Michigan and Wisconsin entered Big Ten hockey play at opposite ends of the standings coming out of non-conference play. Based on the early parts of both games last weekend in Ann Arbor, you’d be hard pressed to know which team was closer to the top of the standings. Michigan ended up taking 5 of 6 points from Wisconsin, but required rallies on both Friday and Saturday nights.
In the opener, the Wolverines trailed 3-0 less than 7 minutes into the second period and 4-2 midway through the middle frame, but came back to win 6-4.
“You leave the front door open and that team will take advantage of it,” Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said. “And that’s what happened.”
Luke Kunin put Wisconsin on the board with a first period power-play goal, and Tim Davison and Will Johnson extended the lead early in the second. Michigan got on the board with goals from Dexter Dancs and Brendan Warren scoring less than two minutes apart to close the gap.
Matt Ustaski pushed the Wisconsin lead back to two goals at 10:04 of the second, but that’s when Michigan’s offensive muscle kicked in.
JT Compher and Justin Selman scored in the second period to tie the game after two periods, setting up Tyler Motte’s game-winner 3:22 into the third period. Kyle Connor added an empty-netter with a second left in the game.
Michigan outshot Wisconsin 28-24 for the game, although the Badgers had a 10-7 advantage of shots in the third period.
On Saturday night, each team squandered multi-goal leads, with Michigan getting a shootout win after a 6-6 tie after overtime. Matthew Freytag scored his second of the game for Wisconsin with 4:29 left to earn Wisconsin a point.
No. 12 Michigan (8-2-3, 1-0-1) had jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the game on goals from Cristoval Nieves and Selman’s shorthanded goal. Wisconsin battled back with two power-play goals from Ryan Wagner, but the Badgers trailed after the first period when Selman struck for his third of the weekend.
The Badgers (3-6-5, 0-1-1) battled back in the second period. Davison scored with an extra attacker on the ice on a delayed penalty call to tie the game at 8:09 of the period. Kevin Schulze and Freytag scored to vault Wisconsin to a 5-3 lead after 2.
In the third period, it was Michigan’s turn to for a goal binge. Motte and Compher scored in the first 6:04 of the period to tie the game, and Michael Downing scored an unassisted goal to put Michigan back into the lead. Compher and Alex Kile scored in the shootout to help Michigan win the extra point, 2-0.
Minnesota 3, Ohio State 2 (OT); Minnesota 5, Ohio State 4 (OT)
On Friday night, Tyler Sheehy and Tommy Novak scored third-period power-play goals to set up Hudson Fasching’s overtime winner to lift Minnesota past Ohio State 3-2. The win was Golden Gopher coach Don Lucia’s 400th at the school.
Ohio State took the lead thanks to Josh Healey’s first period goal and Nick Schilkey’s second period tally. The Buckeyes were outshot 40-28 for the game, and had 11 of their 14 second-period shots come on the power play, where they could manage only Schilkey’s goal.
On Saturday night, it was Ohio State’s turn to rally in the third period, only to again fall short in overtime — this time on Leon Bristedt’s game-winner. Trailing 4-2 in the third period, the Buckeyes got goals from Mason Jobst and an extra-attacker goal from Anthony Greco with 27 seconds left to force overtime.
The game was tied after the second period, but Minnesota (6-7-0, 2-0-0) struck early in the third period. Michael Brodzinski and Sheehy scored in the first 2:37 of the period. Sheehy’s goal was his second of the night and third point of the game, assisting on a goal from Justin Kloos to tie the game in the second period at 2. Kloos had three assists to go with his goal.
Penn State 4, Michigan State 2; Penn State 6, Michigan State 1
Andrew Sturtz scored two goals, while David Goodwin and Vince Pedrie also scored in a 4-goal second period to lift the No. 19 Nittany Lions to a 4-2 win on Friday. Penn State had half of their 42 shots on goal in the second period. Thomas Ebbing and Ryan Keller scored what amounted to consolation goals for the Spartans in the third period.
On Saturday night, Penn State’s Eric Scheid scored on the Nittany Lions’ first two shots of the game in a 6-1 route of the Spartans. The Nittany Lions (10-2-3, 2-0-0) scored three in the first period to chase starting goalie Ed Minney in his first career start. Minney played a shutout third period on Friday after starter Jake Hildebrand was pulled after 40 minutes. Zach Osburn scored early in the second period for Michigan State (4-9-2, 0-2-2), only to see Penn State end the game on a 3-0 run with goals from David Glen, Kenny Brooks and Pedrie.
Stars Of The Weekend
The stars of the weekend from the Big Ten are:
First star: Tyler Sheehy, Minnesota
Second star: Justin Selman, Michigan
Third star: Ryan Wagner, Wisconsin
This Weekend’s Games
Minnesota is at Michigan for Friday and Saturday night games.
Michigan State hosts Wisconsin on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
Penn State is at Princeton for a non-conference game on Friday night.
Ohio State is off until the Buckeyes take part in the Florida College Classic in Estero. OSU will play Boston College on Dec. 28, and either Cornell or Providence, on Dec. 29.
Follow Lonny on Twitter @lonny_goldsmith and you can always reach him at Lonny.Goldsmith@prohockeynews.com
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