OT-win puts MSU at 7-1-1 in last 9 games

Backes in it

By Shane Frederick
Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — There's a reason Wisconsin is the No. 2-ranked men's hockey team in the country.

The Badgers have one of the best goaltenders the nation in Bernd Bruckler, one of the top forwards in Robbie Earl and one of the best freshmen in Joe Pavelski.

But Minnesota State has at least one player who ranks right up there with that group: David Backes.

And Friday was Backes' night to prove it.

Backes scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, as Minnesota State upset the Badgers 4-3 before 3,383 at Midwest Wireless Civic Center.

"I think he's a big-time player with two big-time shots tonight," MSU coach Troy Jutting said of Backes, his team's top scorer. "I think (Bruckler's) the best goalie in the country, and (Backes) beat him with two clean shots."

Backes, whose old high school team, Spring Lake Park, was in attendance after playing Mankato East/Loyola earlier Friday, scored an unassisted goal at 1:12 of the extra period.

He said he got a fortunate bounce to get the play started.

The Badgers cleared the zone by flipping the puck high in the air to center ice. Had the puck bounced forward, the Badgers probably would have had an odd-man rush toward the MSU goal. Instead, it bounced backwards, right to Backes' stick.

"It's one of those things," Backes said. "There was another force behind that puck."

Backes raced into the zone, saw Wisconsin defenseman Jeff Likens fall and bore down on Bruckler before firing from low in the left circle and beating the goaltender high on the glove side.

The win was the Mavericks' first over a top-10 team this season, but they are 7-1-1 in their last nine games.

"I think we've slowly been gaining confidence as the victories have come," Jutting said.

Against Wisconsin, MSU played with all the confidence of a top-ranked team. The Mavericks led 2-0 before the Badgers stormed back with three goals to take a 3-2 lead with 6:08 remaining in regulation.

Ross Carlson and Jake Dowell scored just 52 seconds apart to give Wisconsin the lead.

Jutting insisted that his team didn't let down but was the victim of two great plays.

"When they scored their third goal, I saw our kids say, 'Hey, that's enough,'" Jutting said. "It fired our kids up. They felt they were playing hard, and they weren't going to let it go without a fight."

With 3:23 remaining, MSU senior Adam Gerlach tied the game with 3:23 left in the third period. With the teams skating 4 on 4, Jon Dubel rushed the puck up the ice and dropped it back to Gerlach, who beat Bruckler with one-timer from the high slot.

"Instead of being down, we did the opposite and geared up," Gerlach said.

Backes gave the Mavericks a 1-0 lead at 2:57 of the second period, ending a two-game scoreless stretch with a power play goal.

Defenseman Chad Brownlee made it a two-goal lead less than five minutes later. Travis Morin assisted on the goal. The Mavericks are unbeaten this season when Morin has a point.

The Mavericks came out of the second period with a 2-1 lead despite committing five of their 10 penalties in the frame. Carlson scored a power play for the Badgers at 13:33.

MSU goaltender Jon Volp made 36 saves for the win. Bruckler made 28 saves for the Badgers.

"(Bruckler) did make some acrobatic saves to keep them in the game," Backes said. "But Jon Volp did the same thing for us tonight."

The Mavericks (7-6-2, 3-6-1 in WCHA) and Badgers (12-5-0, 9-4-0) will meet again at 7:07 p.m. tonight at the Civic Center.

Wisconsin 0-1-2-0-3

Minnesota State 0-2-1-1-4

First Period

Scoring

• None

Penalties

• Klubertanz, UW (roughing) 2:49
• Sutter, MSU (roughing) 2:49
• Johns, MSU (holding) 4:33
• Burish, UW (holding the stick) 7:33
• Dubel, MSU (hooking) 17:47

Second Period

Scoring

• 1. MSU-Backes 9 (Hanson 4, Johns 7) ppg 2:57
• 2. MSU-Brownlee 1 (Morin 7, Peto 9) 7:17
• 3. UW-Carlson 8 (Earl 13, Likens 7) 13:33

Penalties

• Gilbert, UW (slashing) 2:39
• Brownlee, MSU (slashing) 4:52
• Brownlee, MSU (interference) 9:48
• Backes, MSU (boarding) 13:23
• Likens, UW (holding the stick) 15:10
• Kisio, MSU (cross-checking) 16:23

Third Period

Scoring

• 4. UW-Carlson 9 (Earl 14, Pavelski 14) 13:00
• 5. UW-Dowell 9 (Gilbert 2, MacMurchy 8) ppg 13:52
• 6. MSU-Gerlach 3 (Dubel 3) 16:37

Penalties

• MacMurchy, UW (boarding) 1:22
• Klubertanz, UW (roughing) 3:08
• Likens, UW (obstruction-holding) 9:42
• Johns, MSU (interference) 13:31
• Earl, UW (unsportsmanlike-diving) 15:49
• Rankin, MSU (hooking) 15:49

OVERTIME

Scoring

• 7. MSU-Backes 10 (unassisted) 1:12

Penalties

• None

Summaries

Shots on goal

• UW 10-16-13-0-39
• MSU 13-11-6-2-32

Penalties

• UW 8 for 16 minutes
• MSU 10 for 20 minutes

Power-play opportunities

• UW 2 for 8
• MSU 1 for 6

Goalie saves

• SCSU-Bruckler 13-9-5-1-28
• MSU-Volp 10-15-11-0-36

Attendance

• 3,383

Referee

• Don Adam

Assistant referees

• Bill Vollbrecht
• J.B. Olson