{"id":4549,"date":"2026-02-21T13:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T13:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/21\/michigan-unsuccessful-in-avenging-previous-loss-to-wisconsin\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T13:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T13:49:12","slug":"michigan-unsuccessful-in-avenging-previous-loss-to-wisconsin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/21\/michigan-unsuccessful-in-avenging-previous-loss-to-wisconsin\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan unsuccessful in avenging previous loss to Wisconsin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The last time the No. 2 Michigan hockey team faced No. 13 Wisconsin, it didn\u2019t go so well.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A 6-1 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/ice-hockey\/michigan-suffers-6-1-loss-to-wisconsin-due-to-total-team-collapse\/\">loss<\/a> \u2014 defined by a lack of discipline \u2014 left a sour taste in the Wolverines\u2019 mouth that failed to disappear. That bitterness became evidently clear once Michigan failed to respond to four Badger-goals, repeating a night the Wolverines preferred to forget. Whether it was on the defensive or offensive end, the trend continued Friday: Wisconsin remains the hurdle Michigan can\u2019t seem to clear.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I do know is, the last time we played (Wisconsin) here, they could have won both games,\u201d Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said Tuesday. \u201cAnd they beat us up more than anybody did on our home ice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coming off a successful weekend against No. 6 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/ice-hockey\/michigan-ties-penn-state-4-4-wins-shootout\/\">Penn<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/ice-hockey\/michigan-overwhelms-penn-state-early-on-secures-win-6-3\/\">State<\/a>, the Wolverines traveled to Madison riding a wave of confidence. That confidence, however, only masked the fear flowing throughout Michigan each step it took closer to the ice. And while the Wolverines opened the scoring in an effort to make a statement, the Badgers bludgeoned Michigan to its end, exposing vulnerabilities that triggered d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu in regards to the Wolverines\u2019 4-1 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/ice-hockey\/self-inflicted-wounds-bury-no-2-michigan-in-4-1-defeat-to-no-13-wisconsin\/\">loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>That constant hump Michigan continues to encounter is its penalty minutes served. The Wolverines are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/stats\/icehockey-men\/d1\/current\/team\/1249\">ranked<\/a> No. 3 in the NCAA for team penalty minutes, with an average of 17.27 served per game. Regardless of the penalties \u2014 petty or just \u2014 the fluctuating number of men on the ice disrupts the flow of the game. And Michigan is no stranger to this problem.<\/p>\n<p>In November, the Wolverines battled for 86 minutes down a man against Wisconsin. Their inability to settle into the game ruined their chances at sweeping another Big Ten opponent, and that came back to haunt them tonight. Serving a fraction of the penalty minutes compared to last time was certainly an improvement, however enough damage was done to hurt the stability of Michigan and its goal of leaving Madison with a sweep.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they got to their game,\u201d Naurato said Friday. \u201cWe didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But if there\u2019s anything else proven from November, it\u2019s that the Wolverines can beat the Badgers. A 7-4 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/ice-hockey\/michigan-grinds-out-7-4-win-over-wisconsin\/\">victory<\/a> Nov. 7 demonstrated that when disciplined, Michigan can accomplish great feats.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not to say the game was easily won. A late goal from sophomore forward Will Horcoff \u2014 the lone scorer for the Wolverines tonight \u2014 gave Michigan its first edge over its opponent before a flood of empty net goals nailed Wisconsin\u2019s coffin shut. So, it can be done. The question is rather if the Wolverines will pull a win out of their back pocket.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWe need to come back to how we do things,\u201d senior forward T.J. Hughes said. \u201cWe\u2019re a great team. We\u2019re the best team in the country, when we play hard, when we have energy and then when we make our plays. So just get back to that confidence, that swagger and we should be good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michigan has climbed the ranks through a series of challenges. And the Badgers are another example of how every team possesses its Achilles\u2019 heel. The Wolverines have another night to try and rewrite the narrative surrounding their current relationship with Wisconsin. However, the victory will need to come from a place of strength and diligence from Michigan as it, once again, attempts to hurdle the Badgers\u2019 tries at exploiting that weakness.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The last time the No. 2 Michigan hockey team faced No. 13 Wisconsin, it didn\u2019t go so well.\u00a0 A 6-1 loss \u2014 defined by a lack of discipline \u2014 left a sour taste in the Wolverines\u2019 mouth that failed to disappear. That bitterness became evidently clear once Michigan failed to respond to four Badger-goals, repeating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[4268,595,222,1567,4267,1352],"class_list":{"0":"post-4549","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-avenging","9":"tag-loss","10":"tag-michigan","11":"tag-previous","12":"tag-unsuccessful","13":"tag-wisconsin"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4549"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4551,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4549\/revisions\/4551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}