ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Luke Moffatt scored a game-tying goal in the third period and had the lone shootout goal to help No. 12 Michigan earn two points in the Big Ten standings on Saturday with a shootout win against ninth-ranked Wisconsin after a 2-2 regulation tie at Yost Ice Arena.
Zach Hyman had two assists, and Zach Nagelvoort made 25 saves as Michigan extended its unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1) and took five of six points from Wisconsin on the weekend.
The Wolverines took sole possession of second place in the Big Ten standings with 17 points, one ahead of the Badgers.
With U-M trailing 2-1 entering the third period, Moffatt curled off the side boards with the puck, eluded two Wisconsin defensemen and fired a shot through traffic past UW goalie Joel Rumpel (39 saves) to tie the game at 2-2 at 7:02 of the third period.
After Moffatt scored in the second round, Nagelvoort came up with stops on Michael Mersch and Mark Zengerle to help Michigan earn the shootout win.
No. 1 Minnesota 1, Michigan State 0
MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota extended its NCAA-best unbeaten streak to 14 games with a 1-0 triumph against Michigan State on Saturday night at Mariucci Arena. Gopher netminder Adam Wilcox pitched his third shutout of the season and sixth of his career to earn the win.
With the victory, Minnesota is now 19-2-5 on the season with an 8-0-2-0 mark in the Big Ten. The Gophers have a nine-point first-place lead against Michigan in the conference standings.
The Gophers continued to generate chances in the first period after Ryan Reilly’s near miss until the 6:44 mark when Mike Reilly launched a shot on target that was stopped by Spartan goaltender Jake Hildebrand. The rebound attempt by Minnesota captain Kyle Rau deflected off Hildebrand’s pad and into the air before landing in the cage.
No. 4 Union (N.Y.) 4, Clarkson 3
POTSDAM, N.Y. -- Union (N.Y.) moved back into first place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory against Clarkson on Saturday evening at Cheel Arena. The Dutchmen (17-6-3/11-3-0) have now won 11 of its past 12 meetings against Clarkson (16-10-2/9-5-0).
Max Novak became the ninth Dutchmen to score two goals in a game this season, helping Union rally from a two-goal deficit.
Novak tallied a power-play goal at 9:05 of the third period to knot the game at 3-3 before Matt Wilkins provided the game winner at 12:34, knocking in a rebound off the back boards for his first goal since Dec. 7.
"It was an unbelievably gutsy effort from our guys," acting head coach Joe Dumais said. "Daniel Carr led a group of guys that really stepped up for us. [Clarkson] scored early, but our guys never quit."
Down 2-0, Union struck twice in a span of 35 seconds during the second period. Carr and Shayne Gostisbehere connected on passes that led to Daniel Ciampini breaking in alone in the slot, and he finished a high wrister for his 10th goal of the season. Gostisbehere, a Hobey Baker candidate, extended his points streak to four games while Carr continues to lead the squad in scoring with his 26th point.
Nebraska-Omaha 8, No. 5 St. Cloud State 6
OMAHA, Neb. -- Dominic Zombo scored a hat trick and Nebraska-Omaha put up a season high in goals to knock off St. Cloud State 8-6 on Saturday night at the CenturyLink Center.
The win moves the Mavericks into a three-way tie with North Dakota and Denver for second in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference with a record of 7-5-2-1 and 10-12-2 overall. The Huskies suffered just their second road loss of the year, dropping to 14-6-4 and 8-4-2-0 in the conference, still good for first place.
The hat trick was the first of Zombo’s career and the second for UNO this season. He finished the weekend with four goals. The eight goals scored by the Mavericks were the most in a game this season.
The Mavericks led 5-4 entering the third period, but St. Cloud State’s Kalle Kossila tied the game and completed a hat trick when he grabbed a turnover in the UNO end and zipped a wrist shot past goalie Reed Peters at 3:12.
But as they had done all night, the Mavs retook the lead when Johnnie Searfoss set up Zahn Raubenheimer in the slot. He wired a shot past SCSU goalie Charlie Lindgren for his fourth goal of the year and second of the weekend.
Lindgren, who entered the game in relief of starter Ryan Faragher in the second period, was lifted, and Faragher returned to the game. He was victimized later when Zombo completed his hat trick by finishing off a feed from Jake Guentzel during UNO’s third powerplay of the game.
The Mavericks increased their lead to 8-5 when Brock Montpetit picked up his second goal of the night, firing home a pass from Ryan Walters at 13:19.
No. 8 Massachusetts-Lowell 4, Merrimack 0
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. -- Sophomore goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for his ninth career shutout to lead Massachusetts-Lowell to a 4-0 shutout against Merrimack on Saturday night at Lawler Arena completing the weekend series sweep.
Hellebuyck is just one shutout away from tying the UMass-Lowell career record of 10, previously set by Carter Hutton (2006-10). He improves his record to 10-5-1 in his 16th start of the season.
UMass-Lowell improves its record to 18-7-2 overall and 8-4-1 in Hockey East play. Merrimack drops to 7-15-3 and 2-9-2 (HEA).
Freshman forward Chris Maniccia made it a three-goal game with 4:42 left in the second frame and freshman Evan Campbell scored the final goal for the River Hawks with 5:48 remaining in the contest. Campbell's goal was his third score in the past three games.
Senior forward Shayne Thompson made it a 2-0 game just 40 seconds into the second period with a wrist shot beating Merrimack goaltender Sam Marotta blocker side. Sophomore forward Adam Chapie scored on a penalty shot at 8:49 of the first period beating Marotta glove side, hitting the right post for his ninth goal of the season. Chapie was hooked on the breakaway play by Merrimack's Brendan Ellis. It marked the first River Hawks penalty shot goal since Doug Nolan's tally on Dec. 5, 1996 at Northeastern.
