MADISON (WSAU-Wire) The Badgers hockey team is suddenly struggling in the home stretch of the regular season. They tied Minnesota, 3-3 on Saturday night, and are winless in their last four games. The Badgers are now 19-11-4 overall and 11-10-3 in the WCHA
In the first period, Minnesota scored first at 13:06 of the period for a power-play goal. Wisconsin goaltender Brett Bennett made a kick save on the initial shot, but Nate Condon put home the rebound.
Wisconsin did not let the Gopher lead stand for long, answering just 17 seconds later. Michael Mersch fed a pass into the slot for the crashing Justin Schultz. Schultz’s wrist shot then deflected off a Gopher defenseman and past UM’s goalie Kent Patterson to knot the game at 1-1.
In the second period, the Badgers took the lead. Patrick Johnson received a hooking penalty, which the Badgers successfully killed off. As Johnson got out of the box, Jake Gardiner sent a long pass down the ice to spring Johnson on a breakaway. He deked to his backhand and put the puck into the net 3:25 into the second period.
The game-tying goal came in the third period from freshman Jefferson Dahl, scoring the first goal of his Wisconsin career.
The Badgers are on the road next weekend against St. Cloud State on Friday and Saturday. It's their final road trip of the season.
