Badgers Come Back to Tie MSU in OT, 4-4
November 24, 2007 | Men's Hockey
The No. 14 University of Wisconsin men's hockey team (5-6-1, 2-4-0 WCHA) battled back from a two-goal deficit to tie No. 6 Michigan State (8-3-2, 4-2-0 CCHA) on Saturday night as part of the College Hockey Showcase in East Lansing, Mich. Freshman Scott Gudmanson (Sherwood Park, Alberta) earned the draw in just his third performance in net as a Badger.
With three scores in the first period, the Badgers found themselves down by one. The first goal of the game came at 12:04. MSU's Bryan Lerg back-handed a rebound over freshman Scott Gudmanson's left leg. Lerg's fourth goal of the season was assisted by Daniel Vukovic.
Just over one minute later, freshman Ryan McDonagh (Arden Hills, Minn.) tied the game for the Badgers. McDonagh collected a pass from Jamie McBain (Faribault, Minn.) and dumped the puck on net, as it deflected off a Spartan defender for the goal. MSU scored one additional time in the first period to bring its lead to 2-1. Matt Schepke's power-play goal was assisted by Nick Sucharski and Brian Lerg.
The second period provided even chances for both teams, including a quality wrist shot by Kyle Turris (New Westminster, B.C.) which hit the cross bar. With 5.2 seconds remaining in the period, Blake Geoffrion (Brentwood, Tenn.) tied the game for Wisconsin. Patrick Johnson (Madison, Wis.) passed the puck to Geoffrion as he was falling over a defender, allowing Geoffrion to get a wrist-shot past Spartan goaltender Jeff Lerg. Senior captain Davis Drewiske (Hudson, Wis.) was also credited with an assist.
Two back-to-back goals for each team in the final period led to an end of regulation score of four apiece. MSU's Matt Schepke and Bryan Lerg each scored for the Spartans, with assists from Corey Tropp and Chris Mueller, respectively.
For the Badgers, Drewiske and assistant captain Ben Street (Coquitlam, B.C.) each scored to again tie the game and bring on Wisconsin's first overtime of the season. Drewiske tallied his second goal of the year, unassisted, with 9 minutes and seven seconds left in regulation. Street scored the final goal of the game, as the junior went one-on-one with goaltender Lerg, back-handing a shot over his left shoulder to earn his sixth goal of the season. McBain recorded his second assist of the night on Street's goal.
Neither team was able to score in overtime, although Wisconsin fired three shots at Lerg, while Gudman stopped two in the extra stanza. Gudmanson ended the night with 23 saves for Wisconsin. MSU's Lerg stopped 33 of the Badgers' shots.
The Badgers were 0-for-3 on the power play, and held Michigan State to 1-for-6 on their power-play attempts.
Wisconsin returns home next weekend for a series against the Huskies of St. Cloud State on Friday, Nov. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 1 at the Kohl Center. Face off is set for 7 p.m. both nights. Friday night's game can be viewed live on Fox Sports Net, and later broadcasted via tape-delay on Wisconsin Public Television. Saturday's game will be live on MyMadison TV and also tape-delayed on WPT.
