MADISON, Wis. — Despite taking an early lead in the first period thanks to a goal from senior Seamus Malone, the No. 14 Wisconsin men's hockey team dropped the series opener against the Michigan Tech Huskies, 6-2, Friday night at the Kohl Center. 

Malone opened the night's scoring three minutes into the first period after sending a laser from the circle past Michigan Tech (1-2-0, 0-0-0-0 WCHA) goaltender Matthew Jurusik to put Wisconsin (3-2-0, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) up 1-0. 

The goal marked the Badgers' fifth power-play tally of the season. 

The Huskies rallied to score four unanswered goals before freshman forward Roman Ahcan tipped a shot from sophomore Wyatt Kalynuk into the net to notch his first collegiate goal and make it a 4-2 game early in the third period.  

Michigan Tech scored two power-play goals in the final seven minutes of the game to seal a 6-2 victory over the Badgers. 

Junior goaltender Jack Berry made 28 saves for Wisconsin. 

Notes to Know: 
- Freshman Roman Ahcan recorded his first career goal in the loss. Ahcan is the fifth rookie to score his first goal as a Badger this season.
- Sophomores Wyatt Kalynuk and Linus Weissbach each tallied two assists tonight.
- The Badgers allowed five power-play goals for the first time since March 7, 2010.

Straight from the Rink 
Head Coach Tony Granato
On tonight's loss:
"Tonight we were tentative and flat-footed. They came out out with a lot of energy and won more stick battles and races for loose pucks. They beat us at our own game."
 
On penalty problems:
"We got ourselves into a lot of penalty trouble tonight. Our penalties really hurt us and carried over into our 5-on-5 play.
 
Senior forward Seamus Malone
On 5-on-5 battles:
"I don't think we played our brand of hockey at all tonight. They came out and dictated play, and that has to be better tomorrow if we want to win."

On pivotal 5-on-3 stretch:
"It definitely threw our game off. If we would have killed that penalty, the momentum would have shifted our way."

Up Next: 
The Badgers round out their series against the Huskies Saturday at the Kohl Center. Puck drops at 7 p.m. (CT)