One of the statistics that has stood out in Wisconsin’s struggles this season has been a third-period scoring margin deep in the red.<\/p>\n
Through 23 games, the Badgers had allowed 19 more goals than they had scored in the final 20 minutes of regulation.<\/p>\n
So there was some satisfaction for Wisconsin in scoring a season-high four times in the third period Saturday for a 5-2 victory over Alaska at the Kohl Center.<\/p>\n
Jake Linhart broke a 2-2 tie, and Luke Kunin, Cameron Hughes and Matthew Freytag also scored third-period goals for the Badgers (6-12-6), who earned their second sweep of the season.<\/p>\n
“We were rolling in the third,” Kunin said. “When we’re playing the way we want, good things are going to happen.”<\/p>\n
The Badgers reversed some third-period trends Saturday, outscoring the Nanooks, 4-1, after being outscored 30-11 in the final 20 minutes of the first 23 games.<\/p>\n
They outshot Alaska, 11-6, in the third; on the season, they had been outshot by 242-215 in the final period.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, they blocked 10 Alaska shots in the third and 25 for the game.<\/p>\n
“The guys were into it,” Badgers coach Mike Eaves said, “and they were doing what it takes to win.”<\/p>\n
The Nanooks (7-15-4) lost captain and leading scorer Tyler Morley to an upper-body injury in the second period. Alaska coach Dallas Ferguson said Morley would be re-evaluated when the team gets back to Fairbanks.<\/p>\n
They answered Kunin’s power-play goal early in the third period with Austin Vieth’s first goal of the season, but the Badgers took over from there.<\/p>\n
Linhart made it 3-2 just 1:09 after Vieth’s goal, redirecting a Hughes pass past Davis Jones (29 saves). The play was initially ruled no-goal, but referees reversed the call after a video review.<\/p>\n
Hughes added a power-play goal and Freytag gave the Badgers a 5-2 lead later in the third.<\/p>\n
“We were creating some scoring chances,” Ferguson said. “They made some plays and finished and we made some plays and didn’t finish.”<\/p>\n
The Badgers, who earned their first sweep since Oct. 30-31 against Arizona State, played without suspended defenseman Eddie Wittchow and forward Jedd Soleway.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin was 2-for-3 on the power play, scoring multiple goals on the man advantage for the first time in 10 games.<\/p>\n
Eaves said the coaching staff took the Badgers’ power-play units aside in the second intermission for a video session to study the Nanooks’ tendencies.<\/p>\n
It paid off 50 seconds into the third when Adam Rockwood set up Kunin for a tap-in.<\/p>\n
“They connected the dots and put the puck in the net,” Eaves said. “I think the little video session gave us some insight.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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