For the third time in four games, the No. 13/12 Wisconsin men’s hockey team participated in a game with a lopsided score.
This time, however, it was the Badgers who got to enjoy hanging up some crooked numbers as UW dropped No. 12/13 Lake Superior State 8-1 Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
Seven different Badgers lit the lamp as Wisconsin pushed its record to 3-2-1 on the young season.
The loss was the first of the season for LSSU (4-1-1).
Mark Zengerle netted his first goal of the season midway through the opening stanza to give Bucky the 1-0 advantage.
Joseph LaBate found twine in the waning moments of the first to make it 2-0 in favor of the home team heading into the first intermission.
The Lakers got one back 16 seconds into the second period courtesy of Kevin Czuczman.
“That might’ve been us as a coaching staff’s fault,” UW head coach Mike Eaves said. “They did something different as a part of their game plan tonight so we talk about the fact that when you get into championship moments you have to be able to adapt. So we tried to do an adaption at the beginning of the period and that may have been on their minds, thinking about that other than playing. But I thought as the game went on we did what we wanted to do and the adaption was a plus for us.”
Nic Kerdiles extended his point streak to 18 consecutive games with a goal a short time later which pushed Wisconsin’s lead back to two.
A power play score from Frankie Simonelli at 12:16 of the period made it 4-1 Badgers as the two teams hit the locker room for the final time.
The third period was all Badgers. Brad Navin picked up his first goal of the campaign early in the period. Chase Drake followed suit a short time later notching his first score of 2013-14.
Freshman Grant Besse got in on the act when he buried the biscuit at the 14:28 mark.
Kerdiles provided the icing on the cake with his second score of the evening, a shorthanded effort, in the final minute of the contest.
“He’s one of those guys that the puck follows. I mean, the last goal, he’s cutting across the ice, it’s flipped up in the air, he puts it down, takes a shot and it goes in,” Eaves said. “Stuff happens when Nic’s on the ice.”
LaBate and Joe Faust each finished the night with three points for UW. In total, 14 of Wisconsin’s 18 skaters picked up a point on the night.
The Badgers outshot the Lakers 44-22.
Landon Peterson recorded 21 saves for the Cardinal and White.
UW will take next week off before traveling to take on Miami (Ohio) in a two game set Nov. 15-16.
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