Wisconsin Runs Away From Gophers in 6-0 Border Battle Rout
Minnesota’s six game unbeaten streak came to an abrupt end Saturday night, and it was the Gophers’ biggest rival that delivered the knockout blow.
The Badgers turned a competitive game into a rout, handing Minnesota a 6-0 loss in front of a sellout crowd of 10,473 at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
The Gophers entered the night looking to bounce back from Thursday’s 1-1 tie with the Badgers. Instead, Wisconsin completed a dominant weekend in Minneapolis and handed Minnesota its first home loss of the season.
Wisconsin opened the scoring in the first period when Ryan Botterill finished a rebound after Grady Deering’s shot was stopped by Melvin Strahl.
Minnesota appeared to have an answer when Austin Burnevik batted a Christian Humphreys pass out of midair and into the net. However, Wisconsin challenged for goaltender interference, and after a lengthy review, the goal was overturned.
The Gophers had other opportunities to get even. Brodie Ziemer rang a shot off the post during a four on three power play, and freshman Jacob Kvasnicka had a breakaway chance that was turned aside by Wisconsin goaltender Daniel Hauser.
Those missed opportunities became increasingly costly as the game progressed.
The turning point came at 7:02 of the second period when Tate Pritchard was assessed a five minute major for cross checking during a faceoff battle. The penalty also resulted in a game misconduct, sending Pritchard to the locker room.
Wisconsin wasted little time taking advantage.
Dylan Compton scored on a one timer off a Logan Hensler pass just 90 seconds into the major. Fifty five seconds later, Bruno Idzan added another power play goal to give the Badgers a 3-0 lead.
A subsequent interference penalty against Wisconsin ended the remaining man advantage, but the damage was already done. At 11:02, a long rebound found its way past Strahl at even strength, pushing the Wisconsin lead to 4-0.
The Badgers added another goal late in the period when defenseman Jack Phelan scored his first career NCAA goal, sending Wisconsin into the second intermission with a commanding five goal advantage.
Wisconsin head coach Mike Hastings recognized how quickly a game can change at Mariucci, particularly when the home team gets momentum.
“Tonight we took advantage. In this building, one can turn into three in a heartbeat, and I thought Daniel Hauser did a good job at not letting it get to one by making a couple of saves that he shouldn’t,” Hastings said.
Those early saves proved important. Minnesota had opportunities to get back into the game before the major penalty, but Hauser kept the Gophers off the scoreboard.
Phelan wasn’t finished, either. The junior defenseman scored his second goal of the night in the third period, taking a pass from JJ Wiebusch in front of the net.
Luke Osburn finished the scoring with another Wisconsin power play goal, making it 6-0.
Minnesota head coach Brett Larson pointed directly to discipline as the biggest issue following the game.
Obviously, the discipline part of the game just killed us tonight. You can’t beat the top team in the country playing disciplined hockey, and it definitely hurts.
Brett Larson
Larson felt the game had been more competitive before the major penalty changed its direction.
“I thought a tale of two games up until the major. One, they were giving it to us pretty good. And then I thought we kind of turned that, and we were giving it to them pretty good. And then the major kind of changed everything.”
The numbers certainly support that assessment. Wisconsin finished 3 for 5 on the power play, including two goals during the extended major penalty. Minnesota went 0 for 5 despite putting eight shots on goal with the man advantage.
The Badgers also held a significant advantage in shots, 38-24, while the teams combined for 55 penalty minutes.
Strahl finished with 32 saves in his first collegiate loss. Hauser stopped all 24 shots he faced to earn the shutout, his second career shutout against Minnesota.
The Gophers were blanked for the first time since January 9 against Penn State.
The result was a disappointing end to a six game unbeaten streak for Minnesota, particularly after the Gophers had shown signs of improvement during the previous two weekends.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, continues to look like one of the country’s most complete teams. The Badgers remain unbeaten through eight games and have now outscored their opponents 35-5.
Minnesota will have an opportunity to regroup next weekend when Alaska Anchorage visits 3M Arena at Mariucci for a non conference series November 13-14. Both games will be televised on FOX9+ and streamed on B1G+.
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