Minneapolis — The Wisconsin men's hockey team started its final regular-season series with an emotional victory Friday night.
The Badgers staved off a late rally and claimed a 4-3 victory over border rival Minnesota at Mariucci Arena.
Grant Besse scored two goals for UW (8-17-8, 3-12-4-2 Big Ten), including an empty-netter in the waning minutes of the third period.
The Golden Gophers (18-16-0, 13-6-0-0) looked like they scored an equalizer with 5 seconds remaining, but the goal was disallowed because Minnesota was offside before entering its offensive zone earlier in the sequence.
Besse has 10 goals this season.