Only a minute into the game, sophomore forward William Whitelaw saw his golden opportunity to greet his previous school’s fan base. Whitelaw took the puck out of the slot looking for an open shot, when he turned and sniped it from the left face-off circle.
With one early goal, Whitelaw left a bitter taste in Wisconsin’s mouth as they looked to retaliate — starting the puck battle for the night.
Even with the early scoring start, the Badgers (11-12-2 overall, 6-9 Big Ten) pushed in the final minutes to win the scoring battle, 5-4, against the No. 10 Michigan hockey team (14-10-1, 8-7).
After Michigan’s quick start from Whitelaw, it kept the persistent pressure in the offensive zone. The Wolverines continued to push through the slot to find the open ice, as the Badgers defense struggled to keep them to the perimeter. But as Michigan looked to capitalize on those handful of looks, it took an early penalty, handing Wisconsin the momentum.
The Wolverines utilized a few clears to kill the first penalty, but only a minute later senior defenseman Ethan Edwards took an interference penalty giving the Badgers another chance. Edwards’ presence on the first penalty kill unit became clearly missed, with a Wisconsin goal following seven seconds after Edwards took his spot in the penalty box to tie the game.
Even when Edwards returned to the ice, his skill wasn’t enough to contain the driving force coming from the Badgers’ offense. As a Wisconsin player came around the net, Edwards crossed through the slot to protect the corner of the net, but Badgers defenseman Logan Hensler with a waiting stick took the shot to grab the lead.
Just 10 minutes into the game and three goals combined from the two teams, the back-and-forth battle was in full swing.
Freshman defenseman Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen evened the scale as he found the same spot Whitelaw did earlier in the game. Rhéaume sent the puck from the left faceoff circle to tie the game going into the second period.
Rather than continuing the scoring tug of war, Michigan dominated the majority of the period giving little room for Wisconsin to work with. The Badgers looked for gaps in the slot, but instead created tension in front of the crease, making enough chaos to put two Wisconsin skaters and junior defenseman Tyler Duke in the penalty box.
With an open opportunity to take back control of the battle, junior forward T.J. Hughes found the Wolverines’ sweet spot of the night in the left face-off circle with a power-play goal. Michigan continued to match the fast-paced scoring tempo and less than a minute later Edwards ripped a shot from the slot to push Michigan to a 4-2 lead in the second period.
However, Wisconsin reginted the scoring battle to bring the Wolverines’ lead to only one goal going into the third period. With one period of game time left, the Badgers and Michigan held on tight to keep the other within reach.
With 15 minutes of stalemate between the two programs, eventually the silence was broken. Wisconsin players congregated in the net-front looking to push the puck past freshman goaltender Cameron Korpi. Through the frenzy of players, Korpi lost sight of the puck as it slid past him into the net tying the game in the final minutes.
But it didn’t take long for the Badgers to best Korpi once again with a quick net-front goal giving Michigan just three minutes to find an answer.
And as the Wolverines failed to record the final goal in those final minutes, the back-and-forth scoring affair had officially found its winner.
The post Michigan falls short in back-and-forth battle with Wisconsin, 5-4 appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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