ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 18 Wisconsin men's hockey team took an early lead and never looked back, besting No. 20 Michigan at Yost Arena on Saturday night by a 4-2 score.
 
The Badgers (14-13-4, 8-9-3-1 Big Ten) scored three times in the opening period, building a lead that the Wolverines (13-13-2, 8-10-2-1 Big Ten) couldn't overcome.
 
Sophomore Trent Frederic gave Wisconsin the 1-0 lead, scoring a goal for the second night in a row, when he crashed the Michigan net and slammed home a rebound after freshman Tyler Inamoto's initial shot from the point was saved.
 
Senior Ryan Wagner followed Frederic's strike with his third goal of the weekend, tallying a power-play tally with 13:00 left in the first. Wagner scored after a pass from Frederic redirected off his skate and past Michigan netminder Hayden Lavigne.
 
Not a minute later, senior Cullen Hurley scored his first goal of the season to give the Badgers a 3-0 advantage heading into the intermission, collecting a rebound below the circle and beating Lavigne on the short side.
 
In the second period, freshman Wyatt Kalynuk extended the lead to 4-0, scoring just five second into a Badgers' power play. Kalynuk found an open lane and sent a slapshot in from the point after Frederic won the faceoff directly back to Kalynuk.
 
Michigan cut the lead to 4-1 in the second period, scoring at the 12:48 mark just after a Wisconsin penalty had expired.
 
The Wolverines came within two, scoring a power-play tally at the 8:42 mark of the final frame to make it 4-2, but the Badgers defense held steady for the conference victory.
 
Senior goaltender Kyle Hayton made 32 saves in his first start in five games, moving to 9-9-3 on the season.
 
 
Notes to Know
-Wisconsin went 2-for-5 on the power play while killing off five of six Michigan power plays.
-Wisconsin was narrowly outshot, 34-33, but outblocked the Wolverines 16-13.
-Cullen Hurley's goal was the first game-winner of his career as a Badger.
-Ryan Wagner tallied his career-high 29th point of the season on his first-period goal, also notching his career-high 13th goal of the year.
-Wagner extended his point streak to five games and has eight points in the stretch.
-Trent Frederic had back-to-back three-point nights, notching a goal and two assists in each game of the series. Frederic now leads the Badgers with 14 goals on the year.
 
 
Straight From the Rink
Head Coach Tony Granato
On the game compared to Friday night:
"Last night, we thought we played a great first period and we were down 3-1. Tonight was kind of the opposite. Tonight, we didn't have a great first but we got some saves to give us a chance. We were very opportunistic in the first, that's what they were last night. Power play scored two big goals for us, last night we gave them two power-play goals, so it was pretty much the opposite."
 
On playing their best hockey:
"Last night, I thought we played a better game. Tonight we played a smarter game at times, we still put ourselves in some penalty problems.
 
"I thought defensively we made some big blocks. Once Kyle got going he made big saves for us early, I think our guys gained confidence with that, especially playing in the D zone. We got stuck in our end a couple times.
 
"I played (Cameron) Hughes, Wagner, Frederic … a ton. Both games. From last night to tonight, to be able to give us an effort like that tonight after giving us one last night, it shows who they are. They had to dig down to find energy tonight."
 
On Trent Frederic and other players standing out:
"Outstanding. He's on a roll now. And it's not the goals, it's faceoff battles, it's the defensive play, it's the penalty kill, it's everything. He's just playing great. Wagner is playing great, Cameron is picking his game up. Seamus, I thought Seamus played his best game of the year last night. We've got some guys that we have to count on down the stretch."
 
On the key to turning things around after the loss Friday:
"First goal. Simple play, throw it at the net and get a rebound. He (Frederic) won a battle, he was battling a big defenseman there and found a way to get his stick loose and jump on it. Second was the power-play goal. Third was Cullen Hurley, he plays smart. He didn't try to do anything fancy with it, just turned around and threw it at the net from a bad angle but it was a quick shot and it went in for us. I thought that power-play goal in the second was huge for us too, that took a lot of life out of them for 10 or 15 minutes in that second period."
 
Senior goaltender Kyle Hayton
On feeling in control early in the game:
"It was good, I through we came out hard and we capitalized on our chances. Didn't have too many shots in the first but every time we had one we capitalized.
 
On facing a lot of shots early:
"I think that was a huge point for us, we gave up a few good chances and I had to come up pretty big there. It was nice to be able to help them out and do my job."
 
Sophomore forward Trent Frederic
On the first goal:
"Any time you get ahead in the game, I don't know what our record is ahead, but I think we feel more confident playing ahead. So it was good to get the first one."
 
On the importance of playing like this late in the season:
"I even think Friday night we had times we were playing really good hockey. We just have to keep playing like this and we'll have a really good shot of making the tournament, rolling through Big Tens."
 
 
Up Next
Wisconsin returns to the Kohl Center for its final regular season home series, hosting Minnesota Feb. 9-10. Friday is an 8 p.m. puck drop while Saturday will be a 7 p.m. start.