MADISON, Wis. — There was nothing flashy about it. No. 2 North Dakota just did what it needed to do to rally in the third period for a second straight game.
That’s how UND coach Dave Hakstol put it after his team scored three times in the third period — two of them by Michael Parks — for a 4-3 victory over Wisconsin on Friday.
The Badgers had the lead and the momentum after scoring late in the second period to take a 2-1 lead, but North Dakota took both back with a clinical third-period performance, scoring at even strength, on the power play and while short-handed.
“I thought we played the way we need to play,” Hakstol said. “There was certainly nothing highlight-reel about it. The power plays were basic things — win a faceoff, get some pucks to the net, make a play or two. I don’t think our five-on-five play was any different. I thought it was just workmanlike, and we got a couple to go.”
It came on the heels of a 3-2 overtime win over Air Force last Saturday in which UND trailed 2-0 after two periods.
North Dakota has won consecutive games when trailing after 40 minutes for the first time in the Hakstol era, which dates to the 2004-05 season.
But that’s not all it’s cracked up to be for North Dakota players, who seem to understand that the falling behind part isn’t healthy for the long term.
“We need to have that extra push, have to flip that switch,” Parks said. “We’re working on trying to do that from the drop of the puck and not have to wait to be down a goal or two to have that switch flipped.”
Parks recorded his third two-goal game of his 117-game collegiate career, scoring on the power play to give UND a 3-2 lead in the third period and then making it a two-goal advantage with a short-handed goal.
The senior winger has scored seven of his 34 collegiate goals in eight games against Wisconsin, and he has nine points in his last six games this season.
“He’s had a great start,” North Dakota winger Colten St. Clair said. “He’s doing everything right right now.”
Things are not going right for the Badgers, who fell to 0-5 for the first time since 1933, when the team finished a month-long season 0-9.
They were the last non-Ivy League team to play a home game this season after four games away from home and two off weeks, and they were poised for a breakthrough when Jedd Soleway scored with 1:19 left in the second period for a 2-1 lead.
North Dakota’s St. Clair tied the game, however, 3:12 into the third period and UND outshot the Badgers 14-3 in the final 20 minutes.
“Even things that you don’t mark down on paper — are we blocking shots? Are we getting to spaces and taking time and space away from them like they do to us? The pace and tenacity at which they do those things, we’re a step behind right now,” Badgers coach Mike Eaves said. “By playing that and feeling that, that’s going to bring us to a higher level.”
Wisconsin also lost junior defenseman Eddie Wittchow to a broken finger. He’s out indefinitely, Eaves said.
Parks put North Dakota ahead 3-2 with 11:42 remaining in the third, scoring the team’s second power-play goal of the game from the slot on a feed from former Wisconsin recruit and Verona, Wis., native Jordan Schmaltz.
And Parks scored North Dakota’s national-best sixth short-handed goal of the season on a breakaway four minutes later.
“We’re killing penalties with pretty good energy,” Hakstol said. “We probably had three or maybe four line changes by our forwards before [Parks] scored that short-handed goal. I don’t think there’s any magic to it. We’re just working hard and doing things the right way, and I think we’ve gotten some bounces.”
Parks said he had no idea how many goals he had scored against Wisconsin in his career beyond the two he put past Joel Rumpel on Friday.
He did, however, remember getting swept at the Kohl Center as a freshman in UND’s most recent trip to Madison. That made Friday’s result even sweeter.
“Their students get really into it and get really rowdy,” Parks said. “Even though they’re cheering against you it’s really fun to be a part of it. That’s what college hockey is all about.”
