6:28- Connelly gets the start for tonight to shake things up a little bit. He's pitched a shutout twice this season when starting in similar situations.
6:30- In case anyone was curious, the pre-game meal was BBQ torilla chips and fresh salsa, potato salad, steamed green beans, and ribs. I thought BBQ ribs would be a disaster, but I escaped with only a little stain on the cuff of my shirt.
6:54- I saw Jon Kalinski walking around the concourse. He had a slight limp, but it didn't look too bad. My guess is that he'll be ready for next weekend.
7:00-The Badgers take the ice. It's loud in here, as always, but there seems to be way less student turnout. Perhaps it's a late arriving crowd.
7:01: The PA announcer finally learned how to say Mike Zacharias' name.
The Mavericks are starting their third line of Stewart-Bruess-Irwin, and their top D pairing of Kilburg and Wagner.
Wisconsin is starting their top D pairing of Klubertanz and Jeff Likens, and their first line of Joudrey-Skille-Dowell.
After the national anthem, Eric Gregor, who won the 1998 Hockey Humanitarian award is out to honor Andrew Joudrey on being a finalist for the award.
1st period
20:00- The puck drops and we're underway.
Stewart brings the puck into the zone and fires it wide.
Mick Berge tries to jam a puck in from the side of the net, but Connelly stops it.
Wisconsin gets their first shot from the point, and Zacharias stops it with his pad.
MSU picks up the games first penalty. R.J. Linder gets called for interference.
17:24- Wisconsin gets a great shot from the point that just misses the net. They fire another shot from the point that Zacharias covers.
Another shot from the point and another save.
A third shot off the post hits the post cleanly. It was low to the ice and Zacharias never saw it.
MSU kills off the penalty, but UW is still threatening. They finally clear center ice and dump the puck in for a change.
15:00- Steve Wagner backchecks hard to break up a potential 2-on-1.
14: 27-Kurtis Kisio picks up his own rebound and tries to fire it under Connelly, but he traps it in his pads.
12:24- UW finally ices it after a long stretch of play. Tonight seems a little faster-paced than yesterday's first period, and the Badgers are hitting a lot harder.
A pass along the boards hits Marco Hunt, allowing MSU to clear the puck. Jason Wiley trips a Badger at the other end of the ice and gets a penalty. This will be UW's second powerplay.
10:43- UW fires a hard shot from a low angle that Zacharias is able to kick out. The Badgers bring it back into the zone, but offsides.
9:57- Ross Carlson fans a pass across teh crease that probably would have went for a goal. The Badgers keep control in the zone though. Carlson fires another shot that Zacharias makes a nice save on. Zacharias makes another save.
Carlson fires another shot that Zacharias saves.
Wisconsin goal. Off Carlson's rebound, Mike Davies takes the puck around the net and scores on the wraparound. 1-0 Wisconsin
Scoring on the goal was Davies from Carlson and Jamie McBain at 11:01 of the first.
8:06- R.J. Linder takes a bad penalty by tackling Jack Skille away from the play. All the momentum is giong Wisconsin's way right now.
Brian Kilburg gets away with a possible hit from behind.
Kilburg makes a nice play to block a cross-crease pass that saves a goal.
6:09- Four seconds left on Linder's penalty and a face-off outside the MSU zone.
MSU kills off the penalty.
Travis Morin makes a great play at the blueline, and Stewart gets a nice shot off.
UW comes back and Lucas Fransen takes Jack Skille hard into the net. It looks like MSU is also going to get a penalty on Chad Brownlee, so UW will get another powerplay.
Wagner gets his stick down to block a pass across the crease and save a goal. MSU ices the puck.
3:27: MSU kills off the penalty.
3:15- Wisconsin gets called for their first penalty. Andy Brandt gets called for interference right off the face-off.
Morin fires a quick one-timer that is blocked and cleared.
Nice work by Ben Street in the MSU zone to kill time on the powerplay. MSU isn't doing much with their powerplay.
UW kills the powerplay.
28.2- MSU's fourth line keeps play in the UW end, and UW ices it. Kurtis Kisio has some words with Jake Dowell after the whistle.
10.1- MSU is going to get another powerplay as Jake Dowell heads to the box for elbowing.
0:00- And the first period ends. Score: Wisconsin 1 Minnesota State 0
Wisconsin really controlled the play that period. They had way more powerplays, but that was a result of them having a little more jump than the Mavericks.
Stats for the period:
Wisconsin attempted 24 shots, had two blocked, and four that missed the net, along with one pipe, for 17 total shots. They had 9 shots on their powerplay.
MSU attempted 10 shots and 6 were blocked by the defense. They also had two that missed the net for only two total shots.
Wisconsin only had 24 shots on goal last night, and already have 17 tonight.
2nd Period
20:00: And we're ready to start the second period.
Ross Carlson catches MSU on a change and fires a big slap shot, but Zacharias is in position and stops it.
18:48- Jerad Stewart fires a shot from the halfboards that Connelly catches and hangs onto.
Stewart fires a shot from the point that Connelly drops, but knocks down. MSU goes offsides.
UW kills off the penalty without much threat.
MSU looks to be trying to set the tone physically this period.
16:16- Geoff Irwin fires a wrist shot from the slot that Connelly gloves. The shot probably would have been over the net anyway.
Irwin caught Olinger with his head down and laid him out with a nice hit in the corner.
14:39- Zacharias makes two amazing saves, then MSU comes down and Connelly is forced to stop a tough shot.
13:39- Trevor Bruess has a shot tipped out of play on a rush up the ice.
10:38- The hitting has really picked up from both sides. This is turning into a very physical game. MSU is starting to control the play a little more too and get a territorial advantage.
