Wisconsin skates to 2-2 draw, shootout victory against No. 14 Wolverines
Emberson records first career goal, Badgers 7-for-7 on PK
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In a 70-minute conference clash, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team battled to a 2-2 tie and a shoot-out victory over No. 14 Michigan to secure two points and a series split Saturday night at Yost Ice Arena.
After struggling on the man advantage yesterday, Wisconsin capitalized on its first power play of the night when freshman rear guard K’Andre Miller slotted a pass to an unmarked Ty Emberson at the left circle. Emberson fired a one-time slap shot past Michigan goaltender Hayden Lavigne to notch his first goal as a Badger and give UW a 1–0 lead heading into the second period.
With Emberson’s tally, seven of the Badgers’ eight rookie skaters have now notched goals for Wisconsin this season.
Midway through the second frame, freshman forward Jack Gorniak tallied a goal of his own thanks to the persistent play of the West Salem, Wisconsin native and sophomore linemate Tarek Baker.
After Baker’s first shot from long range was denied by Lavigne, the pair crashed the crease for the put-back, with Gorniak lighting the lamp on the fourth shot of the play to give the Badgers a 2-0 advantage.
Michigan sophomore Jack Becker found the back of the net four minutes later, and redshirt sophomore Luke Morgan tallied a goal in the third period to earn a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation.
Following a pair of scoreless overtime periods, junior forward Max Zimmer buried the puck past Lavigne in the third round of the shootout to give Wisconsin the extra point.
Freshman goaltender Daniel Lebedeff made 37 saves between the pipes.
Notes to Know:
- All three of the Badgers’ goals this weekend came from freshmen. Wisconsin rookies make up 34 percent of scoring so far this season.
- UW was a perfect 11-for-11 on the penalty kill this weekend.
- Tonight’s draw marked senior Matthew Freytag’s 100th career game as a Badger. He becomes the fourth Badger on the current roster to reach 100 games, joining seniors Seamus Malone (120), Will Johnson (120) and Peter Tischke (113).
Straight from the Rink
Head Coach Tony Granato
On tonight’s result:
“I thought we played maybe our best game of the year. We had enough chances especially in the second period to break that game open. Their goalie was a game-saver for them. Our defensemen were outstanding all weekend. Those guys were sensational back there.”
“I thought man-for-man our guys competed and did what we asked them to do for two-straight games. It’s a smaller rink compared to ours, so there were a lot more battles. There was a lot more play along the boards and at the net-fronts. You could see we were getting tired, but we battled through it. It was a weekend we should be very proud of. Our goaltending was big this weekend. It’s going to have to be. And we’re going to have to score goals like (Jack) Gorniak did and on the power play like Ty (Emberson) did. We played the way we wanted to play when we had to score.”
On the penalty kill:
“I think they’re becoming more comfortable with what their responsibilities are and they’re gaining confidence.”
Freshman defenseman Ty Emberson
On tonight’s game:
“It feels like we won this one. We put a lot of work in on our power play this week with coach Strobel. It was nice to have it pay off for coach and obviously impact the game and get us a win.”
On what’s working on the kill:
“I think it was just not trying to do too much. Just playing within our game, playing in lanes, blocking shots and sacrificing for each other.”
Up Next:Â The Badgers begin a five-week stint at home next weekend with a two-game series against Penn State at the Kohl Center. Both Friday and Saturday’s games are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts (CT).