MADISON, Wisc. -- Finally tasting victory for the first time last Saturday against North Dakota (on the road), the Wisconsin Badgers continued their winning ways Friday night at the Kohl Center, downing the Michigan Tech Huskies 3-2.

Wisconsin (2-6-1, 2-4-1 WCHA) wasted no time in jumping onto the score board, as sophomore defenseman Ryan McDonagh's third goal of the season came just 1:16 into the first period. McDonagh, one of the two assistant captains for the Badgers, was assisted by forwards Patrick Johnson and Matt Thurber.

"That was huge," McDonagh said of the early goal. "That's a pretty darn good way to do it and get the crowd into it."

It would be another blueliner that found the net for the Badgers as UW built on its lead just before the first intermission. Junior defenseman Jamie McBain rifled a shot from the point that beat Michigan Tech netminder Rob Nolan with 13 seconds remaining in the first frame.

"The reason those young men are on the power play is that they have magic," Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said.

The goal came just four seconds after the Badgers went on the power play following a slashing penalty on the Huskies' John Kivitso.

It seems that things were over when John Mitchell put the Badgers ahead 3-0 with just over five minutes to play in the second period. But Michigan Tech (2-5-0, 1-4-0 WCHA) responded with a goal of its own two and a half minutes later.

With the puck sent down into the Wisconsin zone, two Huskies crashed toward UW netminder Shane Connelly, who made the initial pad save on the shot by Mike VanWagner. But Michigan Tech's Alex Gagne collected the rebound and fired it into the open side of the net to cut the deficit to two at 3-1.

"We kind of let off our guard a little bit defensively," Mitchell said.

The Huskies found the net again midway through the third period, this time off the stick of Alex MacLeod. Connelly made a brilliant glove save as he dove to his left, but was unable to hold onto it as MacLeod found the puck and put it over the sprawled out Connelly.

But the Badgers were able to do something they had struggled with much of the season: hold a third-period lead. Connelly ended with 24 saves on the night as Wisconsin won its second game of the season. Wisconsin was also able to keep its opponent's shot total down; UW had been giving up nearly 33 shots per game entering Friday night's contest.

"I think the better we become as a unit of five on the ice...we hopefully will see that shot count continue to come down," Eaves said. "As a coaching staff, we felt there were moments that we weren't as consistent as we had been in our last game in North Dakota. So from that standpoint, we're very pleased to put the two points and have a modest winning streak of two."