"I thought the second period, they took it to us, and a lot of up and down the sheet. I don't think that's a recipe for success for our team," head coach Adam Nightingale said. "Credit to them. I thought they transitioned well and made us pay. And I liked our push in the third and now it's about getting ready for tomorrow."

With the loss, the Spartans move to 9-2-0 overall, 4-1-0 in conference play. The teams will close out the series Saturday, Nov. 22, at 7:00 p.m. EST, on Big Ten Plus. 

Wisconsin struck early with its first shot on goal just 23 seconds in off the stick of forward Oliver Tulk, which was saved by junior netminder Trey Augustine. 

While both teams saw time in the attack zone, the scoreboard remained empty. MSU struggled to manage the puck despite an aggressive forecheck and, later, a man advantage.

It looked like MSU was on the board at 7:45 after junior defenseman Maxim Štrbák fired a shot at Badgers goaltender Eli Pulver. Pulver appeared to make the stop, but two Spartans crashed down the middle and forced the puck into the net — only for the play to be whistled dead.

Exactly eight minutes in, the first line capitalized. After a won face off, freshman forward Porter Martone connected with senior forward Daniel Russell, who buried the shot to give MSU a 1-0 lead.  

The Spartans extended their lead on the power play. In front of a crowded net, freshman forward Anthony Romani slipped the puck to Martone, who came in from behind and netted the shot for a 2–0 edge — the toughest lead to protect. MSU carried that advantage into the first intermission, but the second period belonged entirely to the Badgers.

Sophomore defenseman Colin Ralph was sent to the penalty box at 1:03, and forward Christian Fitzgerald put Wisconsin on the board 2-1, just five seconds into the power play. 

Three minutes later, the Badgers struck off the faceoff. Forward Simon Tassy worked the puck behind the net and found freshman Blake Montgomery, who fired a shot to Augustine’s weak side to even the score at 2–2.

Wisconsin made it difficult for the team to execute offense, Nightingale said, adding that they did a good job of attacking MSU with speed. 

MSU saw its best scoring opportunity off Russell, but the Spartans couldn’t find the back of the net, while the Badgers’ offense heated up. 

After winning a faceoff in the neutral zone, forward Adam Pietila gave Wisconsin a 3–2 lead, beating Augustine on the weak side off a feed from Montgomery.

Near the 15-minute mark, the Spartans killed a penalty and the defense appeared stronger. MSU managed to stay in the attack zone, but couldn’t convert, leading to a Badger breakaway. Forward Tyson Dyck increased Wisconsin’s advantage on the two-on-one breakaway, taking a 4-2 lead while MSU remained scoreless in the second stanza. 

"It's just not good enough, not detailed, not what we practice," senior defenseman and captain Matt Basgall said. "All those places we have guys skating by us. We're not getting into them, not bumping them. They weren't two-on-ones from the start. And we kind of, they came through us like a hot knife through butter. It's not up to our standards."

MSU brought energy into the final frame, winning puck battles and controlling the offensive zone for the first two minutes. The Spartans looked more like themselves, delivering hits and firing shots — but they still couldn’t solve goaltender Eli Pulver.

And then the freshmen answered.

Just over ten minutes in, freshman forward Eric Nilson performed a spinning pass to freshman forward Ryker Lee. Lee looked for Romani at the net, but his pass deflected in, evening the game at 3 apiece. 

However, Wisconsin responded quickly, with forward Ryan Botterill converting off a rebounded shot, making it a one-goal game just 16 seconds later. 

At 10:24 Martone gave the MSU hope, sinking a shot off a pass from Russell to keep the team in the game, down 5-4. 

"We didn't panic and kept playing," Nightingale said. "I saw as a team that wasn't chasing necessarily the scores, just trying to do it the right way. More times than not in our sport, if you do it the right way you'll get rewarded. And so, I thought the push was, obviously we fell short, and that's not okay, but you're looking for a response within a game. And I thought we had that."

In the final minutes, the Spartans lost faceoffs, missed passes and couldn’t execute shots that would have evened the score — but they played their brand of hockey. It was the first time the team has trailed in the third all season. 

"Great resiliency out of the group there, too little, too late," Basgall said. "We showed up in the third.  You know, we don't want to take too many moral victories out of that. It was good to see that out of our team. It's not a spot we've been in this year yet."