After playing the first eight games against a not-so-tough but not-quite-awful schedule, the Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team left no doubt last weekend that they belong among the top teams in the country.
The Badgers paid a visit to the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines, splitting the series with a hard-fought loss in game one followed by an absolute drubbing of the Wolverines in game two.
Despite dropping their first game of the season in Ann Arbor, Wisconsin jumped three more spots in the USCHO polls to clock in ranked seventh this week. The climb is not surprising. Friday night’s 7-4 loss looks much worse on the scoresheet than it did on the ice. The game was played within one goal throughout and featured five lead changes.
Unfortunately for the Badgers, the final lead change came after Ryan Botterill gave Wisconsin a 4-3 lead with less than 10 minutes to go. Michigan’s leading scorer, Michael Hage, tied it just 36 seconds later before Will Horcoff put the Wolverines ahead for good with 4:44 remaining. Michigan then added a couple of empty net goals to add insult to injury, making a close game look like a rout.
Rather than lament the fact that they let one get away, Wisconsin doubled down on Saturday and took Michigan to the woodshed. Their NCAA-leading power play led the way, getting things started in the first with two power play goals courtesy of Ben Dexheimer and Gavin Morrissey.
The Microwave struck again to start the second, as Blake Montgomery extended the lead to three when he scored his fifth of the season less than two minutes into the period. Michigan secured their lone tally on a rare power play miscue that led to a shorthanded goal, but Aiden Dubinsky answered minutes later with his first goal as a Badger, pushing the lead back to three.
Christian Fitzgerald kept his hot streak alive, chipping in Wisconsin’s third power play goal of the night (and his second of the weekend), before Adam Pietila salted it away in the third with his first goal of the season to seal the 6-1 victory.
Freshman goaltender Daniel Hauser finally looked human in game one, which was not unexpected against the second-ranked team with one of the top offenses in the country. He made 26 saves on 31 shots before the two empty netters, but he also made his fair share of impressive plays to keep Wisconsin in the game. On Saturday night, he was lights out, which, combined with Wisconsin’s hot start, was more than enough to skate away with a relatively stress-free win.
Hauser made 29 saves on Saturday and was also credited with his first career assist on Fitzgerald’s power play goal.
All in all, the Michigan series went a long way toward quelling the fears that Wisconsin might repeat what happened last year in Big Ten play, when they often competed but far too often failed to get over the hump. The team has continued to play better hockey as the weeks go on, rising to the occasion when they’ve stepped up to new levels of competition. The Badgers are no longer flying under the radar in a conference that is loaded with championship-level hockey teams.
