October may be too early in the season to call what Wisconsin put on the ice in the third period Saturday desperation.
When the second intermission ended, however, the Badgers tilted the ice heavily in their favor to rally from a three-goal deficit.
Luke Kunin’s goal on a five-on-three power play finished a three-minute, three-goal barrage as Wisconsin came back to tie Northern Michigan, 3-3, at the Kohl Center.
Ryan Wagner started the comeback with a power-play goal of his own and Jedd Soleway converted a Wildcats turnover to cut the Badgers’ deficit to one.
Wisconsin (0-0-2) was credited with 18 of the first 19 shots on goal in the third period, and outshot Northern Michigan 22-5 over the final 25 minutes, including overtime.
“The mindset that we wanted to have is, we’re down 3-0 and we need to focus on what we need to do, and that’s go out there and get the first goal and try to build momentum and get momentum on our side and then see what happens,” Badgers coach Mike Eaves. “And that’s exactly what happened.”
Wisconsin had to rally to tie both games of the season-opening series with the Wildcats (0-0-2). Grant Besse scored with 41.2 seconds left Friday to force a 2-2 draw.
Saturday produced almost the reverse of Friday’s game, Northern Michigan coach Walt Kyle said — the Wildcats were strong early and the Badgers took over in the second half.
“Our forwards didn’t do a very good job; we had no possession time in the third,” he said. “And so you’re playing a lot in your end, you’re fatiguing guys.”
Kunin, a 17-year-old freshman who played the last two seasons for the U.S. National Team Development Program, was a focal point on the five-on-three power play on which the Badgers tied the game.
With the announced Kohl Center crowd of 8,098 buzzing after goals by Wagner and Soleway, the Wildcats were called for two penalties on the same play. Defenseman James Vermeulen got caught for holding and, during the delayed penalty, forward Robbie Payne tripped Wisconsin’s Adam Rockwood.
Kunin, the point on the left side of the Badgers’ power play, had one shot blocked and two saved by Wildcats goalie Atte Tolvanen (41 saves) before finally breaking through with a one-time slap shot on a feed from Besse.
“He hit all of it, for sure,” Eaves said.
Said Kunin: “We had a lot of chances, good puck movement and all the guys were poised out there. That one was lucky enough to go through.”
Northern Michigan used some unconventional sources and unconventional methods to open up a 3-0 lead through two periods.
With the Wildcats leading 1-0 on a John Siemer goal, Wildcats defenseman Ryan Trenz scored his second goal in 68 collegiate games when his shot banked in off the leg of Badgers defenseman Tim Davison.
In the second period, defenseman Jordan Klimek netted his first goal in 39 collegiate games with a slap shot through traffic.
Making his first collegiate start, Badgers freshman goalie Matt Jurusik (22 saves) admitted some nerves got in the way of his early performance.
“I didn’t come out as strong as I could,” said Jurusik, who came aboard over the summer when incoming freshman goalie Luke Opilka signed with Kitchener of the OHL. “But it’s good to get the first one under your belt and get a feel for it.”
Wisconsin produced its first three-goal rally to avoid a loss since tying Lake Superior State, 3-3, on Nov. 1, 2013. The Badgers’ 44 shots on goal were their most since recording 45 in a 3-2 victory over Alabama-Huntsville on Dec. 28, 2013.
Northern Michigan, however, managed to avoid a loss when the momentum was squarely on the other bench, and for the second straight night, the Wildcats won an exhibition shootout that didn’t count in the records.
“When they got the five-on-three goal, we were in trouble,” Kyle said. “But what I was happy with was, after that, we kind of settled it down. I give guys credit for doing that. I thought we grew; we were a better team tonight than we were last night, as Wisconsin was. We’ll grow from it.”
