No. 1 Badgers Earn Road Win at No. 4 Minnesota
December 02, 2005 | Men's Hockey
Joe Pavelski scored two goals and Brian Elliott made 35 saves as the No. 1 Wisconsin men 's hockey team held on to record a 4-3 win over No. 4 Minnesota Friday night at Mariucci Arena.
Robbie Earl (Los Angeles) and Ross Carlson (Duluth, Minn.) recorded the other two goals for the Badgers (12-1-2 overall, 9-0-2 WCHA). With the win, UW extended its unbeaten streak to 13 games (11-0-2 in that stretch) and improved its record against ranked teams to 6-0-1. The win also gave Wisconsin its first win at Mariucci Arena after an 0-10-0 stretch dating back to Feb. 26, 2000.
Grant Potulny, P.J. Atherton and Justin Bostrom scored for the Gophers (7-4-4, 6-3-2). Goalie Kellen Briggs stopped 21 shots.
The Badgers jumped out early with a goal just 27 seconds into the contest. Senior captain Adam Burish (Madison, Wis.) blocked a point shot and sprung Wisconsin on a two-on-one with junior Robbie Earl (Los Angeles). Burish skated down the right side, while Earl skated past the Minnesota defenseman before taking a pass and one-timing a shot past Briggs.
After senior Ryan MacMurchy (Regina, Saskatchewan) was called for a five-minute major and game misconduct for checking from behind, Minnesota tied the game on a Potulny shot from the low slot during the power play at 19:38 of the first.
The Badgers killed the last 3:15 of the major to start the second period, then scored on their first power play of the game at nine minutes. After UW goalie Brian Elliott (Newmarket, Ontario) made a save in the Badger end, junior Joe Pavelski (Plover, Wis.) picked up the puck and skated the rest of the way. Down the right boards, Pavelski stickhandled past one UM defender, then past Briggs for his ninth of the season.
Junior Ross Carlson made it a 3-1 Badger lead 1:14 later, finishing off a nifty passing play that started near the Badger blue line. Sophomore Joe Piskula (Antigo, Wis.) used the right boards to hit senior Nick Licari (Duluth, Minn.) down the side. Licari then saucered a pass to Carlson streaking down the far side. Carlson took the puck and skated past Briggs before finding room between the far post and Briggs' leg for the goal.
Elliott made two big saves late in the second period to keep the Badgers up two. The first came on a scramble in front of the goal, while the second stopped Blake Wheeler, who beat a Badger defenseman to the outside before driving to the Wisconsin goal.
Pavelski notched his 10th goal of the season and second of the contest on the second UW power play of the game early in the third period. Earl earned an assist on the goal, which gave the Badgers a 4-1 lead at 3:13. Atherton closed the gap to 4-2 with a shot from the point at 10:16 of the third period. Kris Chucko earned the only assist on the play.
UM cut the lead to one goal with four minutes left to play in the third when Bostrom scored from between the circles.
The Gophers went on a power play with 1:10 left on the clock and pulled Briggs to take a 6-on-4 advantage, but Elliott and the Badger defense held on to claim the win. Wisconsin finished the game 2-for-3 on the power play. Minnesota was 1-for-6.
The Badgers and Gophers conclude their WCHA series Saturday night at Mariucci Arena. Face off is set for 7 p.m. with live coverage provided by Fox Sports Net North and WIBA-AM Radio.
