Brad Winchester and Matt Doman scored power-play goals in the third period as Wisconsin broke open a close game and defeated Michigan Tech 4-2 on Saturday night.
While on his knees in front of the net, Winchester flipped the puck over the shoulder of Tech goaltender Brian Rogers for the game-winner at 9:58. Doman then added another power-play tally at 13:18 to secure the weekend sweep for the Badgers (4-0-0, 2-0-0 WCHA).
“Our power play came through when we needed it to,” Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer said. “They scored those last two goals and put it away for us and Graham Melanson played great.”
Said Winchester: “Tech is a lot better than they were last year. We’re real happy to come in here and get two wins.”
Dany Heatley opened the scoring at the 9:15 mark of the opening period. Just after he stepped out of the penalty box, Heatley took a pass from Andy Wheeler, raced in and beat Rogers.
Less than four minutes later, Paul Cabana evened it up for the Huskies when he scored a power-play goal from Matt Ulwelling and Brad Patterson.
The first period was physical and penalty-filled. In addition to the 15 minor penalties called, Michigan Tech’s Jon Pittis received a five-minute major and a game disqualification for kicking. While being pinned in the corner by Alex Brooks, Pittis appeared to kick the Badger defenseman in the neck.
Wisconsin’s David Hukalo scored the only goal of the second period with assists from Rob Vega and Winchester.
The Huskies’ Mat Snesrud made it a 2-2 tie when he slipped the puck past Badgers’ goaltender Melanson at 1:58 of the final period.
But Melanson came up big after that and held Tech off until the Wisconsin power play could go to work later in the period. The senior workhorse made 45 saves, including 18 in the third to seal the victory.
Brian Rogers made 39 saves for Michigan Tech (0-2-1, 0-2-0).
“I thought that for the most part the team played real well,” said Huskies’ coach Tim Watters. “They did what we asked of them and they stuck to the game plan. We’re shooting the puck more and we’re skating to open ice a little better than we’ve done in the past.”
Wisconsin was 2-for-6 on the power play. The Huskies finished 1-for-11.
