Gophers Suffer First Big Ten Loss

MADISON, Wis.  – For the first time since Nov. 24, the top-ranked Minnesota men’s hockey program suffered a loss, falling for the first time in Big Ten play in a 2-1 battle with No. 12 Wisconsin at the Kohl Center.

The loss also snapped the Gophers’ 14-game unbeaten streak, which stood as the longest active streak heading into the weekend, despite the fact that Minnesota (19-3-5 overall, 8-1-2-0 Big Ten) peppered the Badgers with 32 shots and held its opponent to 19 shots for the second game in a row.

Wisconsin (14-8-2, 5-4-1-0 Big Ten) jumped out to a first-period lead when Frankie Simonelli scored his sixth goal of the year during the game’s first power play at 14:47. Joseph LaBate and Kevin Schulze set up the goal. Minnesota wouldn't go into the first intermission trailing, however, as Taylor Cammarata slipped home the equalizer at 17:20 of the first stanza after Kyle Rau picked up the puck behind the Wisconsin net and fed his freshman teammate in front for Cammarata’s sixth goal of the season.

After a scoreless second period, both squads saw scoring chances in the third period. Perhaps Minnesota’s best chance came on a Gophers’ power-play as Mike Reilly’s shot from the point rang off the post. Reilly and Hudson Fasching both saw their five-game point streaks snapped on Thursday night.  In the end, the Badgers converted the only goal of the third period with Jake McCabe finding a way past Adam Wilcox at 13:47 for the deciding goal (assisted by Jedd Soleway).

Adam Wilcox made 17 saves and fell for the first time in more than two months, moving to 18-3-5 on the season. Joel Rumpel made 31 saves for Wisconsin to move to 12-3-1.

Minnesota and Wisconsin return to action on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. CT for their fourth and final meeting of the regular season. You can hear the game starting with pre-game coverage at 7:30 tonight on KROC AM..