MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin men's hockey team has had a good showing in second periods the last two weekends.
 
After putting up a four-goal second period in the series opener last weekend, the Badgers (1-3-3) matched that with a four-goal middle frame Friday night. That helped UW quickly erase a deficit on the way to a commanding 5-1 win over Arizona State at the Kohl Center.
 
The second period didn't start as planned, but Wisconsin came up with a speedy response to take the lead away from the Sun Devils (3-5-0). Arizona State scored on a rebound goal just 12 seconds into the middle period, but the Badgers answered right back. Just 48 seconds later on a rush into the zone, Luke Kunin fed Grant Besse in front of the crease, and Besse one-timed the pass past ASU netminder Ryland Pashovitz to knot the score at one.
 
"Looking back on it you almost wonder if that was what we needed—a slap in the face," head coach Mike Eaves said. "They scored right away and it was like, 'holy smokes', and then we turn it right around into an opportunity—an odd-man rush into a goal—and then [Ryan Wagner] gets back-to-back goals, so that really kind of jump-started the offense."
 
Sophomore defenseman Ryan Wagner then stepped to the forefront to give Wisconsin the lead for good. Wagner scored the first of his two goals less than five minutes after the Badgers tied the score to make it a 2-1 lead.
 
From the right circle, Jason Ford sent a backhanded centering pass to Wagner in front of the net. While being tripped up from behind, Wagner banged it home to put Wisconsin ahead.
 
That play put Wisconsin on a power play, where Wagner would strike for his second goal of the game. Kevin Schulze started the scoring play with a drive from the left point that got redirected in front of the net. The loose puck found Wagner in the low slot and he backhanded it past Pashovitz to give UW a 3-1 lead 7:30 into the second period.
 
"He reminds me a little bit—in terms of his net front presence—of like a Brian Gionta who played at Boston College and now plays in Buffalo," Eaves said of Wagner. "He plays right there on the power play at that level. And he's got that toughness and grit, he's got a quick stick, and it's going well for him. I'm really happy to see him get that offensive confidence going."
 
But the Wisconsin scoring binge for the period wasn't done there. Cameron Hughes got dragged down with less than three minutes to go in the second, and earned the first UW penalty shot since last January. Hughes converted, roofing it over Pashovitz to make it a 4-1 edge at 17:06 mark.
 
In the third period, the Wisconsin power-play unit continued its strong start to the season and converted for the second time during the game to ice the win. Luke Kunin and Grant Besse worked to set up Tim Davison, who then beat Pashovitz with a slap shot from the slot to make it a 5-1 lead, 7 minutes and 32 seconds into the third.
 
"It's huge, to close games out. That's what winning teams do," Hughes said. "We talked about that last week, that was one of our focus points at intermission. For us to be able to close that one out, and I think we got a goal on the power play too. It was good to stay on the gas and get the win."
 
Wisconsin got 18 saves from goaltender Matt Jurusik, as he picked up the first win of his career. Playing in his first game this season, freshman Jarod Zirbel also picked up the first point in his career, with an assist on Wagner's first goal. Wagner, Besse, Davison and Kunin all finished with multi-point efforts.
 
"You get a level of confidence in practice—you go out, you work hard, you feel good about the way you work, you do things the way you want them—but that confidence gets solidified when you finally do it in a game," Eaves said. "So, our confidence level will rise because of this."
 
The Badgers return to the ice on Saturday and look for a sweep to close out the weekend series as they take on Arizona State at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.