The 11th ranked Wisconsin men’s hockey team (12-7-0, 10-5-0 0-1-0 Big Ten) moved within two points of the Big Ten Conference lead, knocking off league leader and second-ranked Minnesota (15-4-0, 11-4-0 0-0-0 Big Ten) 4-1 on Friday night in 3M Arena at Mariucci.
Cole Caufield put the Badgers on the board just a minute into the first period, taking a pass from Ty Pelton-Byce on a breakaway to give UW a 1-0 lead.
The Gophers tied the game 1-1 at 8:01 of the second period on a goal by Sammy Walker.
Cole Caufield put the Badgers ahead again at 13:00 in the third period on assists from Pelton-Byce and Linus Weissbach.
Just 42 second later, Dylan Holloway got one past Minnesota goaltender Jack LaFontaine while he was being hooked by a Minnesota defender. The Badgers then scored again on the ensuing power play when a Holloway shot bounced off of Roman Ahcan’s head and landed in the net for a 4-1 Badger lead.
It’s the fourth loss of the season for the Gophers, with two of those losses coming at the hands of the Badgers.
Caufield extended his point streak to 11 games, including three straight multi-goal games and six consecutive games with both a goal and multiple points. He leads the nation with 16 goals in 19 games.
Holloway upped his point streak to seven games with his sixth straight multi-point game.
Robbie Beydoun earned the win in goal as the Badgers pulled to within two points of the Gophers for the Big Ten lead. The second and final game of the series is set for 7 p.m. Saturday night.