| | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | Wisconsin
| 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Denver
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | | | | | Scoring Summary | | 1st | 9:29 | DEN | Doremus (Janssen, Heinen) | | 2nd | 00:40 | WIS | LaBate (Linhart, Schulze) | | 2nd | 5:36 | DEN | Shore (Levin, Plant) | | 3rd | 9:08 | DEN | Heinen (Doremus, Janssen) | | 3rd | 14:38 | WIS | Rockwood (LaBate, Drake) | | | Goaltender Summary | Min | GA | Sv | | WIS | Rumpel (0-6-0) | 57:53 | 3 | 23 | | DEN | Jaillet (2-0-0) | 60:00 | 2 | 19 | | Statistical Comparison
| WIS | DEN | | Shots on Goal | 21 | 26 | | Power Plays | 1-3 | 1-2 | | Penalties-Minutes | 2-4 | 3-6 | | |
Nov. 22, 2014
DENVER -- In its most encouraging performance of the season, the Wisconsin men's hockey team kept No. 10 Denver on the ropes at home for a full 60 minutes Saturday, but fell one goal short, losing, 3-2, at Magness Arena.
“Right now we’re not measuring ourselves on wins and losses,” UW head coach Mike Eaves said. “We measure ourselves on growth and we had good growth tonight. I thought that we had great energy. We had a chance to find a way to win that game, we just didn’t get it done.”
DU (8-3-0) scored first on a sloppy opening-period goal.
A shot from the point by Daniel Doremus ricocheted off UW defenseman Cameron Hughes before hitting Badgers (0-8-0) goaltender Joel Rumpel's shoulder and into the net.
UW would get a good opportunity on the power play with under a minute to play in the first, as Joseph LaBate rung a shot off the post.
The late first-period momentum set the stage for a quick tally in the second.
Wisconsin used nearly all 52 seconds that carried over from the first to second on its man advantage to tie the score at one.
LaBate found the net for the Badgers 40 ticks into the period, hammering home a rebound left in front by Pioneers netminder Tanner Jaillet.
“I think that was one of his (Joseph LaBate) more complete games—he was physical, he was intelligent without the puck, he created scoring chances, he was involved,” Eaves said. “He did a lot of good things and he was one of the players we centered out after the game in the locker room.”
Denver later responded with a power-play goal of its own.
Grant Besse blocked a shot which, unluckily for Wisconsin, was returned right back to the opponent. Gabe Levin then forced Rumpel to make a difficult pad save, leaving a rebound in front of an open net. Quentin Shore finished it off to once again give the Pioneers the lead.
The goal marked Denver’s fifth successful power play in 11 tries over its past two games.
UW was not discouraged, though.
The Badgers outshot Denver, 11-8, in the second period and sustained solid pressure in the offensive zone for consecutive minutes.
Wisconsin's third and fourth lines were especially impressive in the second, as they manufactured numerous scoring chances.
The Pioneers added another goal in the third on a highlight-reel assist by Doremus.
Falling to the ice, the freshman swept a pass across to Danton Heinen who blasted a shot behind Rumpel.
The pair finished with a goal and assist each.
But Rockwood gave the Badgers hope with 5:22 remaining in the contest, netting his first-career goal from LaBate and Chase Drake on a backhanded wraparound shot.
“It was interesting he (Adam Rockwood) scored that type of goal,” Eaves said. “I think a couple of weeks ago he would’ve come around the net and tried to look for someone to pass to. But he took responsibility himself to go to the scoring area and make a play, and he was rewarded for it.”
Wisconsin opted to empty its net for an extra attacker with over two minutes left on the clock.
The plan proved to be unsuccessful, but the game went down to the wire, as Denver committed a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty, which gave UW a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 10.6 seconds.
A last-ditch shot from the point looked to have a chance to force overtime but it just nicked LaBate parked in front, giving the Pioneers its third-consecutive victory.
Rumpel finished with 23 saves, including 10 in the final 20 minutes, while Jaillet stopped 19 shots.
“He (Joel Rumpel) was sharp,” Eaves said. “You could tell he was in tune. He was tracking the puck well. He was making decisions to come out and stop the puck at the right times. He wanted to put his best foot forward tonight, too, and he gave us a chance.”
Denver entered the game outscoring its previous two opponents (Colorado College, Air Force) 15-1, proving the Badgers can hang with one of the top teams in the country even when it is playing at its best.
UW held All-College Hockey News Preseason First Team selection Joey LaLeggia off the score sheet after he notched six points against CC and AFA.
Wisconsin welcomes Ferris State to the Kohl Center Nov. 28-29 for a two-game series. Both contests are set for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
