minnesota.
“The goals that we gave up, I don’t look at that laying at his feet at all,” Hastings said. “He actually stopped a few that he should have and those are the type of plays that we need from our goaltenders. Tonight I thought that Gramme gave us an opportunity to win the hockey game.”
A similar story played out on Saturday as the Badgers fell 2-3 to the Gophers in their fifth overtime of the season. The Badgers picked up just one conference point over the weekend.
“When you're at home, you gotta find a way to squeeze more than one point out of a weekend,” Hastings said.
The first period was scoreless, but not quiet. The Gophers had 15 shots on Gramme, and the Badgers had nine shots on Gopher goaltender Liam Souliere.
Minnesota's Brody Lamb capitalized on the power play opportunity, giving the Gophers the lead with 12 minutes left in the second period.
Forward Ryland Mosley tied the game with four minutes and 12 seconds remaining in the second period. The Badgers were on the power play after Lamb got a penalty for direct contact to the head. The power play had expired, but Mosley put it away before Lamb returned to the defensive zone.
Dexheimer held the puck on the blue line and passed to Forward Quin Finley who passed back to Dexheimer. A Gopher stick in front of the net blocked Dexheimer’s shot from the point, and Mosely was able to retrieve the puck and shovel it past Souliere.
The Badgers took their first lead of the night with 32 seconds left in the second period. Mosely won the faceoff and passed back to Dexheimer. Dexheimer skated it down the left side of the offensive zone and passed to Finley, who then scored a wrist shot from the left side of the net — his seventh goal of the season.
The Gophers tied the game on the power play with six minutes and four seconds remaining in the third period. Gophers forward Connor Kurth was able to push the rebound past Gramme's left pad.
The Badgers, well-seasoned in overtime play, couldn’t capitalize in the extra time having no shots on goal during overtime. The Gophers had three shots on Gramme, with the third giving Minnesota the overtime win and sweep of the border battle. Gramme was faced with 42 shots compared to Souliere’s 33.
Wisconsin is now 2-8 and 1-5 in conference and will look to get their third win this weekend.
The Badgers will travel to University Park, Pennsylvania, to take on Penn State for their 54th meeting. The Badgers have a five-game winning streak against the Nittany Lions and will look to keep it alive going into the weekend.
Puck drops at 6 p.m. Friday and 6:30 p.m. Saturday ET.
