MADISON, Wis. — Thanks to a balanced Badger offense, the Wisconsin men's hockey team defeated No. 12 Boston College, 7-5, to earn its first series sweep of the season Saturday night at the Kohl Center.Â
Six different UW skaters tallied goals in tonight's victory.Â
Sophomore forward
Sean Dhooghe put the Badgers (2-0-0, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) on the board just 38 seconds into the opening frame after tipping a shot from sophomore defenseman
Wyatt Kalynuk past BC (0-2-0, 0-0-0-0 HEA) goaltender Joseph Woll to go up 1-0.Â
BC forward Oliver Wahlstrom answered less than a minute later to even the score at one, but Kalynuk buried a goal of his own at the 12:41 mark to give the Badgers a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.Â
Sophomore
Tarek Baker and senior
Will Johnson tallied back-to-back goals in the second period to extend Wisconsin's lead to 4-1, but BC scored a quick trio of goals in the final five minutes of the frame to even the score at 4-4 with one period to play.Â
After sophomore
Linus Weissbach scored to give the Badgers a 5-4 advantage early in the final period, freshman forward
Brock Caufield saw his cross-ice pass deflect off a BC stick and into the net to notch his first collegiate goal and the game-winner.Â
Eagles winger David Cotton scored his third goal of the night to bring BC within one late in the third period, but Kalynuk collected a loose puck in the Eagles' zone and wrapped around an empty-net goal to put the game out of reach with five seconds to play.
Junior netminder
Jack Berry made 28 saves for the Badgers. Â
Notes to know:Â
- Tonight's win marked the Badgers' first home series sweep since the 2016-17 season.Â
- Sophomore defensemen Tyler Inamoto and Wyatt Kalynuk each registered +5 plus/minus ratings in tonight's win. The last UW player to record a +5 rating was former defenseman Kyle Klubertanz (2004-08) in 2008.Â
- Kalynuk and fellow sophomore Tarek Baker each tallied three points in the Badgers' win. Baker notched a goal and two assists while Kalynuk posted two goals and one assist.Â
- Six of UW's seven goals were scored by underclassmen. Three rookies have scored their first collegiate goals so far, with forward Brock Caufield becoming the latest freshman to light the lamp.Â
Straight from the Rink:
Head Coach Tony Granato
On the energy at the beginning of the third period:
"I think they realized that by the end of the second period, we got into a little bit of penalty trouble with those two penalties. They did get a couple breaks on a couple of their goals, one of them a guy slid into the net and it went off of his skate, the other one we blocked his shot and it bounced right to the guy on the other side, so we played it right on the PK. So I think they didn't feel bad, thinking that we played horrible. They're a good team that made some plays to get back in the game, but I think we felt good on how we were playing and we thought if we could get back to getting on their four check and causing some turnovers, I think that was really the difference at the start of the third period. I thought we did a great job in the neutral zone and we turned some good defensive plays into some quick offense. We went to the net hard. We paid a price for some goals tonight, I mean that's a heck of a goalie, and it was paying a price, getting there, getting rebounds and finding a way to beat their men."
On being 2-0 this early in the season & building confidence for the younger players:
"I think that the one thing we're going to try to do as a team is to just focus on our next game. I think I mentioned this at the last press conference earlier this week, but our schedule is the same as the football teams' was a couple of years ago when they started with LSU. They got off to a great start and then they just looked at every challenge in a different way and approached it that way, and that's what we're going to have to do. We've got a great weekend to be proud of. There's lots of areas that we can get better in, but the one thing that we know we have, we've got workers, guys that play hard, energy and a lot of young players. They don't know what it means. That's the fun part about it, and that's the thing that I think makes these guys special. Boston College is a team that's going to beat a lot of teams this year. They skate, they've got a lot of skill, they've got a great goalie and they're well-coached. To be able to accomplish that this early certainly should give us some confidence, but we know we've got a long ways to go to keep improving each and every week."
On playing the defensive zone:
"Again, we're playing a great offensive team, so you're gonna have chances that you give up where you'll say "We could've played that one a little bit different." So, we'll watch it and try to work on some things during the week, but, we're two games into the season, so you can't be perfect. We've got to realize that the guys are still getting used to playing with one another, there are lots of different pairs and combinations out there at different times, and they don't know their opponents very well. I know probably half our team hasn't ever played against some of these guys before. So, there's a lot of unknowns for the players that way, and I think once we start playing teams in our conference that are more familiar with and play on a regular basis it'll be a little bit different. Again, it was a fun weekend for us, and hopefully, the fans enjoyed it. I think they probably liked our freshmen, they probably liked our sophomores, they probably liked our juniors, and they probably liked our seniors after this weekend. So, hopefully they'll come back and we'll keep playing that way."
Freshman Forward Brock Caufield
On his first collegiate goal:
"It's really special scoring your first collegiate goal – and I just loved doing it with these guys. They've been pushing me every day to get better and I've worked harder because of it."
Sophomore Forward Sean DhoogheÂ
On team chemistry:
"There is a lot of character on this team and a lot of love for one another. Everyone plays for the guy next to them, not themselves."
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On opening the season undefeated:
"It was a really good weekend of play, but we are already shifting our focus to what is coming up next."
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Sophomore Forward Linus WeissbachÂ
On his team's resilience:
"Our team really sticks together. We're a pretty tight group this year and I think that showed tonight."
Up Next: The Badgers travel to New York next Friday and Saturday to take on the Clarkson Golden Knights and the St. Lawrence Saints in two non-conference matchups. Puck drops for both games are slated for 6 p.m. (CT) starts.Â
