With Penn State winning at Notre Dame on Saturday, Wisconsin’s chances of securing a home series in the opening round of the Big Ten Conference post-season playoffs went up in smoke. But that didn’t stop the Badgers from pulling off the two-game sweep of the Wolverines, winning a 4-3 overtime thriller at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers finished the regular season with three straight wins.
Trailing 3-2 in the final minutes, Tony Granato pulled his goaltender and Ty Emberson netted the game tying goal with 1:07 left in regulation.
The Badgers had a goal waved off in overtime after it was ruled they had too many men on the ice. But a minute later, Linus Weissbach stick handled through traffic and fired a wrist shot from the left side to beat Michigan goaltender Hayden Lavigne and secure a “senior night” win for the Badgers.
Prior to leaving the ice, the Badgers thanked the fans and then helped serenade the crowd to “Varsity”.
The Badgers had beaten the Wolverines in overtime 5-4 on Friday night. They needed to sweep the Wolverines and get Penn State to lose twice to Notre Dame to secure home ice in the first round of the playoffs. Notre Dame had come from behind to beat the Nittany Lions on Friday night, but Penn State rebounded for a win on Saturday.
The Badgers (13-16-5, 9-10-5-2 Big Ten) honored their six seniors before the game, playing their final home games at the Kohl Center.
UW Band Director Michael Leckrone was also honored before the game and throughout the night. Leckrone is retiring after 50 years at the school. He dropped the ceremonial first puck before the game.
The Badgers will open the Big Ten playoffs next weekend at Penn State.