MADISON, Wis.—Colorado College junior Chad Rau couldn’t explain why he has so many shorthanded goals against Wisconsin.
The center scored his third shorthanded goal in as many games against the Badgers this season, breaking a third-period scoreless tie and helping the fourth-ranked Tigers beat No. 13 Wisconsin 2-0 on Friday night.
“When you get the bounces, you get them,” said Rau, who has at least one point in a career-high 12 straight games. “Luckily, we’ve been getting them.”
Freshman Tyler Johnson scored his first collegiate goal less than two minutes after Rau’s score, and rookie Richard Bachman made 22 saves for his second shutout. The Tigers improved to 5-3 on a nine-game road stretch that ends Saturday against Wisconsin.
Colorado College coach Scott Owens said some weariness showed in his team early, when he said the Tigers were careless with the puck.
“We were just heavy-legged and slow,” Owens said. “It was just a slow, methodical game. It was whoever blinked first, and we got ourselves in a good situation there.”
When the puck bounced over Wisconsin defenseman Kyle Klubertanz’s stick in the Badgers’ attacking zone, Rau took the puck and headed up the right wing. His shot beat Wisconsin goaltender Shane Connelly to the glove side with 10:39 remaining in the third period.
Starting with a two-game sweep to the Tigers in November, the Badgers are 2-for-43 on the power play over their last 11 games and have allowed six shorthanded goals.
Badgers coach Mike Eaves said his team’s power play had excellent chances to score before Rau’s goal.
“That’s just kind of the way it is for our power play right now,” Eaves said. “We’re definitely in some kind of slump.”
Klubertanz turned the puck over in his own zone a short time after Rau’s goal, giving Johnson the opportunity to deke Connelly to the ice and score.
“It comes down to making plays, and I didn’t make those two plays,” Klubertanz said. “They took advantage of it.”
Connelly stopped 25 shots for Wisconsin.
It was the first scoreless game entering the third period for both teams this season.
Colorado College also went the first two periods without a goal last Saturday against Rensselaer, when it was down 2-0 entering the third period. The Tigers scored three goals in the final period to win 3-2.
Both teams were represented in the World Junior Championship semifinals earlier Friday in the Czech Republic. Wisconsin’s Kyle Turris played for Canada, which beat the United States 4-1. Colorado College’s Bill Sweatt and Wisconsin’s Blake Geoffrion and Jamie McBain played for the Americans.
