BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The Wisconsin men's hockey team got back on track offensively in a big way on Friday night, and it ended up needing all of that offense in a tie with Ferris State at Ewigleben Arena.
After scoring just one goal all of last weekend, the Badgers (0-2-3) found the back of the net five times against the Bulldogs (1-2-2), including defenseman
Tim Davison's goal with 19.2 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime.
UW surrendered a 4-2 third-period lead to Ferris State, but head coach
Mike Eaves appreciated his team's effort in the late stages of the contest.
"They very easily could have folded in the third period after it was tied. But they didn't," Eaves said. "We worked on pulling our goaltender and scoring this week, and it worked out. Timmy [Davison] made a great shot.
Jedd Soleway was doing yeoman's work in front of the net. It hit the post and went in."
Ferris State scored the third of its three goals in the third period on a breakaway tally by Chad McDonald with 1:53 left in the game, but the Badgers weren't going away. With goaltender
Matt Jurusik (27 saves) pulled, Davison got the puck at the right point and blasted a shot past Ferris State goaltender Darren Smith to knot the game at five.
It was the second time this year Wisconsin scored in the last minute of a game with an extra attacker, something that hadn't happened since Nov. 5, 2011 before this season.
"That's one of the things that alludes to the resiliency of this group," Eaves said of the last-minute goal. "The percentages of being able to do that is not very high. That's something positive that we can build on for sure."
Wisconsin also had an offensive performance that it can build on going forward. That offensive outburst included goals from five different players, two power-play goals on five chances and four second-period tallies.
Trailing by one after the first period, Wisconsin used the man advantage to jumpstart the most productive period since March 15, 2014 at Michigan State.
Seamus Malone started the second period flurry with a power-play marker just 1:53 into the frame, which was his first career goal. Ferris State would score a power-play goal of its own a little less than four minutes later, but again the Badgers' power play struck back. Just one minute and 22 seconds after the Bulldogs' goal,
Jake Linhart found twine on the man advantage to bring the Badgers even at two at the 6:42 mark.
From there, the Badgers offense started clicking.
Grant Besse had a dazzling wraparound goal, beating Ferris State starting goaltender Charles Williams far post, to give UW its first lead.
Adam Rockwood and
Will Johnson then helped pad that lead with a pretty passing display. Johnson started a rush into the offensive zone and fed Rockwood in the left circle. Rockwood immediately moved the puck back to Johnson who buzzed a one-timer past Williams just 30 seconds after Besse's goal to make it a 4-2 edge.
"In a game like this, there's good things that happen and there are learning moments. One of the good things was the fact we scored five goals. That's a very positive thing," Eaves said.
The game took an interesting turn after the Badgers grabbed the lead. Ferris State had two different goals disallowed within mere minutes of one another, as Wisconsin managed to escape both chances with the lead still intact. Then in the third period on FSU's go-ahead goal, a potential offside was reviewed by the officials before they determined that the goal still stood.
Despite the goal being upheld, Wisconsin managed to weather the storm and force the tie with the Bulldogs thanks to more late heroics.
"It was kind of a wild night, but we have to continue to develop off the good things that we do and create characteristics of teams that know how to win," Eaves said. "With a young group that takes some time, but I love the resolve of this group."
Wisconsin finishes its series with Ferris State on Saturday night with a 6 p.m. CT puck drop.
