MADISON, Wis. – There was plenty of excitement at the Kohl Center on Friday night as the No. 9/10 Wisconsin men's hockey team overcame a two-goal deficit and scored late in the third to force overtime, skating to a 4-4 tie with Michigan (6-4-2, 2-2-1-1 Big Ten).
 
Wisconsin (8-5-2, 3-2-1-0 Big Ten) was narrowly outshot by the Wolverines, 37-34, but won the special teams battle with two power-play goals and a perfect penalty kill.
 
With senior goaltender Kyle Hayton pulled for an extra attacker in the third period, senior captain Cameron Hughes sent a shot through traffic over goaltender Hayden Lavigne's blocker to tie the game up, 4-4, with just 1:10 remaining in regulation.
 
Michigan started the game hot, scoring two goals in the first 7:01 of play and putting the Badgers in an early 2-0 hole. But with just 3.8 seconds left on the clock in the first period and the Badgers on a power play, senior alternate captain Ryan Wagner tipped in a shot that came off the stick of freshman Sean Dhooghe to make it a one-goal game.
 
Freshman forward Linus Weissbach took control in period two, scoring twice to give Wisconsin its first lead of the contest. At the 10:51 mark, Weissbach sent a shot from the left dot over Lavigne's blocker for UW's second power-play goal of the evening.
 
The Gothenburg, Sweden native struck less than four minutes later to lift the Badgers 3-2, picking up his own blocked pass before wrapping the puck around behind himself for a no-look, go-ahead goal.
 
Michigan regained a 4-3 lead with two third-period goals, but Hughes' late goal forced overtime, where neither team could convert in extra minutes.
 
Hayton made 33 saves in the draw, including a spectacular post-to-post save in the overtime period to preserve the 4-4 tie.
 
Michigan would eventually take the shootout, 2-0, to earn an extra point in Big Ten Conference standings.
 
Notes to Know
-Wisconsin recorded 20+ blocks for the second game in a row, led by senior Peter Tischke with seven.
-UW won special teams, going 2-for-6 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the kill.
-The Badgers extended their unbeaten streak against Michigan to four game, going 3-0-1 in those contests. Wisconsin is 4-1-1 in the last six games with the Wolverines.
-Freshman Linus Weissbach recorded the second two-goal effort of his career, also scoring two goals in his debut against Michigan Tech on Oct. 1.
 
Straight From the Rink
Head coach Tony Granato
On players stepping up in big moments this season
"Of course you like it when you get multiple players contributing. I thought Linus' (Weissbach) two goals were a big part of the game tonight. He had great jump tonight. For a freshman to come in and have a big impact in a game like tonight was really important. Other players were good as well. This was a battle. I think this is what you are going to see a lot this season in Big Ten play: two teams that are evenly-matched, competing for every inch of ice. We had a ton of momentum in the second. They found a way to turn it and get some momentum in the third. We found a way late in the third to get the game into overtime. It's exciting hockey. We scored 11 goals this weekend which is a really positive. I thought our power play was big for us tonight at different points in the game. I thought our penalty kill did a good job as well. There are a lot of positives from the weekend. We have a lot of respect for Michigan after seeing them for the last two nights – very talented team. You look at (Quinn) Hughes out there tonight and he looks about as good a defender there is, or player in all college hockey. They have a lot of things to be excited about from their end too. We just have to find ways to continue to get better each and every week. The Big Ten is a heck of a conference and it's going to be a heck of a battle every single weekend."
 
On losing a point after getting the go-ahead goal in tonight's contest
"I thought after the second period we had worn them down. We had a good start to the third period and I thought we could continue to build on our lead and keep the momentum going. They found a way to get a boost and turn it pretty quick. Once they got going in the third it was hard to re-establish our momentum. We made a good effort in the end there with the pass from (Wyatt) Kalynuk to (Cameron) Hughes to tie it up – so the "no quit" thing was good. I just wish we would have found a way to break their momentum a little sooner in the period. But they deserve a point for sure. I'm sure they feel really good about how they played the last two nights on the road. This is kind of what we are going to see all year. This is what we saw with Ohio State and again last weekend at Michigan State. I'm sure this is the type of stuff we'll see with our upcoming Big Ten games."
 
On struggling to hold leads after coming from behind
"I think that is college hockey. You spend a ton of energy when you do fall to try to creep back into it and get yourself back in the game. We did that and I was hoping what we were doing was going to wear them out because we made them play in the D-zone a lot. They should feel good about their team. They played really well against Minnesota, coming from behind two different times in two nights. They're a team that feeds off momentum just like us. I would like our team to learn how to break the other team's momentum a little quicker than we were able to tonight. I think that will be important moving forward."
 
On Wisconsin's defensive depth
"Just based on what we know about them coming in, you have high expectations for them. We throw them out there in key situations … coach Osieki does a phenomenal job not only in how he recruits but getting them confident by putting them in positions to develop confidence fast. All three of those guys are inexperienced at the collegiate level but look like veteran players. They have all done an outstanding job."
 
On Linus' performance
"I'd like to see him shoot it every time he has it on his stick because he obviously has a great release and knows what to do with the puck. He's a great offensive player and young player, still learning the game as well. He made big plays for us ."
 

Senior F Ryan Wagner: 
On keeping momentum consistent
"I thought we had a good start, the first four shifts, and then Michigan kind of got us back on our heels. We have to learn how to play when we're down and then once we get that momentum, to keep it. That's kind of just on the ice and on the bench, just keeping our spirits up even when things aren't going our way." 
 
On his scoring chance late in the game
"Wyatt Kalynuk actually got it through three people and I was lucky enough to get a stick on it and it just hit the post. It was unlucky but Cam[eron] Hughes came up big at the end of the game and we got the tie." 
 

Senior F Cameron Hughes
On the feelings behind tonight's tie
"Maybe a combination of both elation and frustration. We're definitely going to learn from it. The fact that these games are going to be hard-fought all the way through, especially in the Big Ten, three point games are going to be fought all the way to 65 minutes. For us to come back and tie one up and get a tie out of it was nice, but there are some areas we can definitely clean up." 
 

Freshman F Linus Weissbach
On his no-look goal
"I actually tried to pass it over to Bakes (Baker) and it got a weird bounce and came back to me and I just shot it. I actually don't know how it went in, but it went in and it was a good goal." 
 
On moving around and clicking with Baker
"I think we definitely found some chemistry this weekend. I thought we played pretty well and we created some scoring chances to score some goals so it was definitely a good weekend for Bakes and me." 
 
On his old coach, Bill Muckalt, being on the Michigan bench
"It was good to see him again. I had him last year as a coach, and he taught me a lot so it was fun to see him this weekend." 
 

Up Next
Wisconsin hosts Mercyhurst in a Saturday-Sunday matchup, welcoming the Lakers on Nov. 25-26. Saturday's game is a 7 p.m. start while Sunday's puck drop is at 5 p.m.