A five-minute power play was the chance for a turning point, and Gorowsky and the Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team made it count.

The senior's goal 47 seconds into the second period gave the Badgers a two-goal lead en route to a 4-1 victory over Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday at the DECC.

"You have to at least get one on a five-minute (power play)," Gorowsky said, "otherwise it totally deflates the momentum if they get a big kill like that."

The Badgers kept their overall momentum and also capitalized on a significant opportunity in the standings.

After opening the Western Collegiate Hockey Association schedule with four losses and a tie in its first five games, a five-game unbeaten streak has Wisconsin back to .500, a milepost in the team's recovery that did not go unnoticed in the locker room.

"With the schedule we had and the people we played and where we were, it's a little bit of a measurement of us," said Badgers coach Mike Eaves, whose team moved into a tie for third place, albeit having played two more games than the rest of the pack. "We've come a ways, but we know we have a ways to go."

Gorowsky made a difficult play look simple early in the second period.

With Bulldogs top-line winger Mike Connolly gone for checking Badgers defenseman Jamie McBain from behind late in the first period, UW left the intermission with 3 minutes, 56 seconds left on the power play and an emphasis to get something out of it.

Goaltender Alex Stalock stuffed Gorowsky's original shot, but the winger got the rebound and roofed the puck from close range, putting Wisconsin ahead 2-0.

"That was a turning point," Eaves said.

In front of 14 friends and family members, up from the Twin Cities area, Gorowsky had a two-point night, adding an assist on Andy Bohmbach's empty-net goal. He wasn't the only Minnesotan to chip in.

St. Paul native Chris Hickey, inserted into the lineup because of an injury Friday to Sean Dolan, scored his first collegiate goal 2:44 into the first period. He redirected an Eric Springer shot past Stalock, sending the Badgers on their way.

"I just got lucky," Hickey said. "Hockey's all about good bounces, and I got a good one there."

Podge Turnbull, a Hayward native who played two prep seasons at Duluth East, scored a shorthanded goal for a 3-0 lead.

Just after the 10 seconds of a UMD 5-on-3 advantage ended, UW's Brendan Smith blocked a shot and teammate Blake Geoffrion cleared the puck off the boards and out of the zone, where Turnbull collected it for a breakaway after leaving the penalty box.

"We got contributions from our fourth line, power play, shorthander, empty netter," Eaves said. "Every part chipped in a little bit. That's who we have to be if we're going to be successful."

UW goaltender Shane Connelly played his role, too, making 12 of his 28 saves in the third period. Josh Meyers scored a power-play goal with just under 12 minutes remaining after the Badgers (4-6-2, 4-4-2 WCHA) were called for having too many men on the ice, but Connelly shut the door from there.