ANN ARBOR, Mich. – It only took Christian Fitzgerald 57 seconds to find the back of the net in overtime as the No. 3 Wisconsin men's hockey team took down the No. 14 Michigan Wolverines, 6-5, on Saturday night at Yost Ice Arena.
A combined seven-goal first period gave Michigan (12-9-3, 5-7-2 Big Ten) a 4-3 edge heading into the second period. Wisconsin (20-5-1, 11-3-0 Big Ten) tied it up early in the second and each team scored once in the third to send the game to overtime. Christian Fitzgerald tallied the overtime winner less than a minute into the extra time, sending the Badgers back to Madison with a series split.
The Wolverines took an early lead 1:34 into the first period on a power-play goal from Dylan Duke.
Twenty-six seconds later, freshman forward Quinn Finley evened the game up at one. Sophomore forward Christian Fitzgerald intercepted a Michigan player's pass at the bottom of the Wolverine's left circle. Fitzgerald then passed up to Finley at the top of the circle, who skated to the center of the zone and ripped a shot past the glove of goaltender Jake Barczewski.
With 12:33 remaining in the period,
Carson Bantle gave the Badgers their first lead of the series. From the blue line, freshman defenseman
Joe Palodichuk sent the puck to his right to find sophomore defenseman
Ben Dexheimer. Dexheimer then passed across the ice to meet
Carson Bantle in the middle of Michigan's left circle, who fired a shot home for his 10th goal of the season.
While celebrating his goal, Bantle was called for a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, which the Wolverines' Nick Moldenhauer capitalized on to tie it up with 10:50 left in the frame.
Thirty seconds after that, Michigan took the lead again with a goal from Josh Eernisse.
Senior forward
Mathieu De St. Phalle tied it for Wisconsin again four minutes later. Senior defenseman
Anthony Kehrer sent a pass from the middle of UW territory up to the neutral zone. The puck bounced off the boards and onto the stick of
Quinn Finley, who rushed into the Badgers' offensive zone. Finley made a short, cross-ice pass right in front of the goaltender to De St. Phalle as the senior forward flicked the puck into a wide-open net.
To cap off a seven-goal first period, Michigan made it a 4-3 game with 5:50 remaining in the period after Dylan Duke scored his second power-play goal of the evening.
Less than two minutes into the second frame, sophomore forward
Simon Tassy scored UW's fourth goal of the night on the power play.
Joe Palodichuk took a shot from the center of the Michigan blue line, which ricocheted off of both
Quinn Finley and
Simon Tassy and into the goal.
The game remained quiet until 6:18 into the third period when Michigan's Frank Nazar III broke the silence with a goal to give Michigan a 5-4 lead.
To tie it up at five, freshman forward
Owen Mehlenbacher scored his first NCAA goal with 8:19 remaining in the third frame. Junior defenseman
Daniel Laatsch passed from the middle of the zone to sophomore forward
Charlie Stramel stationed at the bottom of the Wolverines' left circle. Stramel then skated to the top of the circle and took a shot that deflected off Mehlenbacher's skate and in.
Neither team found the back of the net in the final minutes of regulation, so Michigan and Wisconsin skated into overtime at five goals a piece.
Fifty-seven seconds into the extra time,
Christian Fitzgerald lit the lamp to give the Badgers the overtime victory. From the left side of the neutral zone,
Quinn Finley sent a cross-ice stretch pass to his right to meet Fitzgerald. Undefended, Fitzgerald used speed to skate it into Wolverine territory and send a wrist shot past Barczewski to win it.
Wisconsin went 1-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-5 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 35-34 advantage in shots on goal.
Notes to know:
- UW won its 20th game of the season tonight, marking its first 20-win season since the 2020-21 team went 20-10-1. It also marks its third 20-win campaign since the 2013-14 slate.
- UW is the first team to 20 wins in NCAA men's hockey this season
- Wisconsin is 2-0-1 in overtime this season
- The Badgers snapped a five-game losing streak to Michigan at Yost Ice Arena
- UW overcame four deficits before scoring the winning goal in overtime
-
Quinn Finley's goal and three assists give him new single-game career-highs in points and assists
-
Owen Mehlenbacher scored his first-career NCAA goal
-
Carson Bantle scored his 10th goal of the year tonight, setting a career high in goals scored in a season
Up Next: The Badgers return home to the Kohl Center for a Border Battle series against No. 9 Minnesota on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 2-3. Both contests begin at 7 p.m. Friday's game is a 'White Out,' while Saturday's game acts as 'NHL Night,' one of the six nights chosen for special recognition as part of UW's 75th Season celebration. The games will be available to stream live on B1G+ while audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA in the Madison area, 97.3 The Game in Milwaukee, as well as on the Badgers app and The Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
