Following their first loss of the season, the Gophers believed they could prevent a second by playing harder from the start of the game. They made good on that promise Sunday, beating Wisconsin 5-3 at LaBahn Arena.
The top-ranked Gophers (11-1) broke a 2-2 tie on Jonny Sorenson's goal at 17 minutes, 2 seconds of the second period and hung on for a series split with the No. 12 Badgers (6-6). After losing Saturday's opener 3-1, they won the finale with help from Blake McLaughlin and Sammy Walker, who chipped in one goal and one assist each, and a 29-save performance from Jack LaFontaine.
BOXSCORE: No. 1 Gophers 5, No. 12 Wisconsin 3
The Gophers took a 1-0 lead on Walker's goal less than two minutes into the game. Wisconsin countered by scoring two in a row, moving ahead 2-1 at 11 minutes, 58 seconds of the second period after goals by Sam Stange and Brock Caufield.
But when the Badgers made mistakes, the Gophers pounced. McLaughlin tied the score on a nice backdoor play at 14 minutes of the second, followed by Sorenson's goal after a poor line change left the Badgers at a four-on-two disadvantage. Gophers forward Ben Meyers made it 4-2 on a power play early in the third period before Wisconsin pulled within 4-3 on Cole Caufield's goal at 4:12.
The Gophers played the series finale without forward Scott Reedy, who sat out because of an upper-body injury. Coach Bob Motzko also reconfigured all of his lines after saying the Gophers did not match the Badgers' "fight level'' in Saturday's loss, particularly during the early part of the game.
The best remedy for that problem is scoring quickly, and the Gophers delivered. They put their first shot on goal past Beydoun, finishing off a pretty play at 1:21. McLaughlin carried the puck into the zone on the left wing and passed to Brock Faber, who was gliding into the slot. Faber passed across to Walker, who beat Beydoun from the left circle.
The Badgers outshot the Gophers 12-8 in the first period, testing LaFontaine with a number of quality chances and knocking another off the left goalpost. They got some help on the tying goal at 13:41. Stange, in the right circle, tried to pass across to Tarek Baker, but the puck hit the stick of Gophers defenseman Matt Staudacher and slid past LaFontaine.
Wisconsin seized its first lead midway through the second period when the Gophers left Caufield unattended at the left edge of the goal crease, and he chipped the puck over LaFontaine to put the Badgers ahead 2-1. But the Gophers scored the next three goals to reclaim the lead.
Sammy Walker controlled the puck behind the goal line to the left of the Wisconsin net and found McLaughlin wide open on the other side for the tying goal. A little more than three minutes later, Sorenson restored the Gophers' lead. When a bad line change left the Badgers outmanned, Sorensen finished off a tic-tac-toe sequence with a goal from low in the left circle for a 3-2 Gophers lead at 17:02 of the second period.
The Gophers got a power play 65 seconds into the third period when Wisconsin's Mike Vorlicky interfered with McLaughlin. Meyers' snipe from the right circle zipped over Beydoun at 2:35, extending the Gophers' advantage to 4-2.
Caufield's goal reduced the margin to a single goal. Bryce Brodzinski completed the scoring for the Gophers
• The Star Tribune reporter did not travel for this game. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews after the game.
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Gophers get right back to winning in men's hockey - Minneapolis Star Tribune
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