The goal came on the power play, giving MSU (11-16-7 overall, 5-8-6-4 Big Ten) a perfect 3-3 night on the power play.

Reimer, who will be playing his final game at Munn Ice Arena on Saturday, said he saw an opening out of the corner and just went to the net looking to send his Spartans home winners.

“I cycled it down to (senior forward Greg) Wolfe and he got it to (junior forward Brent) Darnell who was battling with the guy and it kind of just popped out to the slot and I kind of had a step on the guy so I drove to the net got my shot on net and it happened to go in,” Reimer said.

Reimer added that he thought he didn’t get all of the backhand shot, but wasn’t complaining about it afterwards.

The game saw multiple lead changes with the Badgers taking an early 1-0 lead on a goal from junior forward Joseph LaBate. The goal came only 1:58 into the game off a tipped shot from the point.

MSU was able to battle back, scoring three unanswered goals, one from sophomore forward Justin Hoomaian and two from junior forward Matt Berry to take a 3-1 lead in the second period.

Hoomaian’s goal was the first of his career at MSU and Berry’s two gave him three in his last two games.

But Wisconsin (21-10-2, 12-6-1-0) wouldn’t go away easy, responding with two goals of its own to end the period tied at 3-3. Sophomore forward Nic Kerdiles and senior forward Tyler Barnes had the two Badger goals, only coming 3:44 apart from each other.

The two teams traded goals in the third period. Freshman forward Villiam Haag put one topshelf after receiving a beautiful pass from sophomore forward Michael Ferrantino only 2:27 into the period, and junior defenseman Chase Drake of Wisconsin tied the game at 4-4 with only 8:19 left in the period.

After Friday’s upset win of the Badgers, MSU is now 10-1 when scoring at least three goals in a game this season. MSU has a combined nine goals in the last two games, with only nine goals in the previous six games before the two-game scoring frenzy began.

Head coach Tom Anastos was pleased with his team’s performance, considering the win big for the team as it approaches the Big Ten Tournament next weekend.

“Obviously, a real good win for our team,” Anastos said. “I thought we did good things in the game and thought there were some mistakes that we made that we had to overcome and some mistakes cost us goals, but overall the effort was pretty strong.”

Anastos also pointed out the power play’s success as a huge game-changer for MSU on Friday night and an area MSU needs to continue to excel at for success.

Reimer was the hero on Friday night for MSU, but Berry’s play out him a close second. Berry, who missed the last game against No. 13 Michigan because of sickness, said the two goals are a definite confidence builder going into a final stretch.

“It’s definitely really big, it helps me a lot and helps me feel better that I’m scoring,” Berry said. “But if you’re not scoring you just got to keep doing the right things and keep working hard and hopefully they're going to come if you keep doing the right things.”

Sophomore goaltender Jake Hildebrand finished the night with 27 saves, but four goals against. Anastos said he wasn’t pleased with the Spartans giving up four goals, but thought Hildebrand took strides in regaining his confidence in net.

Wolfe finished the night with three assists.

MSU returns to the ice Saturday afternoon in its final regular season game of the year against Wisconsin. The six Spartan seniors will be recognized before the game as part of senior-night festivities.

With the win MSU is still alive to finish as the fourth seed for the Big Ten Tournament next weekend. MSU still trails Ohio State by two points, and will need a win and an Ohio State loss tomorrow to move up into fourth.