MADISON, wis. — Young and talented, the Wisconsin Badgers awoke from an offensive slumber to pound the University of Denver 5-2 on Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
The Pioneers, who beat the Badgers 3-0 in the two-game series opener Friday behind the excellent goaltending of Sam Brittain, played awful at times in front of their star goalie.
“We were just very poor in our own zone tonight,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said.
Denver (18-10-4, 13-7-4 WCHA) had its four-game unbeaten streak snapped while Wisconsin (13-15-2, 8-14-2) ended a five-game losing skid in which it scored a combined seven goals. Brittain, who made 30 saves, dropped to 4-2 in his fourth consecutive start since returning from major offseason knee surgery.
“We lost guys in front, and they capitalized,” DU junior defenseman Paul Phillips said. “Sammy Britts couldn’t do anything about a lot of those. I think we got a little bit too lax, thinking since Sammie Brittain is back we can just score all the goals and he’ll shut the door.
“We have to go back to what made us successful, what got us to this point, and that’s playing defensive first, and that will lead to offense.”
DU went 0-for-3 on the power play in the second period and allowed two goals after taking a 1-0 lead. The Badgers blew open a close game in the third period, scoring the game’s final two goals behind All-America defenseman Justin Schultz.
After DU’s Jason Zucker opened the scoring with his 17th goal of the season 1:34 into the second period, defensive breakdowns led to Badgers goals at 6:39 and 10:11. Sophomore Mark Zengerle scored and assisted on the tallies, both of which followed a failed Pioneers sequence with a man advantage.
“It was a bad night for us in many ways,” Gwozdecky said. “We seemed to be very impatient in playing defense. … We were cheating a lot in our own zone. Their first two goals after we took that 1-0 lead were a direct result of completely blown coverages in our own zone at even strength. It reminded me of how we played before Christmas break.”
Wisconsin went ahead 3-1 just 1:11 into the third period but Drew Shore produced his team-high 18th goal 21 seconds later to get the Pioneers back within one.
The back-breaking goal came 11:42 into the third period, when Michael Mersch scored on a redirect of a Schultz shot just after the Badgers enjoyed two consecutive power plays. Schultz added a power-play goal.
DU, 8-2-1 in its last 11 games, committed seven penalties.
At press time with some games still being played, the Pioneers were tied for 11th in the PairWise Rankings. They entered the night tied for seventh.
DU hosts North Dakota for a two-game series next weekend before concluding the regular season March 2-3 at Nebraska Omaha.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
DU Recap
The Post’s three stars
1. Mark Zengerle. Sophomore center scored and assisted on UW’s first two goals.
2. Michael Mersch. Badgers sophomore wing had a goal and two assists.
3. Justin Schultz. UW junior defenseman had a goal, assist.
What you might have missed
Wisconsin’s only fourth-year player, defenseman Eric Springer, was honored on senior night. The Badgers have been recently ravaged by early departures for pro contracts.
Up next
North Dakota, Friday at Magness Arena, 7:30 p.m.
