Viva Las Vegas! For the first time since 2010, the Wisconsin Badgers are heading back to the Frozen Four. The Badgers took out the top-seeded team in the region, the Michigan State Spartans, in an overtime thriller to punch their ticket.
Wisconsin and Michigan State split the regular season series with each team winning two games on the road, so it was only right to play the rubber match on neutral ice in Worcester with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line.
After a scoreless first period, it was the
Badgers who struck first just 18 seconds into the second period. Gavin Morrissey won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Quinn Finley from the left circle, allowing Finley to drift into the slot and snipe one past all-world goaltender Trey Augustine.
That was never going to be enough to put the Spartans away. Few teams in college hockey can match Michigan State’s intensity when they’re trailing. That being said, Wisconsin had a chance to extend its lead with a power play that went for naught, providing Michigan State with a bit of momentum.
Jack Horbach got the box for a high stick shortly after the Wisconsin power play expired, which is a scary proposition against the Spartans’ third-ranked power play. The Badgers did well to kill the penalty until the waning seconds, when Michigan State’s Gavin O’Connell sent a puck toward the net that deflected off Ben Dexheimer’s stick and over Daniel Hauser’s head to even the game at one.
The Spartans struck again just 31 seconds later one a cross-ice pass to Patrick Geary, who just needed to get the puck back toward the net to beat Hauser and give Michigan State a 2-1 lead.
Wisconsin had another chance to tie the game on the power play but failed to convert. As the penalty expired, Ryker Lee vacated the penalty box and received a tape-to-tape pass, leaving him all alone on a breakaway. Lee made a nifty deke to get back to his forehand, but Hauser slid the left pad over and stoned him. The play ultimately went under review to see if the puck crossed the line as it disappeared under Hauser’s pad, but the call on the ice stood.
A third unanswered goal mid-way through the third period gave Michigan State a two-goal lead, which seemed insurmountable considering how Augustine played over the last two games.
When things started to look bleak, it was Luke Osburn who cleaned up a rebound attempt off the stick of Oliver Tulk to make it a one-goal game with less than five minutes to go. Then, to totally flip the script on Michigan State, Dexheimer threw a puck toward the crease that deflected off Christian Fitzgerald right toward an opportunistic Gavin Morrissey, who buried the game-tying goal 34 seconds after Osburn’s tally.
Wisconsin took all the momentum into overtime, and what a short-lived overtime it was. It only took 24 seconds for the celebration to begin for Wisconsin, as Dexheimer got retribution for the wonky deflection that led to Michigan State’s first goal.
The Badgers gained the offensive zone and got it in deep, sliding it out across the boards until Dexheimer corralled it and tossed a shot toward net from the blue line. It’s still unclear, but it seems the puck deflected off a Spartan glove to change the angle and completely fool Trey Augustine, as the Michigan State goaltender stood upright as the puck traveled under his left arm and into the back of the net.
The Big Ten rubber match was a story in and of itself, but the storylines within the game were plentiful. The Michigan State power play brutalized the Badger penalty kill, scoring on both opportunities. The Wisconsin power play, ranked fifth in the nation, was shut out in big moments. Both teams scored back-to-back goals just seconds apart. Both teams scored a goal that left opposing fans scratching their heads. Both teams netted three unanswered goals. And my personal favorite in-game storyline, Ben Dexheimer netting the game winner after the unfortunate bounce off his stick that opened the door for Michigan State to take control of the game in the second period.
And the most important storyline of all, Wisconsin men’s hockey is back in the Frozen Four under Mike Hastings in his third year at the helm. The Badgers will likely play North Dakota in the Frozen Four (they lead Quinnipiac 5-0 as this is being written), reigniting a longstanding WCHA rivalry.
Following the women’s national championship ninth national championship last weekend, the possibility of Wisconsin bringing home both the men’s and women’s NCAA titles is still alive. The Badgers are the only team in history to accomplish that feat, doing so back in 2006, the last time the men won it all. They’re halfway there, and the rest will shake out in Sin City starting on April 9. For now, the Badgers can enjoy a well-earned break and rest up. They’ve got a Frozen Four to get ready for.
