Wisconsin men's hockey goaltender honored for stellar outing

Madison, WI — It was not a clean sweep inside the Kohl Center this past weekend, but the Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team gave the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines a run for their money, splitting a two-game series. Across both games, no player had a more impressive outing than backup UW goaltender Eli Pulver.

An upper-body injury to starter Daniel Hauser has forced Pulver into action in Wisconsin's last four games. UW has gone 2-2 overall in those contests, but, after struggling earlier this season, Pulver has proven himself capapable of backstopping the Badgers.

Before Hauser's injury, Pulver had been pulled from the net in three of his last four outings. Although he had a challenging task stepping in for an injured starter at Ohio State, the sophomore made the most of his opportunity aganst the Wolverines, earning weekly conference honors in the process.

Wisconsin Badgers goaltender named Big Ten Third Star of the Week

Holding the nation's top offense to three goals for a weekend was rewarding work for Eli Pulver

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After allowing a combined three goals and making 44 saves between games one and two for a .936 save percentage, Pulver earned his first weekly Big Ten honors of his career. The Conference announced on Tuesday that the Vancouver, British Columbia native is the Big Ten Third Star of the Week.

The stalwart performance came against the most-prolific offense in the country. Michigan averages 4.53 goals per game. The Wolverines scored only four combined goals in the series, including one empty netter.

"I thought Eli showed himself incredibly well," Badgers head coach Mike Hastings said in a post-game press conference on Saturday. "We just played the number one scoring team in the country, and we didn't give up a ton. And when we did, he was there."

The standout performance was in stark contrast to Pulver's performance the previous weekend against th e Buckeyes. In that series, he allowed five goals on 39 shots for an .872 save percentage.

Pulver's performance against Michigan was not the first time he has flashed high-level ability. In his first two starts for he led the Badgers to a road sweep of the top-ranked Michigan State Spartans.

Wisconsin has this upcoming weekend off before playing their regular-season finale at Penn State. The Badgers will face the Nittany Lions in a two-game series beginning Thursday, March 5th. PSU earned a pair of victories over UW earlier this season in Madison.

Penn State star Gavin McKenna is the Big Ten First Star of the Week after leading the Nittany Lions to a sweep over the Buckeyes. McKenna recorded a goal and seven assists on Friday night—the first eight-point game by a men's Division I ice hockey player in 39 years according to College Hockey News—before scoring the overtime game winner on Saturday.

Michigan State Spartans forward Porter Martone is the Big Ten Second Star of the Week.