Wisconsin falls short against No. 3 Minnesota
Finley, Kukkonen score for the Badgers
MADISON, Wis. – Despite owning a 2-0 lead midway through the second period, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team fell, 3-2, to the No. 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday night at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin (2-7-0, 1-4-0 Big Ten) lit the lamp first 13:44 into the first period on a power-play goal from Quinn Finley. UW’s Kyle Kukkonen extended the Badger’s lead 1:21 into the second period. Minnesota (8-1-0, 3-0-0 Big Ten) scored two goals in the second period, one short-handed and one on the power play, to send the game into the third period tied at three. Luke Snuggerud’s second goal of the night with 7:15 remaining in the contest gave Minnesota a 3-2 victory.
How it Happened
Sophomore forward Finley got the Badgers on the board first 13:44 into the first period on the power play. Junior defenseman Ben Dexheimer passed from the middle of the blue line to freshman forward Gavin Morrissey at the top of the left circle. Morrissey skated toward the net and made a pass across the zone to Finley, who sunk a one-timer home for his sixth goal of the season.
Kyle Kukkonen doubled the Badgers’ lead 1:21 into the second period. Graduate student defenseman Anthony Kehrer intercepted a Gopher pass in mid-air and gloved the puck down to the ice before passing to Kukkonen in the middle of the neutral zone. All alone, Kukkonen sped into Gopher territory and shot a wrister past Minnesota goaltender Nathan Airey to record his first goal as a Badger.
With 12:17 left in the second period, Minnesota received a power play. One minute and 43 seconds later, a penalty was called on the Gophers, forcing both teams to play four-on-four. However, right as the Wisconsin penalty expired with 9:46 left in the frame, Minnesota’s Ryan Chesley scored a short-handed goal for the Gophers to cut the Badgers’ lead in half on a 3-on-1 break.
Despite Wisconsin killing off three other power plays in the second frame, Minnesota tied the game with six minutes left in the second period when Jimmy Snuggerud capitalized on the Gopher’s fourth man advantage of the period.
Snuggerud scored his second goal of the evening, 12:45 into the third period, to give Minnesota its first lead of the game. The score stayed the same until the final buzzer sounded as the Badgers fell, 3-2.
Wisconsin went 1-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 31-30 deficit in shots on goal.
Notes to know:
– Quinn Finley scored his team-leading sixth goal of the year
– Michigan Tech transfer Kyle Kukkonen tallied his first goal as a Badger
– Wisconsin won 62 percent of faceoffs in the game, bringing its faceoff win percentage to 56 percent on the season
Straight from the rink
Head Coach Mike Hastings
On moving forward from tonight’s loss
“I think we’ve seen this movie before and you know what, at the end of the day you’ve just gotta find a way to progress through that and manage that. Maturation of a team is when you go through experiences.”
On losing momentum halfway through the game
“I thought we played a good first half of the game, and then emotions got involved a little bit and they were good enough to take advantage of it.”
Graduate student forward Owen Lindmark
On tonight’s loss
“That’s one we got to have. Having a 2-0 lead at home against a good team. It’s frustrating, but at the end of the day we have another game to play tomorrow and it’s a great opportunity for us. We will be ready to go.”
Sophomore goaltender William Gramme
On being told this morning he’d be starting in net
“It’s just a weekly thing, preparing even though you’re not playing. You’re always preparing. You don’t know if you’re getting thrown in the game late or whatever happens, so I’m just always prepared to go out there and do my best every night.”
