The Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey team lost to the No. 2 Boston University Terriers, 6-1, Saturday night at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Wisconsin (2-12-2) was looking for a third-straight positive result against top-five opponent after earning a 3-all tie Friday night -- but Boston University (12-3-4) earned the win by a large margin despite being outshot 33-32.
After a scoreless first, a shot by Wisconsin sophomore forward Jedd Soleway before being cross checked into the post and knocking the net off was confirmed as a goal by officials, giving the Badgers the lead and drawing a penalty. Wisconsin had plenty of chances but couldn't take advantage of the power play and Boston quickly followed with a goal of its own by Terriers freshman Jack Eichel.
The Terriers' Nikolas Olsson buried a rebound later in the second period to pull ahead for the lead. Soon after, a power play goal on a wrist shot from the blue line by Eichel added further padding.
Three more Terriers goals in the third period, two by Danny O'Regan and one by Evan Rodrigues, sealed the win for Boston University.
Wisconsin shot their highest total of the year, with 33 shots on goal, surpassing their previous high of 32 in Friday night's tie.
Badgers starting goaltender Joel Rumpel had 26 saves, while Terriers starter Connor LaCouvee stopped 32 shots and improved to 2-1-1 over four starts this season.
Wisconsin redshirt sophomore forward Morgan Zulinick had an assist on Soleway's goal to extend his point streak to seven games.
"In the middle of the second period, we made some soft plays, plays that we talked about, and they took advantage of them and then they had the lead," said Badgers head coach Mike Eaves after the game. "We'd come out for the third period, five on five, we got back to what we were doing. We had good zone time, but our power play gave up a shorty. Their power play got a goal. It unraveled.
"We made some silly mistakes in those situations. What it tells us is that we're not quite there where we want to be. This is the first time all year where we had this opportunity where we played well on a Friday, thank goodness. Now we've got to come back and do it again, and we didn't. Not for 60 minutes.
"We have to learn our lessons and get ready for next week."
The Badgers travel to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers for a Friday-Saturday series Jan. 16-17. Tune in to FOX Sports Wisconsin on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 5 p.m. to see the series conclusion live from Mariucci Arena.
