No. 7 Wisconsin men’s hockey defeats Michigan State 6–3

Displaying the balanced scoring that has been the hallmark of their season, six different Badgers scored on Friday to give No. 7 Wisconsin men’s hockey a 6–3 win over Michigan State in East Lansing.

The Badgers (7–4–1 overall, 2–1 Big Ten) netted three goals in the first period, jumping on the Spartans (4–5 overall, 0–3 Big Ten) early and often.

Junior forward Matthew Freytag got the scoring started just two minutes in, beating Spartans netminder Ed Minney to give Wisconsin a 1–0 lead.

Junior forward Will Johnson extended the lead to 2–0 later in the period.

Senior forward Ryan Wagner would chase Minney at the end of the period, giving Wisconsin its third goal of the period.

After Michigan State pulled two goals back early in the second period, freshman forward Tarek Baker extended Wisconsin’s lead to 4–2, beating new Spartans goaltender John Lethemon.

Wisconsin captain Cameron Hughes gave the Badgers a 5–2 lead a minute into the third period.

Freshman forward Wyatt Kalnyuk capped the scoring later in the period, giving the Badgers their sixth goal on the game.

Goatender Kyle Hayton had 14 saves in the win. Wisconsin was without coach Tony Granato, who is in Germany coaching Team USA in the Deutschland Cup.

Wisconsin and Michigan State face off again on Saturday. Puck drops at 6 p.m.