Nov. 28, 2009
Box Score | Box Score 
Ann Arbor, Mich.-The Wisconsin men's hockey team (8-5-1, 5-4-1 WCHA) dropped a hard fought 3-2 battle with the Michigan Wolverines (7-7-0, 3-5-0 CCHA) Saturday night. Badger sophomore Derek Stepan (Hastings, Minn.) continued his solid production in the game, tallying his sixth point of the weekend after a third period goal. Senior forward Blake Geoffrion (Brentwood, Tenn.) also scored his team-high ninth goal of the season.
The first period proved to be a defensive showdown, as neither team was able to find the back of the net. Though the Badgers outshot the Wolverines 12-5, the score remained knotted at zero. The closest chance either team had to a goal was when Badger freshman Derek Lee (North Vancouver, British Columbia) saw a shot ping off the goal about halfway through the period.
With 13:58 left in the second period, Michigan notched the game's first goal. Wolverine junior Matt Rust scored the power-play goal to put his team up 1-0. The play was reviewed by the officials, but the goal was upheld.
Just over four minutes later, Blake Geoffrion evened the match by scoring his ninth goal of the season and second of the weekend. A shot by freshman forward Craig Smith (Madison, Wis.) was stopped, but Geoffrion was there to cash in the rebound for UW. Also assisted by junior defenseman Brendan Smith, the goal came at 10:08 of the period.
With 1:55 left in the second, Wolverine forward Luke Glendening put Michigan back on top, 2-1, heading into the final period. The short-handed goal was scored seconds after Glendening won the faceoff in the UW end for an unassisted tally.
The Wolverines outshot the Badgers, 17-15, in the period, with UW still outshooting UM, 27-22, overall. Skating with a 2-1 score in favor of the Wolverines, the third period got underway.
Michigan added to its lead at the 8:08 mark of the third period. After a fortunate bounce off a faceoff slid to junior forward Louie Caporusso, he punched it in to give the Wolverines a 3-1 advantage.
With 5:37 remaining in the game, the Badgers kept fighting as Derek Stepan tallied his second goal of the weekend. Senior Michael Davies (St. Louis) slid the puck in front of the Michigan goal from a scramble to the right of Michigan goaltender Bryan Hogan. A wide-open Stepan waited and hit a mostly open net to narrow the game to 3-2.
And that is exactly what the scoreboard would read after the final buzzer.
UW outshoot Michigan, 41-35, in the contest. The Badgers went 0-for-4 on the power play and killed 4-of-5 Michigan chances with the man advantage.
Badger goaltender Scott Gudmandson (Sherwood Park, Alberta) managed to stop 32 UM shots in the team's loss, as his record fell to 3-2-1 on the season. Bryan Hogan was in the net for Michigan, and he stopped 39 Badger shots as his record climbed to 7-7-0 after the team's win.
The next time UW will face Michigan will be Feb. 6 in the Badger Hockey Classic in Camp Randall Stadium. Tickets for the game are still available here.
The Badgers get back on Kohl Center ice next weekend, as UW welcomes Michigan Tech on Friday and Saturday night. The games get underway at 7 p.m. both nights.
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Brady Hartung, UW Athletic Communications
