Badgers Sweep Into First Place
December 04, 2004 | Men's Hockey
Sophomore Robbie Earl (Los Angeles) scored early in the third period and also added an assist to lead the No. 4 Wisconsin men's hockey team past No. 14 Minnesota Duluth 3-2 Saturday night in front of 13,530 spectators at the Kohl Center.
The victory coupled with a 2-1 win by Alaska Anchorage over North Dakota propels the Badgers (12-4-0 overall, 9-3-0 WCHA) into sole possession of first place in the WCHA.
Bernd Bruckler (Graz, Austria) made 23 saves to increase UW 's WCHA winning streak to six games despite the fact that the Bulldogs (7-7-2, 5-5-0) out-shot the Badgers 25-18 on the night, including 11-4 in the second period.
Wisconsin's special teams also played well as UW scored twice on five power play opportunities and held UMD to 0-for-6 with the man advantage.
The Badgers got on the board first with a power play goal just over eight minutes into the contest. Just as matching minors expired on what was a 4-on-3 opportunity for Wisconsin, freshman Matt Ford (West Hills, Calif.) was able to jam a rebound past UMD goalie Isaac Reichmuth. Jake Dowell (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Andrew Joudrey (Bedford, Nova Scotia) added assists on Ford's first goal as a Badger.
Minnesota Duluth knotted the score at 1-1 at the 12:40 mark of the first as the Bulldogs won a face off in the Badger zone and T.J. Caig was able to put a wrist shot past Bernd Bruckler from the right wing.
UMD took its first lead of the weekend just under two minutes later as Marco Peluso took a feed from Evan Schwabe in front of the Badgers' net and snuck a shot by Bruckler to put the Bulldogs up 2-1 at 13:39 of the first. Steve Czech was also credited with an assist on the play.
For the second night in a row, the teams played beat the clock at the end of a period. However, this night it was UW notching a game-tying goal with just six tenths of a second left in the first to make it 2-2.
Joe Pavelski (Plover, Wis.) won the puck at the blue line with under 10 seconds remaining in the period and sent a pass to a streaking Robbie Earl. Earl carried the puck toward the net and then dropped it off to Adam Burish (Madison, Wis.) who jammed it past a disconsolate Reichmuth for the score. The goal extends Burish's goal-scoring streak to three games.
Wisconsin regained the lead 1:50 into the third when a shot from the point by Kyle Klubertanz (Sun Prairie, Wis.) deflected off of a UMD player to Earl who beat Reichmuth from the slot for his ninth goal of the season. Jeff Likens (Barrington, Ill.) also added an assist on the power play goal which proved to be the game-winner.
The Badgers continue their WCHA slate when they travel to Mankato, Minn. Dec. 10-11 to take on the Minnesota State Mavericks. Face off Friday is set for 7:37 p.m. while the puck drops at 7:07 p.m. on Saturday.
