Press release provided by University of Wisconsin athletics:

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 18 Wisconsin men’s hockey team fell in a defensive battle on Friday night, dropping the series opener with Michigan State, 2-0, at the Kohl Center.

Despite one of the best performances of the season from senior goaltender Kyle Hayton, the Badgers (10-11-3, 4-7-2-0 Big Ten) couldn’t generate the offensive firepower needed to avoid a loss to the Spartans (9-13-1, 3-9-1-1 Big Ten).

Wisconsin outshot MSU 30-21 and Hayton ended the night with 19 saves and just one goal against.

Goaltending ruled much of the game, but after over 39 minutes of scoreless hockey, Michigan State broke the stalemate on its third power play of the night. Freshman Mitch Lewandowski capitalized on a rebound and snuck his shot past Hayton.

Wisconsin pushed the pace, outshooting MSU 12-8 and 10-6 in the second and third periods respectively, but MSU would double its lead, 2-0, after Wisconsin pulled Hayton for an extra attacker and junior Cody Milan sailed the puck into the empty net at the 18:54 mark of the final period.

Notes to Know
-Freshman Wyatt Kalynuk, senior Jake Linhart and junior Seamus Malone shared the team lead with four shots on goal apiece.
-MSU narrowly outblocked Wisconsin 16-12
-Wisconsin went 0-for-4 on its power play, while Michigan State went 1-for-4 on its man-advantage

Straight From the Rink
Head Coach Tony Granato

On the game

“It certainly wasn’t one of our best performances. Michigan State played well, and their goalie played well. Kyle (Hayton) was great. He played really, really well. That was the positive of the game, Kyle’s performance. Other than that, we didn’t establish much flow to the game at all. Offensively, if we had a good shift, (Michigan State) followed up by countering and just neutralizing any threat we had. We never really had any momentum in the game.

“It was one of those ho-hum games. Power plays make the difference in those games. (Michigan State) capitalized on their power plays, we didn’t generate enough. We didn’t make it very hard on their goalie. We didn’t come out winners and we’ll have to figure out how to be a lot better tomorrow.”

On the power play going 0-for-4

“We just weren’t sharp on the power play. The plays were there to be made, we just didn’t make them. The breakout routes were right, we had the opportunities to make the entries. We weren’t able to execute those plays. When you’re looking for a spark on your power play and it doesn’t generate any consistent offense, it gives the other team momentum. We just didn’t recover.

On what was missing

“Any sort of spark. A big play or a big shot block, you look for a lot of things in games that can change momentums and get your team going. We were flat tonight. At this point in the season, there’s no excuse for it.
“We weren’t able to establish much of a forecheck when we did get the puck. I don’t think our support away from the puck was good enough. Michigan State played a really good road game, let’s give them some credit. Obviously we just didn’t generate enough to make it hard for their goalie.”

Junior Forward Seamus Malone

On lack of offensive performance

“I think that just starts with our work ethic, we need to create more chances and that all starts with how we work and how we get the puck to the net.”

Sophomore forward Max Zimmer

On playing on different lines and how he felt

“I think I created a little offense, but bottom line we didn’t get the win so yeah it’s nice to play more minutes tonight but at the end of the day we didn’t get the win.”

Senior goaltender Kyle Hayton

Answering about his great performance despite the result

“It’s a team sport and it’s going happen. My job is to just give the guys a chance to win.”

On potential interference with MSU’s first goal

“I think it’s a bit of a grey area, but I’d say so. My mobility was impeded enough so that I couldn’t make the save, so to me it’s got to be interference.”

Up Next
Wisconsin faces Michigan State in the series finale on Saturday at the Kohl Center. The 7 p.m. puck drop will be broadcast on WIBA 1310 and televised on Fox Sports Wisconsin.