Michigan
Wisconsin
Wolverines Drop Regular-Season Finale in OT to Wisconsin
3/2/2019 11:58:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Jack Summers recorded his first collegiate goal.
» Nick Pastujov and Michael Pastujov combined for three points.
» The Wolverines will begin the first round of the B1G Tournament in Minnesota next weekend (March 8-10).
Site: Madison, Wisc. (Kohl Center)
Score: Wisconsin 4, Michigan 3 (OT)
Records: U-M (13-16-5, 9-10-5-2 B1G), Wisconsin (13-16-5, 9-10-5-2 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Friday, March 8 -- at Minnesota – Big Ten Tournament first round (Minneapolis, Minn.), 6 p.m. CST
MADISON, Wisc. -- The University of Michigan men's ice hockey team came into its Saturday night (March 2) matchup with Wisconsin needing a win to claim home-ice advantage in the B1G Tournament quarterfinals. But a late Badger goal sent the game into overtime, where Wisconsin claimed a 4-3 victory over the Wolverines at Kohl Center.
With 2:07 left in the regulation, Wisconsin pulled its goalie to put an extra attacker on the ice. The move paid off when Jack Gorniak fired a shot on net that bounced off Lavigne and fell behind him where Ty Emberson put home the rebound to tie the game at 3 with 1:07 left on the clock.
The game headed to overtime for the second time in as many nights, three in as many games and the 10th time this season.
Just over one minute elapsed in OT, it appeared that the Badgers had scored the game-winner, but it was overturned after video review. But at the 2:05 mark, Wisconsin did score the game-winning goal when Linus Weissbach skated into the Michigan zone and deked to get to the left faceoff circle and got off a quick wrist shot to beat junior goalie Hayden Lavigne.
"It was a tough loss" said head coach Mel Pearson. "Our team played hard tonight and fought well. I thought we played a good road game, good enough to win."
The No. 6-seeded Woverines will head into the first round of the B1G Tournament next weekend (March 8-10) and will face off with No. 3 seed Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Michigan broke open the scoring in the first period when freshman defenseman Jack Summers scored his first collegiate goal. Freshman forward Jimmy Lambert dumped the puck into the Wisconsin zone from the neutral zone where sophomore forward Michael Pastujov beat the Badgers defense to the puck to set up Summers for a quick slap shot in the left faceoff circle, giving U-M a 1-0 lead at the 4:07 mark.
Wisconsin responded when Wyatt Kalynuk fired a one-timer from the blue line that beat Lavigne over his blocker, tying the game at 1 with 11:10 left in the first period.
Shortly after the Wisconsin goal, sophomore forward Dakota Raabe skated into the zone all alone on a breakaway before he was turned away by the Badgers netminder. Freshman forward Garrett Van Wyhe had a rebound opportunity that he could not to capitalize on, setting up the Badgers for a breakaway of their own. Tarek Baker was tripped up on his attempt and was awarded a penalty shot. Baker skated in on Lavigne and made multiple dekes before his shot went off of the right post.
With time winding down in the opening period, Wisconsin's Max Zimmer carried the puck along the boards into the Wolverine zone before he dumped the puck back to Matthew Freytag who beat Lavigne over his blocker side, giving the Badgers a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
Michigan went on their first man-advantage of the game when Wisconsin was called for hooking at the 8:17 mark of the second period. As time expired on the powerplay and the Badgers returned to full strength, Michael Pastujov received a pass in the right faceoff circle and found Lambert backdoor to beat the Wisconsin defense and tie the game at 2 at the 10:23 mark.
U-M continued to put the pressure on the Badgers as junior forward Will Lockwood took the puck away from Wisconsin in the corner of its defensive zone. Lockwood skated toward the net as junior forward Nick Pastujov went backdoor on the Badgers defense for the open-net goal, giving the Wolverines a 3-2 lead with 3:13 left in the second period.
Lavigne and the Michigan defense came away with multiple stops midway through the final period when Lavigne knocked away a Wisconsin slap shot from the point followed by Nick Pastujov getting in front of the rebound to block the shot away. The Badgers came down on the attack once again and fired a shot off the post but were unable to score, keeping the Wolverine lead at 3-2 with 10 minutes left in the third period.
After a post-whistle scrum with seven minutes to play, the Badgers went on a power play looking for the game-tying goal. The U-M defense came up big once again as they were able to kill off the penalty to keep a one goal lead with 5:19 to play.
The Wolverines look to the first round of the Big Ten Tournament and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The best-of-three quarterfinal series at 3M Arena at Mariucci begins Friday (March 8) at 6 p.m CST with game two set for Saturday (March 9) at 4 p.m. CST. If necessary, game three will take place on Sunday (March 10) 4:30 p.m. CDT.
