MADISON, Wis. – The No. 5 Wisconsin men's hockey team scored three unanswered goals to claim a 5-4 comeback victory over the No. 4 Michigan Wolverines on Friday in front of a raucous crowd at the Kohl Center.
Trailing 4-2 in the second period and heading into the third period down 4-3, the Badgers (8-1-0, 3-0-0 Big Ten) completed a wild comeback bid, scoring two goals in the final five minutes of the game to win their fifth consecutive game. Sophomore forward Simon Tassy scored the game-tying goal, and graduate student forward Owen Lindmark's second tally of the night was the game-winner. Senior goaltender Kyle McClellan stood tall in net, stopping 28 of Michigan's (5-3-1, 1-1-1 Big Ten) shots on goal.
Wisconsin got things going early with a goal from freshman forward Quinn Finley four minutes into the game. Sophomore forward Christian Fitzgerald passed to sophomore forward Simon Tassy at the neutral zone. Tassy rushed it up the right side of ice and sent a saucer pass all the way to his left to meet Finley. Finley tapped it past Michigan goaltender Jake Barczewski for his third goal of the season.
With 12 minutes left in the period, Michigan tied things up on a shot from Garrett Schifsky.
Two minutes later, the Badgers found the back of the net to take the lead. Sophomore forward
Tyson Dyck gave the puck to
Jack Horbach in the deep left corner of Michigan territory. The sophomore forward skated the puck around the zone before passing behind him to graduate student forward
Owen Lindmark, who took a swift shot to make it 2-1.
The Wolverines continued to rally, tying the game up again when Gavin Brindley beat goaltender
Kyle McClellan.
Both teams skated into the second period tied 2-2, but Michigan lit the lamp twice in the middle frame to take a 4-2 lead on goals from Frank Nazar III and Gavin Brindley.
A power play with five minutes left in the second period sparked the Badgers offense. Sophomore defenseman
Ben Dexheimer passed to senior forward
David Silye in the left corner of Wolverine territory. Silye passed to
Cruz Lucius at the top of the right circle who ripped a shot into the net to start the Badgers' comeback efforts.
Wisconsin continued to fight hard and was rewarded twice during the final five minutes of the contest. With less than 10 seconds remaining on a power play,
Christian Fitzgerald made a cross-ice pass to
Simon Tassy, who let a one-time shot fly past the left side of the netminder to tie the game at four goals a piece.
With the 10,000+ fans in the Kohl Center already on their feet,
Owen Lindmark lit the lamp for his second goal of the night just 30 seconds after Tassy's goal to give Wisconsin the victory, 5-4.
Straight from the Rink
Head Coach Mike Hastings
On the team's performance
"We didn't go away. That's a really good hockey team we played tonight. Because our goaltender was as good as he was, it didn't get out of hand. We stayed within two and scored [on the] power play to get us within one for us to find a way."
On tonight's incredible crowd
"I want to say thank you to the people that dug in their pockets and came out tonight. What you can see is this building, when it has this environment can be a pretty special place. And we drew a lot of energy off of that in the third period, so I want to say thank you to everyone that came out tonight."
Graduate Student Owen Lindmark
On the atmosphere at the Kohl Center
"That was definitely by far the best crowd that I've played in at the Kohl Center. I think it's awesome because we're getting good results out on the ice, we're working hard, and to see that result in getting those fans like that was just incredible. The more fans we can get, the better because we need to make this place the hardest place to play, and by doing that, we just gotta keep winning, and the fans will keep coming. So we're off to a good start."
Sophomore forward Simon Tassy
On how the fans influenced the team's energy
"I think it means a lot because I think guys here are ready to win and just getting the crowd involved and getting the entire school behind us just feeding off of the energy. This was a special night for everybody here."
Notes to know:
- Wisconsin's 8-1-0 record is its best start since going 10-1-0 to start the 1999-00 season
- This marks the Badgers' fifth-straight win against a ranked team and third-straight win against programs ranked in the top five
- The two power-play goals tonight mark Wisconsin's fourth-straight game with a power-play goal with the team going scoring six goals on 15 power-play chances over the that span
-
Christian Fitzgerald currently has a five-game point streak, tallying seven assists
-
Ben Dexheimer has a four-game point streak, notching seven assists over the last four contests
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Owen Lindmark recorded his second two-goal game of the season (last vs. Augustana - 10/08/23)
- Sophomore forward
Tyson Dyck tied his single-game career high in assists with two (last vs. Clarkson - 12/28/22)
- Sophomore forward
Jack Horbach's two assists tie his single-game career high in points (last vs. Minnesota - 02/11/23)
Up Next: The Badgers continue their series against No. 4 Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. The game is available to stream live on B1G+ while audio play-by-play will be available at 1310 WIBA on the Badgers app or The Varsity Network App. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
