MADISON, Wis. – Christian Fitzgerald and Simon Tassy each scored in the final 5:14 of the third period to help Wisconsin overcome a two-goal deficit and defeat the No. 10 Michigan Wolverines, 5-4, on Friday night in front of a raucous crowd of 11,093 at the Kohl Center.
With the win, the Badgers sit in fourth place in the Big Ten with 23 points, three above Michigan in fifth place with 20. The top four teams in the conference secure home ice for the Big Ten tournament.
Michigan (14-10-1, 8-7-0 Big Ten - 20 points) got on the board first 1:37 into the first period. Wisconsin's (11-12-2, 6-9-0 Big Ten - 23 points) Fitzgerald and Logan Hensler then scored two quick goals at 10:06 and 11:11 into the first period to give UW a 2-1 lead. Michigan lit the lamp three more times – once at 15:06 of the first period and twice in the second period at 10:44 and 11:40 to make it a 4-2 game in favor of the Wolverines. The Badgers began their comeback with a power-play goal from Owen Mehlenbacher with 5:16 left in the second before Fitzgerald and Tassy scored twice with 5:12 and 3:09 remaining in the game, respectively, to help Wisconsin rally for a 5-4 victory.
How it Happened
Michigan's William Whitelaw opened the scoring 1:37 into the first period.
Wisconsin responded 10:06 into the first on a power-play goal from junior forward Fitzgerald. From the middle of the left circle, freshman forward Gavin Morrissey passed to junior forward Tassy in front of the net. Tassy then sent a pass behind him to Fitzgerald at the bottom of the right circle, who let a one-time shot fly to put home his fourth goal of the year.
Just over a minute later, the Badgers took a 2-1 lead at 11:11 of the opening frame. From the left side boards near Wisconsin's blue line, Tassy poked the puck to junior defenseman
Ben Dexheimer, who then skated through neutral ice and around the back of the Michigan goal. Dexhiemer made a cross-ice pass to freshman defenseman Hensler near the right-side blue line. Hensler then stickhandled past a Wolverine skater and took a hard wrist shot to light the lamp for the second time in three games.
UM tied it at two 15:06 into the first on a shot from Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen.
At 10:44 of the second period, the Wolverines made it a 3-2 game on a goal from T.J. Hughes.
Fifty-six seconds later at 11:40, Michigan's Ethan Edwards extended its lead to two.
But at 14:44 of the second, sophomore forward Mehlenbacher cut UM's lead in half with his first-career power-play goal. Sophomore forward
Sawyer Scholl skated the puck deep into the Wolverine zone and passed behind him to find graduate student defenseman
Anthony Kehrer near the right side of the right circle. Kehrer then passed to Mehlenbacher in front of the net, who tipped the puck past UM goaltender Cameron Korpi to put home his second goal of the year.
Tassy tied the game at four with 5:12 remaining in the contest. Dexheimer skated down the ice and into the UM zone before taking a shot from the bottom of the right circle. The goaltender saved the shot but didn't collect the rebound, which Tassy cashed in on to tally his third goal of the year.
To complete the comeback, Fitzgerald scored his second goal of the night with 3:09 left in regulation. Junior forward
Tyson Dyck intercepted a Michigan skater's pass in the middle of the Wolverines' zone before saucing a pass to Fitzgerald near the slot, who banked in a shot to win the game for Wisconsin.
Senior goaltender Scarfone made 10 saves, and sophomore
William Gramme made eight saves in relief.
Wisconsin went 2-for-5 on the power play and 0-for-1 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 46-22 advantage in shots on goal.
Notes to know:
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Gavin Morrissey (9g, 19a) is the nation's leading scorer among freshmen with 28 points. He is tied for 12th among all skaters
- Morrissey owns a nine-game point streak, extending that with an assist tonight. He boasts five goals and 12 points during the string
- UW's comeback for victory was its second this season and first since a 3-2 overtime victory against Lindenwood on Oct. 12
- Wisconsin also beat Michigan at the Kohl Center in a very similar fashion last year on Friday, Nov. 3. The Badgers also found themselves down, 4-2, in the middle of the second period before scoring a power-play goal to make it 4-3 heading into the third. UW then scored two quick goals in the final five minutes of the contest to claim a 5-4 victory
- Wisconsin allowed its first power-play goal after eight perfect games dating back to Dec. 7 at Michigan State.
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Christian Fitzgerald's first-career two-goal game at UW came in his 100th career collegiate contest
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Simon Tassy posted his third three-point game of his Badger career
Straight from the rink
Head Coach Mike Hastings
On Christian Fitzgerald's game
"He's put a lot of work in and it's great to see him have some success tonight and have the game reward him for all the work that he's been doing. Hopefully, this fuels that fire a little bit because it hasn't been a lack of effort. To see the game pay him back and have him have an impact on tonight's game the way that he did is special."
On looking at tomorrow's game
"We must continue to learn from the peaks and valleys that we've been through. So all tomorrow is, is an opportunity. It's an opportunity for Michigan to rebound. It's an opportunity for us to try and defend home ice. It's a very important game for us. The season doesn't end if we win it, the season doesn't end if we don't. But, it's an opportunity that we want to try and take advantage of, and I guarantee you Michigan is going to be right there."
Junior forward Christian Fitzgerald
On overcoming adversity
"I think we were dealt a lot of adversity today. I think it was important for us to stay even throughout all of it -- not getting too high and not getting too low throughout the game. I feel like there were a lot of opportunities for us to get frustrated with how the game was going and how the bounces were, but I think we just stuck with it and got the win."
Junior forward Simon Tassy
On extending the momentum into the weekend
"I think it's just important to appreciate the win, and tonight, that was big. The place was packed and it was awesome. That's why we play -- it's for those nights. I think it's important to take a moment to appreciate it, and at the same time, at some point you have to turn the page and be mentally ready for tomorrow.
On tonight's crowd
"I had chills… After the game too, looking at the crowd and everyone staying for Varsity, it's awesome."
Up Next: The Badgers continue their series against No. 10 Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 25. The contest begins at 7:30 p.m. and airs on the Big Ten Network. Audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA as well as on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.
