MADISON, Wis. – Simon Tassy and Sawyer Scholl each tallied a goal in the third period to lift the No. 4 Wisconsin men's hockey team past Notre Dame, 3-2, on Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin (22-6-2, 13-4-1 Big Ten) held a 1-0 lead until Notre Dame (14-14-2, 8-10-2 Big Ten) evened the score five minutes into the third period. Tassy and Scholl gave the Badgers a 3-1 lead before the Fighting Irish scored with less than four minutes in the contest to finish with a final score of 3-2.
The Badgers got on the board first on William Whitelaw's eighth goal of the season. Deep in the Fighting Irish zone, freshman defenseman Joe Palodichuk defensively poked the puck to sophomore forward Tyson Dyck. Dyck sent a cross-ice pass to meet Whitelaw, who used speed to skate from the bench into the zone. The freshman forward picked up the puck, stick-handled and then shot into the goal to give the Badgers the lead.
The second period was quiet, with neither team finding the back of the net. UW had two power-play opportunities but were unable to convert on any scoring chances to keep the score at 1-0 heading into period three.
Notre Dame tied up the game with a power-play goal 4:59 into the third period on a tap-in from Landon Slaggert.
Sophomore forward
Simon Tassy re-gave Wisconsin the lead with a power-play tally at 9:39 of the third. Sophomore forward
Christian Fitzgerald passed back along the left side boards to meet
Joe Palodichuk at the blue line. Palodichuk took a shot, and Tassy re-directed it home for his 12th goal of the season.
The Badgers struck again four minutes later. Sophomore forward
Cruz Lucius tried to make a pass in the Notre Dame zone, but it bounced off a Fighting Irish player and onto the boards behind the net. Freshman forward
Sawyer Scholl picked up the puck and put it past goaltender Ryan Bischel wrap-around style for his third goal of the season.
Notre Dame made it a 3-2 game 16:13 into the third period after Cole Knuble scored with the extra attacker on the ice.
Wisconsin went 1-for-5 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 30-25 advantage in shots on goal.
Notes to know:
- For the first time since 2013, the Badgers will host at least one conference playoff game after they clinched a top-four Big Ten finish
- McClellan's 20 wins are the most since Joel Rumpel had 21 in the 2013-14 season
- UW has 12 wins at home this season, the most since the 2013-14 team had 17
- Wisconsin continues to outscore its opponents 38-15 in third periods
- The Badgers are 14-0-0 when scoring on the power play
- With 41 Big Ten points, the Badgers stay within five points of Michigan State and have two games in hand
Straight From the Rink
Head Coach Mike Hastings
On how defense plays into offense
"Last weekend, I understand we didn't give up a lot as far as goals, and I want to give Kyle a lot of that credit, but I thought [this weekend] we played more connected. I know that's maybe a little bit of a hot word when you're talking about being successful, but when we can come out of our end together and enter their end together, we're a much better hockey team. I thought we did a good job of breaking pucks out this weekend. It's something that the guys focused on this week, and I thought they executed very well, but we go nowhere without our group back there."
On the team's mentality
"I like our mental stability at this time, whether we're up or whether we're down, the guys just go on to the next shift. I think a lot of that has to do again with our leadership group with the mentality of just control what you can control. If something bad just happened, you can't change that. If something good just happened, you better focus on the next opportunity that you have and our group's done a really good job of that. They've been rewarded for it."
Sophomore Forward Simon Tassy
On sweeping the series
"I think it was always just trying to stay with it day to day. The first time we played them we didn't think about trying to sweep the entire season. We're big on doing next five [minutes], next five."
On his game
"I think that I'm not a skill guy, so I'm trying to be a power forward as I realize I'm not gonna go to the next level if I try to deke everybody between their legs. So, I'm just trying to create some momentum for my linemates, and like I said, I have a lot of fun doing that."
Up Next: The Badgers head to Columbus, Ohio, for a Big Ten series against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16-17. Friday's game starts at 5:30 p.m. while Saturday's game begins at 3:30 p.m. Friday's contest streams on B1G+ and Saturday's airs on the Big Ten Network. Audio play-by-play airs on the Badgers Radio network, including 1310 WIBA in the Madison area and on Friday on 97.3 The Game in Milwaukee. It also airs on the Badgers app and The Varsity Network app. Follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
