Box Score MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin earned a series split with a 5-2 win over No. 10 Denver in WCHA action before a sellout crowd of 15,325 Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
Mark Zengerle, Brandon Woods, Keegan Meuer, Michael Mersch and Justin Schultz scored and Landon Peterson had 22 saves as Wisconsin improves to 13-15-2, 8-14-2 WCHA.
Jason Zucker (Las Vegas) and Drew Shore (Denver, Colo.) scored for DU and Sam Brittain (Calgary, Alberta) had 30 saves as the Pioneers fall to 18-10-4, 13-7-4 WCHA.
"We got our butt kicked tonight," DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. "We made some critical errors in our own zone and Wisconsin took full advantage. We must be better defensively, and we will be next weekend against North Dakota."
DU got on the scoreboard first when Zucker ripped a Paul Phillips (Darien, Ill.) rebound past Peterson 1:34 into the second stanza. Nick Shore (Denver, Colo.) won the faceoff and earned the second assist.
Zengerle scored Wisconsin's first goal of the weekend at 6:39 of the second. Matt Paape and Mersch earned the assists.
Woods beat Brittain high to the stick side at 10:11 of the second. Zengerle and Joe Faust earned the assists.
Meuer beat Brittain on a rebound goal from the goal line at 1:11 into the third period. Tyler Barnes earned the lone assist after firing a DU turnover on net.
Drew Shore's wrist shot from the slot trickled past Peterson 21 seconds later to cut the Badger margin to 3-2. Zucker and Luke Salazar (Thornton, Colo.) earned the assists.
Schultz made the final 5-2 with a power-play goal at 15:32 of the final stanza.
Wisconsin dominated the shot battle 35-24 and went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. DU yielded one Wisconsin power-play goal in four attempts.
Denver hosts North Dakota on Feb. 24-25.
Notes: DU falls to 14-4-3 all-time against the Badgers at the Kohl Center. The Pioneers are third in the WCHA with 30 points. DU is 12th in the latest PairWise Rankings.
