 Freshman goaltender Daniel Hauser continued his sensational debut season as Blake Montgomery and his No. 3 ranked Wisconsin Men’s Hockey teammates kickstarted their 2026 campaign with a clinical 5-0 shutout of the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves at the Kohl Center.
Hauser turned away all 16 shots he faced to record his third perfect game of the year, providing the defensive foundation for a third-period offensive explosion from the Badgers.
After a tentative opening period that saw neither side find the breakthrough, Wisconsin finally unlocked the Seawolves' defense late in the second. With 16:24 on the clock and the man advantage, Ben Dexheimer rifled home a power-play goal to give the hosts a narrow 1-0 lead heading into the final interval.
The floodgates officially opened in the third. Ryan Botterill doubled the advantage just under nine minutes in, before a rapid-fire double from Bruno Idžan and Oliver Tulk—scored exactly one minute apart—put the result beyond doubt.
Despite the scoreline, the Seawolves remained a threat on the counter-attack, but Hauser stood firm. The freshman’s 16-save performance ensured the Kohl Center crowd of over 7,000 witnessed a perfect start to the New Year.
Luke Osburn added the final gloss to the performance with a late power-play strike, sealing a victory that keeps Wisconsin firmly in the hunt for the top spot in the national rankings.
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