One of the wilder stats was brought up ahead of Wisconsin’s trip to No. 1 Michigan State this weekend: going into the series, the then-No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers were 9-2-2 all-time on the road against the top-ranked
team when they are also in the top ten.
After Friday and Saturday night in East Lansing, Wisconsin is now 11-2-2 under those circumstances, and as a reward, is now ranked second in the latest USCHO rankings.
The No. 2 Badgers (10-2-2, 6-2 B1G) toppled the Michigan State Spartans and put an end to their nine-game winning streak. The wins didn’t come without adversity; Wisconsin trailed 2-0 in the first period on Friday night, and it looked like the Spartans might run them out of the building. But this is a Badger team with no quit, as they responded with four unanswered goals in the second period to flip the script.
When nothing is going right, just get the NCAA’s best power play unit on the ice. Senior forward Christian Fitzgerald, Wisconsin’s leading goal scorer this season, got things started for the Badgers with his nation-leading seventh power play goal.
Freshman Blake Montgomery’s scorching hot streak continued when he helped the Badgers pull even just a few minutes later. Sophomore Adam Pietila and senior Tyson Dyck added tallies before the second period expired to send Wisconsin into the second intermission with a two-goal lead.
Michigan State (9-3, 4-2 B1G) is certainly a complete team capable of mounting a comeback, but they’re not necessarily known for their explosive offense. After taking the lead, it was up to sophomore Eli Pulver to preserve the lead in his first Badger start.
Everything was going according to plan before Michigan State got a quick strike from Ryker Lee to pull within one, but Ryan Botterill struck back for Wisconsin just 16 seconds later to restore the two-goal lead.
Not to be outdone, standout Spartan freshman Porter Malone netted his second of the game 34 seconds after Botterill’s goal to keep things interesting. Wisconsin did well to survive the extra attacker for nearly two minutes with Michigan State’s Trey Augustine vacating the net, keeping the pressure off of Pulver until time expired to secure a 5-4 win.
The move to give freshman Daniel Hauser a rest was slightly surprising, but not without merit. Hauser has been very good in his debut season, though he’s given up 15 goals over his last four games against Michigan and Ohio State.
At 21 years old, Hauser is a little older and more experienced than most freshmen, but being the everyday starter for a Big Ten hockey team is a heavy workload. He already ranks fifth in the NCAA in goalie minutes played and was certainly due for a rest.
Pulver getting a start isn’t far-fetched; it was more the timing of his first start. They brought a top ten squad to East Lansing to take on the number one team, so it was a bit of a shock to see Pulver listed first when Wisconsin posted their lineup. But it was Pulver’s weekend, as he also got the start in game two, which likely guaranteed we see more Eli Pulver this season.
It took a full diving layout from senior Ben Dexheimer to deliver an overtime win in game two, but the big story was Pulver being just 39.6 seconds away from shutting out the unanimous number one team in the country. Porter Martone snuck around the net for a loose puck that fooled Pulver, giving Martone an empty net to tuck away the game-tying goal that brought Munn Ice Arena back to life.
Pulver refocused following the late goal and didn’t blink in overtime, setting the table for Dexheimer’s game-winner off the cross-ice feed from Fitzgerald.
Blake Montgomery scored Wisconsin’s regulation goal in game two on the power play, giving him two goals and an assist over the weekend. The Ottawa prospect, aptly dubbed “The Microwave” by this blog, has been a point-per-game player over his past nine games.
The question going forward is what happens with the goaltending position. Pulver just beat the top-ranked team twice, but Hauser played very well up until he ran into statistically the best offense in the country, Michigan. I wouldn’t be shocked to see them split series going forward. I don’t think they’ve moved on from Hauser in any way, but Eli Pulver has made himself undeniable after the weekend he just produced.
At the end of the day, having another capable goaltender is a great problem to have for an ascending team, and that’s exactly what these Badgers are. They secured eight out of twelve points possible after trips to Ann Arbor and East Lansing and sit second in the Big Ten, one point behind Michigan.
Next up for Wisconsin is a trip to South Bend after an off-week for Thanksgiving, then a three-week break for exams before the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off at Fiserv Forum.
