Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal SentinelSat, November 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM UTC·2 min readThe turnaround was stark and for the Wisconsin Badgers oh so satisfying.
The UW men’s hockey team fell behind by two goals to top-ranked Michigan State on Friday, Nov. 21 before stunning the Spartans and a sellout crowd of 6,555 at Munn Arena with four unasnwered goals in the second period.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe onslaught laid the foundation for a 5-4 victory over the Spartans that allowed Wisconsin to maintain its share of first place in the Big Ten.
More: Resurgent Wisconsin hockey team is off to a ‘super fun’ start. Next up: No. 1 Michigan State
Freshman goalie Eli Pulver recorded 35 saves in his college debut, including 12 stops during the final period.
Senior Tyson Dyck and freshman Blake Montgomery finished one goal and one assist, while senior Simon Tassy and freshman Vasily Zelenov had two assists.
Wisconsin jump started its comeback with a power play goal from senior Christian Fitzgerald 68 seconds into the second period that came 5 seconds into the penalty.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFrom there the Badgers’ scoring came in 5-on-5 situations.
Montgomery, set up by Tassy and Zelenov, tied the game about 3 minutes after Fitgerald’s score. And passes from Montgomery and freshman Grady Deering set up sophomore Adam Pietila’s goal at the 11:19 mark to give Wisconsin a 3-2 edge.
The Badgers never trailed again, but Michigan State kept up the pressure by twice cutting Wisconsin’s lead to one during the final 11 minutes.
The victory raised Wisconsin record to 9-2-2 overall and 5-2 In the Big Ten. Its win coupled with Michigan’s victory over Ohio State Friday leaves the Wolverines and UW tied atop of the Big Ten standings with 14 points.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe win also added to a pretty good run for the Badgers against No. 1 teams. They are 22-26-3 overall against No. 1 since the USCHO poll began in 1997.
That record is 16-11-2 when Wisconsin is a top 20 team and got even better when it is in the top 10. UW is now 10-2-2 in those situations with a 9-0-2 mark in the last 11 matchups.
The Badgers will put that unbeaten streak on the line at 6 p.m. Saturday in Game 2 of the series.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin men's hockey rallies to stun No. 1 Michigan State
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