MADISON, Wis. – Second-period goals from Quinn Finley and Simon Tassy helped the No. 17 Wisconsin men's hockey team erase a two-goal deficit to tie No. 20/19 Minnesota State, 2-2, on Friday night at the Kohl Center. The Badgers won a seven-round exhibition shootout, 1-0, to send Badger fans home happy.
Minnesota State (1-1-2) got on the board first, 9:58 into the first period, after capitalizing on a five-on-three power play, about four minutes into a UW major penalty. The Mavericks made it a 2-0 game at 13:28 into the first with their second power-play goal of the night. Wisconsin (2-0-2) came back in the second period, with junior forward Quinn Finley and senior forward Simon Tassy scoring at 43 seconds and 7:11 into the second frame, respectively, to tie the game at two.
Each team killed off a major penalty in the third period to send the game into overtime for the second day in a row. Neither team scored in the extra time, and the final score officially went down as a 2-2 tie. In the exhibition shootout, freshman goaltender Daniel Hauser made a perfect seven saves as freshman forward Blake Montgomery scored the winner to help UW to victory in its second-straight shootout against the Mavericks.
How it Happened
Minnesota State earned a five-minute major power play 5:57 into the first period, before another penalty was called on the Badgers 8:35 into the frame to give the Mavericks a five-on-three power play.
Less than 90 seconds into the 9:58 into the five-on-three power play, Luigi Benincasa found the back of the net.
MSU extended its lead to two goals on a power-play goal from Charlie Lurie, 13:28 into the first.
Less than a minute into the second period, at 43 seconds into the frame, Finley kick-started Wisconsin's comeback, scoring his second goal of the season straight after coming out of the penalty box.
At 7:11 into the second, Tassy, a transfer from Minnesota State, tied the game at two after redirecting freshman defenseman
Luke Osburn's shot from the blue line.
In the third period, Wisconsin had a five-minute major power play 3:26 into the frame, but could not score to take the lead. The Badgers also received another five-minute major penalty at 9:15 into the period, but UW killed it off to send both teams to overtime tied at two.
Neither team scored in overtime, and the game officially ended as a tie for the second time this weekend. In the exhibition shootout, Hauser made seven saves as Montgomery scored the winner to give the Badgers their second straight exhibition shootout win over Minnesota State.
Wisconsin went 0-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-5 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 33-25 advantage in shots on goal.
Notes to know
- Wisconsin has now allowed two goals or less in each of its first four games
- The Badgers tied and won the exhibition shootout in both games of their series against Minnesota State. In game one, freshman forward
Oliver Tulk tied the game midway through the third period to help UW to a 1-1 tie. In the four-round exhibition shootout, Hauser made four saves and freshman forward
Bruno Idžan scored the winner
Straight from the rink
Head Coach Mike Hastings
On learning from tonight
"We found we can play from behind and still stick with it. That's a positive, but we played with fire tonight, taking a five-minute major and then a two-minute penalty and giving them an opportunity to be five-on-three…We'll have to learn from the discipline side of what we didn't get accomplished."
On the team's growth
"This group's continuing to grow. We've got 10 newbies, and at different times, they are taking steps forward. Last night it was about Deering, right now we are talking about Montgomery. We juggled our lines a little bit and I didn't think it was anything that I'd look at and say 'I wish I would not have done that.'"
Freshman forward Blake Montgomery
On mounting a comeback
"It shows the resilience that we have. You're gonna go down, you're gonna go up, and it's just what happens in hockey games. For us to handle that adversity how we did, [I] thought it was really good for us."
Junior forward Quinn Finley
On the team's takeaways from this weekend
"It was nice to come back today. Kind of started a little slow there, down 2-0 and coming back out for the second. It was nice to see the boys pedal back, and I wish we could have gotten it done in 60."
Up Next: The Badgers continue their six-game homestand when Alaska visits the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24-25. Friday's game starts at 7 p.m., while puck drop for Saturday's contest is set for 6 p.m. Both games stream on B1G+. Audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA as well as on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.
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