The Wisconsin men’s hockey team’s (5-8-1) energy built on the first sweep of the season against Penn State carried them through their bye week and into the Thanksgiving weekend series against Alaska Anchorage (2-10-2).
Coming off a rough start to the season, junior forward Kyle Kukkonen noted the team has been working on closing out games strong.
“I take pride in doing the little things and working together…It’s kind of a thing that we preach throughout the week,” Kukkonen said. “Do your job and do little things, and that leads to controlling games and learning how to win games.”
Wisconsin triumphs over Seawolves in 7-1 win
Wisconsin beat Alaska Anchorage 7-1 in their highest-scoring game of the season so far on Friday night at the Kohl Center.
Kukkonen, a transfer out of Michigan Tech, and freshman forward Gavin Morrissey both scored two goals and together assisted on three other goals that night to make strides in their first season as Badgers.
Ryland Mosley kicked off the game for the Badgers with an even-strength goal and only three minutes, 56 seconds on the clock. Morrissey started the play from behind the net and brought the puck up to the corner where he traded places with sophomore forward Quinn Finley. A pass from Finley was then dumped to Mosley, who had great positioning directly in front of the net and finished it off for the Badgers.
Kukkonen made his third goal of the season on a penalty shot. The junior forward advanced on the Seawolves’ goaltender Greg Orosz from the left side before attacking the right side of the goal.
With these two opportunities and a strong defense, the Badgers ended the first period leading 2-0.
Finley scored first in the second period after a blocked shot on goal was rebounded his way for Wisconsin’s first — but not last — score of the night on a power play.
Shortly after, Wisconsin forward Jack Horbach received a five-minute major penalty for hitting from behind, but the Badgers ran the clock down and maintained their 3-0 lead with only four players on the ice.
Morrissey followed in Finley’s footsteps and scored the second power-play goal of the night for Wisconsin.
“He brings it every day,” head coach Mike Hastings said of Morrissey's consistency this season. “The game rewards you when you put the work in consistently.”
Just three minutes later, Morrissey scored the next goal with Mosely on the assist.
The freshman has four goals and 11 assists so far this season.
“I’ve got two great players on my line, and finding chemistry with those guys has been big for me,” Morrissey said. “That’s why me and those guys have been ready to go and I think have still done pretty well for the start of the season.”
In the second period, Wisconsin scored one goal and Alaska the other, leaving the game 5-1 with Wisconsin ahead at the end of the period.
Kukkonen fired the puck just past the glove of Orosz and into the top right corner of the net off a deflected shot from junior forward Christian Fitzgerald.
26 seconds later, the Seawolves made their first and only goal of the night with an even-strength goal by freshman forward Dylan Contreras.
But that single goal wasn’t enough for a Seawolves comeback. During a quiet third period, only one goal, made by Wisconsin graduate student forward Cody Laskosky, was scored, ending the game 7-1 for Wisconsin.
A narrow game two
The Badgers managed to win narrowly in an overtime game that ended in a shootout on Saturday night featuring a Badgers Beyond Borders event.
Wisconsin goaltender Tommy Scarfone held the net for the Badgers Saturday night, looking to hold the Seawolves as well as he did on Friday. Alaska Anchorage mixed up their roster and replaced Orosz with freshman goaltender Tyler Krivtsov.
A power-play goal by Alaska Anchorage freshman forward Ryan Johnson held Wisconsin 0-1 from the end of the second period until almost the end of the third.
With a minute and a half left on the clock in the third, Wisconsin pulled Scarfone to put six men on the ice in an attempt to tie the game. It paid off as Mosley sunk a goal with only 19 seconds of game time left.
Wisconsin remained offensively strong for much of the first overtime period. The Badgers had 10 shots compared to the Seawolves’ one.
Two shootout goals from Wisconsin’s Finley and Mosley won the competition for the Badgers. Anchorage had three attempted shootout goals, with only senior forward Maximilion Helgeson scoring on Scarfone.
Anchorage served eight minutes of penalties during this game, but Wisconsin wasn’t able to capitalize on any of them, putting its’ goals-opportunities for power plays this season at 11-52.
Four-game win streak
The Badgers fought back against their losing record in this series and now have four-game unbeaten run.
Two Wisconsin players, Ryland Mosley and Gavin Morrissey, had a four-point game Friday night, the first for a Badger since Finley in January. Kukkonen’s penalty goal was the first opportunity Wisconsin had at a penalty shot since Finley's against Ohio State last season.
“I thought we kept playing offense,” Hastings said in a post-game press conference. “We possessed the puck, we made some plays, but we didn’t do it in areas to kick Alaska into transition.”
Saturday night marked higher point streaks for both Finley and Mosley. Beginning during the Minnesota game on Nov. 8, Finley has a career-high six-game point streak with four goals and seven assists. Mosley is on a five-game point streak with five goals and four assists.
Captain Owen Lindmark said he was proud of his success during faceoffs on Saturday. With a game record of 22-27, Lindmark had the most opportunities of any Badger that night in the circles.
“I just try to take ownership in the faceoff circle,” Lindmark said. “Being in my sixth year here, I think that that’s probably the strongest area of my game, and I take a lot of pride in any chance I can get to help the team out. That was in the faceoff circle tonight.”
After 14 games, Wisconsin’s record is now 5-8-1.
Up next:
Wisconsin plays their final home games of the fall semester on Dec. 6 and Dec. 7 against No. 1 Michigan State.
The annual UW Teddy Toss will happen during Friday night’s game. Fans can bring teddy bears and donate them to Toy For Tots during the Teddy Toss. Friday night is also Winter Wonderland-themed, and fans are encouraged to wear holiday apparel.
Saturday night honors former Badger Joe Pavelski, who recently retired after 18 years in the NHL. Pavelski played for Badgers from 2004 to 2006 and was drafted to the San Jose Sharks, where he played for 13 years and served four of those as captain.
At Wisconsin, Pavelski was part of the championship team in 2006 and scored 101 points, the ninth Badger to score over 100 points during their first two seasons.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. both nights.
