(UW ATHLETICS) MADISON – Quinn Finley played the overtime hero in a back-and-forth contest as the No. 13/11 Wisconsin men’s hockey team defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 6-5, on Friday night at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin (16-9-2, 9-8-0 Big Ten – 24 points) opened the scoring with a Luke Osburn power-play goal early in the first, before Grady Deering scored 20 seconds later to make it a 2-0 game. Notre Dame (5-11-3, 1-14-0 Big Ten – 5 points) added a power-play goal of its own, two minutes later, before Gavin Morrissey scored on the man advantage to restore UW’s two-goal lead. ND struck once more, before Deering scored again to take a 4-2 Badger lead into the second frame.
Osburn scored again midway through the second to extend the lead, but the Fighting Irish stuck again to make it 5-3, heading into the third. The Fighting Irish scored twice in the third, once on the power play and again with an extra attacker with 1:09 left to tie the game at five and send it to overtime. Finley played hero for Wisconsin, 1:17 into the extra time, taking a Gavin Morrissey feed and converting a breakaway goal to give Wisconsin a B1G conference win.
How it Happened
First Period
The Badgers opened the scoring early, 4:50 into the first period, with a power-play goal from freshman defenseman Osburn.
Twenty seconds later, at 5:10, freshman forward Deering extended UW’s lead.
Notre Dame nabbed a power-play goal of its own, 7:35 into the first, from Evan Werner.
Sophomore forward Morrissey netted UW’s second power-play goal of the night at 10:32.
Danny Nelson struck for ND, 12 seconds later at 10:44, to make it a 3-2 game.
To cap off a high-scoring first period, Deering tallied his second goal of the night at 12:33, to help Wisconsin to its fifth four-goal period of the year.
At the end of the first period, a penalty was called on Wisconsin, but the Badgers killed it off to keep it a 4-2 game.
Second Period
The second period was quiet until Osburn scored his second goal of the game, 10:23 into the period, with a one-time shot.
At 18:16, Cole Brown scored for Notre Dame to make it a 5-3 contest.
In the final minute of the second, at 19:36, a penalty was called on Wisconsin that carried into the third, but UW killed it off.
Third Period
The Fighting Irish continued their comeback with a power-play goal from Werner, 6:10 into the third.
Wisconsin had a power-play chance at 8:45, but ND killed it off to keep the Badgers from extending their lead.
With the goaltender pulled, Notre Dame’s Werner tallied his third goal of the night, 18:51 into the third, to tie the game at five and send it to overtime.
Overtime
Junior forward Finley scored the game-winning goal for the Badgers, 1:17 into overtime, to snap UW’s six-game losing skid.
Wisconsin went 2-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-4 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 39-34 advantage in shots on goal.
Notes to know
-Wisconsin recorded its fifth four-goal period of the year in the first frame, and its fourth four-goal period against Notre Dame on the season
-UW remains undefeated in overtime this year with a 3-0-2 record, also winning in the extra time against Ohio State (6-5) on Nov. 15 and at then-No. 1 Michigan State (2-1) on Nov. 22
–Luke Osburn ranks second among freshmen defensemen scoring in the country with 18 points (5g, 13a) after his three-point night.
-This marks the sixth-straight game Wisconsin’s played in front of at least 10,000 fans, both at the Kohl Center and on the road
-Spittin’ Chiclets podcast producer Mike Grinnell and editor Elliot Fish were in attendance at tonight’s game, filming for Chiclets University
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