Future Red Wing sparks Badgers, 7-3

EAST LANSING - In a few seasons from now, Wisconsin's Brendan Smith likely will be living in Detroit and playing a key role on defense with Red Wings.

On Friday, Smith - with plenty of help from his Badger teammates - was busy terrorizing Michigan State in the first game of the College Hockey Showcase at Munn Arena.

Smith, the highest-scoring defenseman in the nation, scored two goals in the first period and assisted on a key goal in the third to lead No. 15 Wisconsin to a 7-3 thrashing of the No. 7/8 Spartans.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Smith, who is from Mimico, Ontario, and was selected by Detroit in the first round (27th overall) of the 2007 NHL Draft, had a team-leading seven shots on goal.

"You think Smith could play for the Red Wings right now?'' asked MSU coach Rick Comley.

Smith is Wisconsin's top scorer with five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in 13 games.

Badgers sophomore center Derek Stepan had a five-point night with a goal and four assists as Wisconsin (8-4-1, 5-4-1 WCHA) played one of its best games of the season and MSU (9-4-2, 6-2-2-0 CCHA) had its worst.

The visitors turned a 2-1 lead in the second period into a 5-1 cushion with three goals within four minutes - 13:15, 14:17 and 17:15.

"They're a hard team to play against because their defensemen are outstanding. They really skate, they're really good,'' Comley said.

"At 2-1, we were back in the game and then we made a mistake behind the net and it's 3-1. Then at 5-3 we were back in it. But we started so slow. We were ragged.''

The Spartans will try to salvage one game in the 17th Showcase when it faces Minnesota at 7 tonight at Munn Arena. The Gophers lost at Michigan, 6-0, on Friday night.

Freshman Derek Grant scored MSU's first goal Friday on a power play at 11:13 of the second period to trim Wisconsin's lead to 2-1. But Aaron Bendickson stole the puck behind the net and scored unassisted at 13:15.

After Mike Davies' goal at 14:17, starting goalie Drew Palmisano (21 saves) was replaced by Bobby Jarosz (8 saves), who gave up the Badgers' fifth goal to Stepan at 17:15.

The Spartans got back into the game on goals by defenseman Matt Grassi - his first of his career - on a power play at 19:57 of the second period and by junior Corey Tropp just 15 seconds into the final period.

With the momentum and the Badgers on the run, MSU had a few good chances to make it a one-goal game, but it couldn't solve junior goalie Brett Bennett (26 saves).

Wisconsin locked it up on Geoffrion's power-play goal at 11:42, set up by a perfect pass from Smith from the left boards to the slot. And Davies closed the scoring with his second goal with 2:15 left.

"That's probably the toughest game we've had all year against a team with speed,'' Comley said. "Miami was hard, but Miami is more physical.

"(The Badgers) turn nothing into something really good. That group of defensemen is outstanding. And we just didn't play very well either.''

Five of the Badgers' starting six defensemen are either first- or second-round NHL draft picks.

In addition to Smith, they include juniors Kyle McDonagh (1st round, 12th overall, Rangers) and Cody Goloubef (2nd, 37th, Columbus), and sophomore Jake Gardiner (1st, 17th, Anaheim) and Justin Schultz, 2nd, 43rd,Anaheim).

"It's a game we need to learn from. Once tomorrow comes, we have to forget about it and get back to playing our game,'' said Grant, who also had two assists.

"I think a lot of it was that we weren't mentally prepared. Thankgsiving might have been a factor. We just got outworked.

"We lost a lot of little battles and it cost us.''

Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves said the different in his team's play Friday from some other games was that it was able to convert better.

"In some areas of the game, we've done better in other games, but the difference tonight was we put the puck in the net,'' Eaves said.

"It's interesting that the line that had a lot do with (the scoring outburst) was the line of Stepan, Jordy Murray and Davies and they've been close to doing that before. Tonight, the lid just came off and it's a nice reward that the things they've worked on paid off.''