9:25- Zacharias makes another tough save on a Wisconsin rush.
Jason Wiley tries to hit Blake Friesen in the slot, but the puck hops over his stick.
8:14: Fisticuffs! UW goes offsides, but after the play, Brian Kilburg and Ben Street went into the boards, which led to some pushing and shoving. Kilburg gets a double minor, while UW's Klubertanz only gets one. UW powerplay.
Travis Morin gets a great chance on the penalty kill, but his low, hard shot was kicked out by Connelly.
He gets another rush and fires a quick wrist shot that gets behind Connelly, but Connelly pounces on it before it goes over the line. It probably didn't have enough steam to get over the line even if he hadn't, but still very close to a goal.
MSU kills off the penalty.
Geoffrion circles all the way around the net, but can't get the backhander on net. UW takes an interference penalty away from the puck and MSU will get a powerplay. The call is on Grotting for interference.
Wagner gets a shot through that Connelly stops. Hanson fires a one-timer that Connelly blocks and UW clears.
Andy Brandt gets a breakaway but shoots the puck wide of the goal.
Wisconsin scores. Chad Brownlee beat Jack Skille in a footrace for the puck, but Skille tripped Brownlee, picked up the puck and fired a backhand past Zacharias. Skille unassisted at 18:21
1:38- There's some pushing and shoving right off the face-off and Matt Tyree and Mike Davies will both go to the box.
Now there's a huge fight in front of the Maverick bench. Trevor Bruess is pretty fired up, and isn't making any friends in Madison.
I kind of wish Bruess would have dropped the gloves. Apparently he was a pretty good fighter in juniors. When I was in Omaha, I talked with his housing parent from Lincoln, and he said Bruess once dropped a guy from the Lancers then skated over to the Lancer bench and challenged their entire team to a fight.
The refs are trying to sort this out right now, which could take a while.
MSU will come out of this with an extra two minutes, and more importantly, Travis Morin gets a 10 minute misconduct. Morin, Bruess, and Harrison all get 2 and 10 for the Mavs. Blake Geoffrion gets a double minor and a 10. Jamie McBain gets a 2 and 10. MSU gets a powerplay.
Connelly makes two huge saves and the period expires with Wisconsin leading 2-0.
Travis Morin had some choice words for Marco Hunt after the period. I have a hard time believing Morin did anything to earn a 10 minute penalty.
Between period entertainment is a youth hockey game. The poor kids had to wait at the door for like five minutes thanks to that fight at the end.
That was a better period from Minnesota State. It's a shame they gave up that goal at the end of the period, and now find themselves in a really deep hole. UW really caught a break on that second goal. I don't know if Marco Hunt wasn't watching the play or what.
The bigger loss though is that they will be without captain Travis Morin for half of the third period. He's been the best player on the ice for the Mavericks again tonight.
Second period stats:
For Wisconsin: 14 shots attempted, three blocked, and one missed. 10 shots on goal and one went in.
For Minnesota State: 19 attempted shots, four blocked, four missed for 11 shots on goal, with none going in.
Game totals MSU: 13 shots on goal Wis: 25 shots on goal
The penalties in that period were off the charts, literally. They ran out of space on the scoresheet.
3rd period
Teams are back on the ice and we're almost ready to get underway. MSU will have 27 seconds of 4-on-3 and then another 40 seconds of 5-on-4 hockey.
Irwin fires a one-timer too high and it goes out of play, bringing the face-off outside the zone.
MSU is going to get another powerplay. Likens gets called for roughing.
MSU has a brief 5 on 3. They're now only one man down. MSU really misses Morin and Kalinski, who both play on the top powerplay unit.
Goal MSU. A shot from the point by Joel Hanson goes off the post and in. It's a whole new hockey game now.
Goal Wisconsin. MSU turns the puck over in their own end and Jack Skille buries it over Zacharias' glove hand. 3-1 Wisconsin.
MSU's goal: Hanson from Wagner and Mouillierat at 2"06
Wisconsins' goal: Skille from Drewiske at 2:21
14:33- Skille has a chance in front but can't corral it, then is gimpy as he gets up. But it looks like he skated it off.
11:46- Drewiske hits the side of the net from the left point
Joudrey fired a huge slapper that Zacharias stopped.
11:13- Joel Hanson gets called for tripping in the neutral zone and Wisconsin will go back on the powerplay.
Jerad Stewart gets a shorthanded two-on-one and tees a big shot that Connelly just barely stops.
8:55- Zacharias makes another huge save on a shot off a pass from behind the net. Zacharias has had an outstanding game.
7:06: Zacharias stops a shot from the point, and there is a mass migration from the penalty box as all six players with 10 minute misconducts head back to the bench.
6:51- Now Mouillierat and Davies mix it up a little bit. Nevermind. Davies is the only one to get a penalty for boarding. MSU powerplay.
Morin beats Connelly, but the puck catches his glove and goes over the net. MSU needs to score on this PP to make a game of this.
UW kills off the penalty.
Mike Davies had a mini-breakaway, but Brian Kilburg got back and broke it up.
1:18- Dowell has a chance in front but knocked the puck down with a high stick.
Timeout Minnesota State
MSU gets a change off the faceoff but Connelly stops. Connelly is without a glove for a couple seconds, but he recovers it.
Goal Wisconsin. Jack Skille buries the empty-netter to get a hat trick. 4-1 Wisconsin.
Skille from Joudrey at 19:03.
UW fans want a 5th goal to get free ice cream, but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.
And the game is over. Wisconsin wins 4-1 to earn a split on the weekend.
I'll be back with postgame in a bit.
