Men's Hockey Battles to 2-2 Tie
December 06, 2003 | Men's Hockey
Make it 11 games without a loss for the men's hockey Badgers after the squad skated to a 2-2 tie with No. 8 Denver at Magness Arena Friday night.
Playing perhaps their best hockey of the season, the Badgers stormed out of the gates, dominating the Pioneers throughout the first 20 minutes. The UW outshot the home team, 19-4 in the stanza, but failed to solve DU goalie Adam Berkhoel. Berkhoel made stops on two glorious chances during the first and kept Denver in the game with his play. The netminder stopped John Eichelberger (Glencoe, Ill.) on a rebound for the first big chance, and then made a diving stick save on a Robbie Earl (Los Angeles) breakaway to keep the game scoreless.
The UW skated well again in the second period, but were forced to kill three penalties, with Bernd Bruckler matching Berkhoel in keeping the game without a goal.
Earl finally solved Berkhoel on a UW power play early in the third period, converting the rebound of a Dan Boeser (Savage, Minn.) point shot. Rene Bourque (Lac La Biche, Alberta) set up Boeser at the left point for the slap shot. The puck trickled past Berkhoel and along the left side of the goal. Earl picked it up, stick handled to the front of the goal and pushed the puck home for his sixth of the season at 5:46.
The UW went up 2-0 when Nick Licari (Duluth, Minn.) capitalized on a DU turnover along the left boards. A DU defenseman put the puck up the boards, but Licari was the only skater in the vicinity. The sophomore had a clear path from the boards to the goal and beat Berkhoel short side for his second of the year. The unassisted tally came at 12:14.
Greg Keith's rebound goal at 16:50 of the third period, with the Pioneers on the power play, snapped Wisconsin's streak of 24-straight successful penalty kills, and gave DU life.
Then a minute later, Lukas Dora found room between Bruckler 's pads from left of the goaltender and evened the game at two.
The goal sent the contest to overtime, which was the fifth time in seven games Wisconsin played extra time for a decision. Both teams took two shots in the extra time, but neither found the net.
Bruckler stopped 31 shots in the game and now sits 6-3-4. Berkhoel finished with 36 saves and is now 8-3-1 this season.
Wisconsin (8-3-4, 3-2-4 WCHA), which ended its eight-game losing streak to Denver (9-4-2, 3-4-2 WCHA) looks to end what is now a nine-game winless streak against the Pioneers on Saturday. The teams start at 8:05 p.m. The game is broadcast live on WIBA-AM radio in Madison.
