March 7, 2010
Box Score | Box Score 
| In-Game Blog
MINNEAPOLIS – In Wisconsin’s regular season finale, the Badgers dropped a 6-1 decision to snap its four-game win streak Sunday afternoon at Mariucci Arena. Wisconsin (22-9-4, 17-8-3 WCHA) split the series with the Gophers heading into postseason play.
Special teams proved the deciding factor as Minnesota (17-17-2, 12-14-2 WCHA) scored five unanswered power-play goals to break away from a 1-1 tie.
The first period saw only one Minnesota goal on a rebound that trickled in the net to give the Gophers the 1-0 lead.
After a scrum in front of the net, Patrick Johnson tried to clear it from the crease but the puck didn’t clear the post and went over the goal line. Mike Carman was credited for the goal at 16:01.
Wisconsin responded near the midway mark of the second period, however, the Gophers retaliated with three power-play goals.
Michael Davies (St. Louis) hit the upper corner with a one-time wrister off a Derek Stepan (Hastings, Minn.) pass from behind the goal line. Davies’ 15th goal of the season was at 8:04 in the frame to knot the score at 1-1, before Wisconsin picked up a slew of penalties.
The Badger penalties started with Ryan McDonagh (Arden Hill, Minn.) and Minnesota’s Ryan Flynn drawing 10-minute misconducts and McDonagh got an extra two minutes for cross-checking. On five straight power play opportunities, Minnesota scored three consecutive power-play goals within three minutes giving the Gophers a 4-1 advantage after two periods.
At the 11 minute mark, Tony Lucia redirected Patrick White’s shot at the side of the net to put Minnesota up 2-1.
Less than two minutes later Jacob Cepis scored on a rebound to make it 3-1. Lucia closed out the period with his second goal of the game with a wrister from the high slot.
In the third period, the Gophers scored two more power-play goals, however, Wisconsin had the shot advantage 10-7.
Nick Leddy scored the first of two goals at 12:24 with a wrister from the high slot. Carman picked up his second goal of the day at 13:28 to conclude Gopher scoring and give Minnesota the 6-1 victory.
Wisconsin finished 0-for-6 on the power play while Minnesota went 5-for-8 on the advantage.
Junior goaltender Brett Bennett (Williamsville, N.Y.) is now 8-6-0 after making 22 saves in net for the Badgers. Alex Kangas stopped 26 Badger shots as Minnesota outshot the Badgers 28-27.
Wisconsin will play host to Alaska Anchorage at the Kohl Center March 12-14 in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. All three games, if they are necessary, in the best-of-three series, begin at 7 p.m.
For tickets to the WCHA playoffs go to UWBadgers.com or call 800-GO-BADGERS. Face-Off Series ticket holders will have game 1 and game 3 as part of their season ticket package. Slap-Shot Series ticket holders will have game 2 as part of their season ticket package. The first round of the playoffs is a best-of-three series, with the third game being contested only if the teams split the first two games.
