MINNEAPOLIS – A pair of goals from Simon Tassy pushed the No. 14 Wisconsin men's hockey team past No. 1 Minnesota, 3-2, Friday night to sweep the nation's top team for the first time since 2014.
Though Wisconsin (7-1-0, 2-0-0 Big Ten) struck first, the Gophers (3-3-0, 0-2-0 Big Ten) battled back, tying the game twice throughout the evening, until a late third-period goal from sophomore forward Simon Tassy gave the Badgers the lead for good.
Tassy had a stand-out performance, scoring a power-play goal and notching an assist in addition to his game-winning tally. Sophomore forward Christian Fitzgerald also had a multi-point night with two assists. Senior goaltender Kyle McClellan continued to stand tall in net, stopping 29 of 31 shots for his seventh win of the season.
Wisconsin opened the scoring six minutes into the game with a power-play goal from Tassy. Sophomore forward Cruz Lucius rushed the puck into the Gophers' zone before finding Christian Fitzgerald at the top of the right circle. Fitzgerald then skated toward the right side of the net and passed to Tassy on his left, who one-timed it into the back of the Minnesota net.
The Gophers tied the game three minutes into the middle frame when Aaron Huglen fired a shot past goaltender
Kyle McClellan.
The Badgers reclaimed the lead again late in the second period. Freshman forward
William Whitelaw found a cross-ice seam through the slot to
Christian Fitzgerald, who fired. The shot was stopped, but it rebounded back to Whitelaw who sniped it in to make it 2-1.
Early in the third period, the Gophers tied it up again with a goal by Jimmy Clark.
Minnesota continued to push, but Wisconsin stood strong defensively. The team's hard work was rewarded when
Simon Tassy found the back of the net with less than three minutes remaining in the final frame to win the game for the Badgers.
Notes to know:
- The Badgers' 7-1-0 start marks their best first eight games since the 2000-01 opened 7-1-0
- Wisconsin improved to 4-2-0 in its last six games against a No. 1 Minnesota team
- UW's sweep marked its first against the No. 1 team since wins over Minnesota on Feb. 6-7, 2014
- The Badgers own a three-game winning streak over Minnesota for the first time since 2009. The Gophers have been ranked No. 1 in all three games.
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Simon Tassy had his first career multi-goal game
Up Next: The Badgers return home to the Kohl Center for the first time since the opening weekend (Oct. 7-8) for a series against No. 6 Michigan on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 3-4. Puck drop for Friday's game is scheduled for 7 p.m. while Saturday's game will start at 6 p.m. (
Buy Tickets).
