Power plays and penalty kills were the name of the game Saturday night as the Wisconsin Badgers got their first win of the season beating the Northern Michigan Wildcats 6-5.
Wisconsin (1-1-0) and Northern Michigan (1-1-0) battled back and forth all night in a game that was consumed by penalties. The Badgers were an impressive four for eight on the power play but also let up two shorthanded goals.
“The penalties and momentum shifts a lot more in college hockey than the NHL,” head coach Tony Granato said. “Two, three, four penalties in a row and the game changes a lot.”
Luke Kunin opened up the scoring for the Badgers in the first period on the power play. The sophomore captain snuck a one-timer off an assist from Besse into the net for his first goal of the season.
Northern Michigan would respond quickly, scoring two more goals in the first period to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead going into the first intermission.
Finding the net next for the Badgers was defenseman, Corbin McGuire, who lit the lamp for the second time in as many games.
McGuire, who scored three goals in the first three years at forward for the Badgers, scored two goals tonight to give him a total of five goals in just eleven games played at defense.
Will Johnson added his second goal of the year and Seamus Malone scored his first goal of the season in the second period. Despite the offensive explosion, Wisconsin found itself only tied up at 4-4 heading in to the third period.
Northern Michigan got the lead just 2:21 in to the final stanza, as Darien Craighead put his second goal of the game in to the back of UW’s net to give them a 5-4 lead.
After McGuire’s second goal of the game pulled the Badgers even, Wisconsin looked to close out the comeback and earn their first win of the 2016-2017 season. Once again, it would come off of a penalty.
Freshman Trent Frederic earned his first goal as a Badger and the game winner for his team 11:36 into the third period. Frederic found himself in the slot with enough time to wrist one past the NMU goaltender.
Matt Jurusik was huge in net for the Badgers at times despite letting in the five goals. The sophomore faced 30 shots from NMU for a save percentage of .833. While he was shaky in the first two periods; Jurusik played phenomenally well in the third.
He came up particularly big as the Badgers faced a precarious 5-on-3 situation in the third period, helping to keep the Badgers within striking range of a victory.
Jurusik’s counter part, Mathais Israelsson was pulled after allowing the fourth goal. His replacement, Atte Tolvannen played most of the second period and all of the third. The two both tallied 13 saves but Tolvannen ended with a better save percentage (.867) than Israelsson (.765).
The win marks the first official win for Head Coach Tony Granato who took over the position after former coach Mike Eaves was fired following the season.
With the win, Wisconsin snapped a long losing streak at the Resch Center in Green Bay and may only hope to see that building if it means an NCAA tournament appearance in the future.
Luckily, the Badgers open up their home season next weekend with Boston College coming to the Kohl Center for a pair of games.
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