'It was good to beat them again and feel that rivalry again': Wisconsin men's hockey rises to occasion, upsets top-ranked Minnesota
MADISON – Credit the Wisconsin men’s hockey team with impeccable timing Saturday.
With members of the Badgers 1973 and 1983 national championship teams in the building to celebrate their 50th and 40th anniversaries, respectively, UW put together its best performance of the season.
The fact that it came against rival Minnesota, the nation’s No. 1 team, was icing on the cake.
Wisconsin scored a 3-1 victory over the Gophers in front of a crowd of 11,075 at the Kohl Center, getting one goal and one assist from junior Carson Bantle, two assists from freshman Jack Horbach and a strong showing in goal from junior Kyle McClellan, who got the start ahead of the senior Jared Moe, the team’s regular goalie
The victory marked the first time since in 25 months that Wisconsin defeated the nation’s No. 1 team. Coincidently that win also came against Minnesota during the COVID season two years ago
That year Wisconsin went on to win the Big Ten title. This year the Badgers are destined for a last-place finish.
“The last couple of times they played us, they kind of destroyed us, so it was good to beat them again and feel that rivalry again,” Bantle said. “I thought that was huge. It was a great crowd tonight. It’s the confidence we need going into the playoffs ... I think it was a big night.”
Badgers prevent Minnesota from clinching Big Ten
The victory denied Minnesota (21-8-1, 15-4-1 Big Ten) the chance to clinch the conference title while giving Wisconsin (11-19, 4-16) a much-needed boost. The win snapped a six-game skid and was UW’s first comeback win since fighting back from a two-goal deficit to beat Michigan, 6-3, Dec. 2.
“We’ve played them four times now and all four of the games there have been parts of the game where we’re like 'We can skate with these guys',” Wisconsin coach Tony Granato said. “Then all of sudden you let your guard down for a second and they throw up two or three quick ones. That’s how good they are.”
That didn’t happen Saturday. The Badgers were out-shot, 33-29, but blocked 22 shots and held Minnesota to its second-lowest score of the season.
The victory came one night after Wisconsin dominated the first period before Minnesota took control and scored a 4-1 win.
The Badgers couldn't match that blazing start Saturday, but showed their mettle by quickly battling back after Minnesota took a 1-0 lead on a goal by junior Mike Koster at the 18:28 mark of the first period. Freshman Cruz Lucius recorded his team-leading 29th point on a goal he scored off a pass from junior Mathieu De St. Phalle 71 seconds later.
“I thought they had their legs a little bit better than we did in the first period, so you always worry that if you fall behind a team like that it’s going to be really tough,” Granato said. “That goal late in the period gave us the confidence to say ‘We’re back to 0-0. Let’s go out there and try to get a little better skating as far as our team game went.' I thought we did do that in the second period.”
Sophomore Daniel Laatsch scored the game-winner at the 10:17 mark of the second period and Bantle’s score increased the lead to two about 4 minutes later.
In between those plays, Minnesota had a goal by freshman Connor Kurth at 11:47 wiped off the board after a review. The Gophers had too many players on the ice.
“Their guy jumped off the bench and took the pass before the other guy was off,” Granato said. “I thought it was pretty obvious. I thought it should have been potentially blown before. Obviously when it wasn’t and the goal was scored right away, it was a pretty easy challenge.”
Kyle McClellan finishes with 32 saves for UW
Friday McClellan was brought on after the Gophers scored their third goal Friday night. He finished that game with 20 saves, taking the best Minnesota could throw at him in the final period when he stopped 17 shots.
He continued that quality play Saturday by registering 32 saves. The transfer from Mercyhurst also got some help from his defense, which blocked 22 shots, and in the case of sophomore Zach Urdahl cleared a puck from the crease just before it reached the goal to keep the game scoreless.
“Calm,” Granato said in describing McClellan’s demeanor. “We watched him a lot before he came here this year and the one thing we kept being so excited about is how calm he is in the net. …. That’s an offensive team that’s got a lot of weapons and I thought the confidence he played with really helped our team settle into it.”
McClellan’s performance helped Wisconsin cap a days long celebration of it two of its six national title teams.
Thursday Stan Hinkley and Billy Reay Jr., members of the ’73 squad, spoke to the team. During pre-game Saturday Timmy Dool (’73), John Johannson (‘83), John Suter (’83) and Ernie Vargas (’83) spoke to the group.
This year's version of UW paid back those greats with a gift that never gets old for the Badgers: a win over Minnesota.
“The alumni came in and fired us up. They got us going pretty good," McClellan said. "And obviously playing Minnesota, it’s always fun. Both of those things were an impact on the game. I think every shift we wanted to play for the alumni and play for one another, too. At the end of the day, it was a lot of fun out there.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin men's hockey rises to occasion, upsets top-ranked Minnesota
