Wisconsin’s rally against Michigan State ended with just 1.4 seconds remaining.
The Wisconsin Badgers played their fourth and final game of the regular season against top-ranked Michigan State on Saturday night as part of The Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series. Both teams were put in a tough spot, having to follow another scintillating contest between the Ohio State and Wisconsin women’s programs that ended in a shootout.
Nevertheless, fans flocked to Wrigley Field to make this game the most well-attended of the four outdoor games this weekend. The Wisconsin Badgers (9-12-1 overall, 5-9 B1G) have played the Spartans well this season, despite having only one win to show for it coming into Saturday night’s contest. They have held a two-goal lead over the No. 1 Michigan State Spartans (17-2-1 overall, 8-1-1 B1G) in their previous three games this season.
Much like Thursday night’s game, Michigan State got on the board first when Spartan defender Vladislav Lukashevich threw out a feeler from the point. It appeared both teams were waiting for some sort of deflection, but it never came as the puck sailed over the shoulder of senior goaltender Tommy Scarfone.
Michigan State then fed the Badgers a taste of their own medicine, stretching their lead to two when Daniel Russell took a rebound off a shot from the point and stuffed it past Scarfone to make it 2-0 in favor of the Spartans.
The Badgers finally broke through and brought the Badger faithful to their feet just past the halfway mark when freshman Gavin Morrissey ripped a point-blank shot past Spartan goaltender Luca Di Pasquo. The keeper found himself turned around after a hard drive by graduate student defenseman Anthony Kehrer, who tracked his rebound to tee up a perfect pass across the crease to the awaiting Morrissey.
Then, in an ode to the greats who have patrolled the outfield at the friendly confines, sophomore Quinn Finley tracked the puck on a carom off the glass similar to playing a bounce off the Wrigley Field ivy to send a shot past Di Pasquo and even the score at 2-2. The Spartans challenged the call for goaltender interference thinking graduate student Ryland Mosley got tangled up with Di Pasquo before the bounce off the boards, but the call on the ice stood as it appeared Mosley was initially pushed into the goaltender.
With the two-goal deficit erased, the Badgers needed to take the third to leave Chicago with a win. But it was the Spartans who drew first blood in the final period, breaking out into a three-on-two when Isaac Howard sniped a wrist shot past Scarfone to re-take the lead.
Wisconsin finally emptied the net searching for a spark to overcome Michigan State’s one-goal lead. The Badgers won an offensive zone draw and cycled the puck back to Finley at the top of the circle, who fired a pass through traffic finding Mosley to bury the game-tying goal with 48 seconds to go. For the second time on Saturday and the third time in four games at The Frozen Confines, fans at Wrigley Field were treated to some free hockey.
The overtime period was fairly subdued until the Badgers failed on a clearing attempt in the waning seconds. Daniel Russell made a late charge toward the Wisconsin net as Scarfone couldn’t corral the loose puck, which ricocheted back into the crease off a sprawling Ben Dexheimer. Russell’s effort was rewarded with his second goal of the night to walk off the Badgers with just 1.4 seconds remaining.
The loss was Wisconsin’s first outdoor defeat. They were previously 3-0 playing in the elements.
It’s been an all-too-common refrain this season – “the Badgers played well, just needed a couple more bounces and they could have come out on top.” And it’s true, this team is not playing bad hockey. They played well enough to win both games against the Spartans this week, and realistically could have been talking about a season sweep against the nation’s top team. Instead, they walk away with only one point this weekend and two more one-goal defeats. At some point, these close calls need to turn into tangible victories rather than moral ones. You can’t hang your hat on overtime losses and close calls, two things the Badgers have dabbled in frequently this campaign.
There are points to be had, and it’ll be up to Wisconsin to start taking them if they want to keep any outside hope of a postseason berth alive.