MADISON, Wis. — With senior starting goaltender Cam Johnson not dressed, No. 4 North Dakota unexpectedly called on freshman Peter Thome against No. 7 Wisconsin.
Despite allowing a goal on his first collegiate shot against, and two goals on just four Badgers shots in the first period, Thome finished with 36 saves, including 19 in the third period, to earn his first win and backstop North Dakota to a 3-2 decision Friday night at the Kohl Center.
“It was tough sledding in the first period—a couple of shots and a couple of goals and you never want to let in your first college shot,” Thome said. “But I got to seeing the puck and feeling the puck well in the second and it went on well from there.”
Thome’s effort and resiliency certainly impressed North Dakota coach Brad Berry.
“It was not the start that (Peter) wanted and it was eerily similar to a couple of years ago when Cam came in for his first game,” Berry said. “Cam bounced back in that game, and I’m proud of how well Peter responded tonight. He settled into the game and made some huge saves in the third period.”
Thome got plenty of help from the Fighting Hawks offense, notably freshman defenseman Gabe Bast and junior forward Nick Jones who scored the game-winner with less than nine remaining in the game. On the deciding goal Bast’s power play point shot caught the stick of a cutting Jones, who deflected the puck under Wisconsin goaltender Kyle Hayton’s right arm.
“I saw Basty was taking a shot and I felt I had an open lane to get it to the net there,” Jones said. “I was fortunate to get a stick on it.”
Jones added an assist in the second period as North Dakota battled back to tie the game at 2-2. From the top of the left faceoff circle, forward Joel Janatuinen one timed the Edmonton, Alberta native’s shot into the glove of Hayton. However, the Badgers senior fumbled the rebound, leaving an empty net for Fighting Hawks captain Austin Poganski.
Bast also assisted on North Dakota’s tying goal in the first period. 42 seconds after Wisconsin opened the scoring, Collin Adams picked off a failed clearing attempt from Badgers defenseman Tyler Inamoto, before ripping a long shot high past Hayton.
“I’ve played with Bast the last two years and I know what kind of game he brings,” Jones said. “He’s a got a great shot and is good offensively, and he showed that tonight.”
Even with 10-4 shot advantage in the first period, things weren’t looking great for the Fighting Hawks trailing 2-1 after 20 minutes with a shaky Thome in goal.
Badgers junior forward Matthew Freytag, who had just one goal on the season prior to Friday night, bested Thome twice in first frame. Just seven minutes into the game Freytag snapped a fluttering shot over the glove hand of the Minneapolis, Minnesota native.
“The Kohl Center is a big stage for my first college game, and I had a little nerves early on,” said Thome of playing in front of 9,597 fans. “But I (settled down), stayed confident after that point and knew we could still come out with two points.”
Freytag restored the Badgers lead with just over four minutes left in the first period as the beneficiary of a great play by Tarek Baker. The freshman forward had his wraparound shot attempt deflect right to Freytag, who lifted a shot over the screened Thome.
“Kyle’s got an NHL-level shot and got a couple of opportunities tonight to get that shot off,” Wisconsin coach Tony Granato said. “He’s a guy that we need to produce for us, and tonight he did that by getting our two goals.”
Hayton finished with 29 saves in a losing effort for Wisconsin, which fell to 6-4-0 and 1-1-0-0 in the Big Ten.
“I think tomorrow we can be better in the offensive zone and better with our decisions in the neutral zone,” Granato said. “We need to have a better start.”
For North Dakota (6-2-1, 1-1-0-0 NCHC), it was just their second win on a Friday night this season, after losing two straight series openers to Colorado College and Minnesota.
“I think the biggest thing to improve on was puck management on both sides as both teams capitalized on a little bit of sloppiness in the neutral zone,” Berry said.
#10 Notre Dame 4 at #16 Ohio State 1
Notre Dame (5-3-1, 1-0-0-0) got goals from four different players, Cal Burke, Dylan Malmquist, Cam Morrison and Colin Theisen to roll to a 4-1 victory over host Ohio State (5-2-2, 1-2-0-0) at Value City Arena. Janik Moser had the lone goal for the Buckeyes, which got 14 saves from goaltender Sean Romeo. Cale Morris made 23 saves to improve to 4-1-0 on the season.
Ferris State 3 at Michigan 2
Ryker Killins goal just over two minutes into overtime carried Ferris State (3-6-1) to a 3-2 win over host Michigan (4-3-0), and a series split against the Wolverines at Yost Ice Arena. Michigan got goals from Cooper Marody and Dexter Dancs to a take 2-1 advantage. The Bulldogs Mitch Maloney later tied the game and forced an extra period. Hayden Lavigne made 20 saves to take the loss, while Justin Kapelmaster stopped 42 pucks to earn the win for Ferris State.
Mercyhurst 7 at #17 Penn State 4
Despite a 54-29 deficit in shots, the Lakers, on the back of a four-point night for Les Lancaster and three point efforts from Derek Barach and Jonathan Charbonneau, upset Penn State (4-5-0) 7-4 at Pegula Ice Arena. The Nittany Lions got goals from Andrew Sturtz and Erik Autio 28 seconds apart in the first period, and Nikita Pavlychev and Alex Limoges in the second period, but failed to overcome a 5-4 deficit. Peyton Jones and Chris Funkey combined for 22 saves on 29 shots in the loss for Penn State, while Brandon Wildung stopped 50 pucks to earn the win for Mercyhurst (3-2-2).
#5 Minnesota 3, Michigan State 1
With a goal in each period by Ryan Lindgren, Brent Gates and Rem Pitlick, fifth-ranked Minnesota (6-3-0, 2-1-1-0) cruised to a 3-1 win over Michigan State (4-3-0, 0-1-0-0) at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Sam Saliba picked up the lone tally for the Spartans, who got 24 saves from goaltender John Lethemon. Eric Schierhorn stopped 25 shots to earn his sixth win of the season.
