Wisconsin men’s hockey keeps scrapping against ranked foes, taking ‘baby steps’ in playoff quest

MADISON – When the story is finally written on this Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey season, the chapter about having trouble winning in overtime will be the longest.

They added another page Saturday.

But their ability to find positives and be resilient also will be a valuable passage.

“I think we should be really proud of ourselves,” UW defenseman Ben Dexheimer said after the Badgers earned a 4-4 tie with 10th-ranked Michigan at the Kohl Center.

“We got eight of 12 points against a top-10 team in the season series, and I think we’re taking baby steps every single weekend, building some momentum for the end of the year.”

After a 5-4 comeback victory Friday night, UW found itself in a two-goal deficit midway through the first period. After fighting back to tie in the second, the Badgers fell behind in the third again before Dexheimer poked in a bouncing puck in front of the net with less than four minutes left in regulation.

Neither team scored in the five-minute, three-on-three overtime period. Michigan freshman center Michael Hage put the puck past Wisconsin senior goaltender Tommy Scarfone in the third round of the shootout.

While a shootout doesn’t affect the teams’ records, the winning team does earn an extra point in the Big Ten standings.

The Badgers missed a chance to reach the .500 mark

Wisconsin, chasing a playoff berth after a 2-8 start, sits at 11-12-3 overall and 6-9-1 in league play. Michigan is 14-10-2 and 8-7-1.

The teams split in December in Ann Arbor, with the Wolverines’ victory coming in overtime.

UW has split six series with teams that were ranked at the time, including No. 1 Michigan State.

“We talk about the beginning of the year, you want to win series,” Badgers coach Mike Hastings said. “Obviously we want to win and we’d love to sweep teams. It’s difficult to do it for us, to put ourselves in that hole again and again.

“I credit Michigan. I thought they were better than we were in the first period, and then the guys went in and – you know what? – they went to work in the second period and got right back after it.”

Wisconsin sits 16^th in the Pairwise rankings, which approximate the formula used to decide the 16-team field for the NCAA Tournament.

Badgers’ top scorer Quinn Finley returns after scary injury

Quinn Finley, the sophomore from Suamico, was back in the lineup after being banged up in extracurriculars Friday, and he did what he so often does. Finley gave the Badgers a boost when his goal 4:46 into the second period cut the deficit to 3-2.

Finley, who has been the top-line left wing all season, entered the weekend series tied for the goal-scoring lead in NCAA Division I with 18.  

He suffered an apparent upper body injury Friday night when he was pulled to the ice in a skirmish after the whistle early in the game. That brief appearance was only the fifth time he was held without a point this season.

A stone-faced Finley downplayed any doubt about his ability to play Saturday against an extremely physical opponent, but Hastings made it sound more like a minor miracle. UW needs what Finley provides.

“I give Quinn credit because obviously he’s not 100% so I think that says a lot about him and his intestinal fortitude to say, you know what, I need to play if I can play,” Hastings said. “Now our job and our medical staff’s job is to make sure that he’s not putting himself in a bad spot.

“And obviously him playing in the game, he had an impact in the game. That’s a big-time goal and a big-time moment in the game.”

Tommy Scarfone back in goal

After Hasting pulled struggling senior goaltender Tommy Scarfone midgame Friday, sophomore William Gramme got his first start of the season Saturday.

But Scarfone was off the bench early, this time after Gramme gave up three goals on five shots. Scarfone allowed only one goal, Evan Werner’s freaky go-ahead score that bounced off Dexheimer’s skate and into the net behind Scarfone as he stretched to his right for the initial save.

Tie leaves Wisconsin with a 2-6-3 overtime record

The Badgers have gone to overtime 11 times this season and have just two victories to show for it, the most recent Nov. 15 at Penn State.

The two most recent ties have come in a span of eight days, the previous against Long Island University a week ago. That was a nonconference game, so winning the shootout didn’t even gain Wisconsin a point.

What will it take for the Badgers to get over the hump after 60 mintues?

“I don’t know. Keep practicing it,” Finley said. “That’s something that we work on during the week. And obviously they didn’t score either. So we just got to get it done in overtime or in the shootout. Their goalie made three saves.”