The Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team (7-10-1) found mixed results against the University of Michigan Wolverines (record) on Dec. 13 and 14, reminiscent of their last season’s performance, skating away with one loss and one overtime win.
Wisconsin shut out the now No. 9 Michigan Wolverines 4-0. Two power-play goals and one short-handed goal contributed to that win.
Tommy Scarfone played in net Friday night and earned his second shutout of the season after collecting his first last weekend against Michigan State — another game that ended 4-0.
“The buy-in right now is huge from our team,” said Scarfone. “Everyone’s contributing, forwards or defensemen…I’m really grateful for them.”
In the first period alone, the Badgers had 15 blocks.
Wisconsin forward Kyle Kukkonen scored the first goal of the night almost two minutes into a power play after Wolverines senior forward Mark Estapa was called for tripping 6:38 into the game. The Badgers scored at 8:35, when the penalty was just about over.
The Badgers’ Logan Hensler swiped a shot from between the circles that Kukkonen read near the net and raised his stick to tip in. Hensler lined up the shot from the center of the Wolverines’ zone and fired it. Kukkonen read the pass and raised his stick to tap the puck right out of the air and into the back of the net.
The rest of the first period passed quietly. Only one more penalty was called as Badgers forward Gavin Morrissey was sent to the box for a two-minute tripping call. Michigan did not score on the power play.
Just 20 seconds into the second period, Sawyer Scholl won a faceoff at the left circle in Michigan’s zone. With the puck lost, Wisconsin graduate student forward Cody Laskosky was the first to react, and with no Wolverines in position, scored the Badgers’ first short-hand goal of the season.
The Badgers remained strong offensively for the rest of the second period, putting up 18 shots before a third goal went in with less than three minutes left in the frame.
Sophomore defenseman Zach Schulz received a pass from junior defenseman Ben Dexheimer and saw an opening at the blue line. Schulz’s shot bounced off the Michigan goalie and into the stick of the Badgers’ Ryland Mosley, who just had to nudge it across the goal line for the sirens to sound.
This marks Mosley’s eighth goal and sixteenth point of his first season with the Badgers.
Wisconsin finished the competition with a goal during a power play that demonstrated the team effort the Badgers were giving.
Dexheimer took the puck up center ice and passed to Mosley, who then faked a shot from the left side of the net and completed a backdoor look pass to Wisconsin forward Quinn Finley. The sophomore forward then snuck toward the net from the right side and lit up the scoreboard with a direct shot.
Scarfone reflected on the work the team has done in the past few weeks to get the results they are now seeing.
“We’re not going to be perfect, that’s fine. That’s the game of hockey. I think we did a great job tonight, showing ourselves,” Scarfone said.
Referees called fewer penalties Saturday night, and no resulting power plays came of the two on Wisconsin and three on Michigan.
The first period moved slowly with only two penalties called and no goals scored. After that slow stretch, Michigan and Wisconsin traded frames, with the Wolverines scoring twice in the second period and the Badgers scoring twice in the third to send the game to overtime.
Badgers forward Jack Horbach scored three and a half minutes into the third period on a stolen pass in Michigan’s defensive zone. He went one-on-one with Wolverine goaltender Cameron Korpi and lit the lamp unassisted.
Gavin Morrissey’s fifth goal of the year came only five minutes later when he shot through four players and Korpi’s glove to tie the game 2-2.
When neither team scored for the rest of the game, they moved into a sudden death overtime, where a goal by Michigan forward Michael Hage sealed the win for the Wolverines.
The Badgers now sit 5-7-0 in Big Ten play, with five of the seven losses coming in overtime. The only overtime win Wisconsin has against a Big Ten matchup was in November against Penn State.
Despite Wisconsin’s overall record being 7-10-1, the Badgers are tied for second in Big Ten standings. Michigan State is tied at 19 points, while Minnesota sits on top.
Next, the Badgers will head to Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee for the Kwik Trip Holiday Faceoff. Wisconsin plays Ferris State Saturday, Dec. 28 at 5 p.m. The winner will play in the championship game Sunday.
Both the Wisconsin men’s and women’s hockey teams travel for another winter break tournament, the Frozen Confines Big Ten Hockey Series, hosted at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The games are taking place Jan. 3 and 4.
