The Wisconsin men’s hockey team continued its dominant ways in the Big Ten opener Oct. 30.

The Badgers, who are ranked No. 2 in the USCHO and USA Today polls, defeated Notre Dame, 7-1, at the Kohl Center in a matchup highlighted by the team’s season high for goals and penalty minutes.

Freshman Brent Solomon scored twice for UW and junior Gavin Morrissey recorded one goal and one assist. Sophomore Grady Deering had a career-high three assists. The Badgers also received multiple point nights from junior Adam Pietila (two assists) and freshman Dylan Compton (two assists).

The goal that proved to be the game winner came off the stick of freshman Zach Wooten at the 4:53 mark of the first period.

Sophomore goaltender Alexis Cournoyer finished with 27 saves.

Here are three takeaways from the win.

Relentless start pays off for the Badgers

In getting the win, Wisconsin (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) scored at least five goals against the Fighting Irish for the fifth consecutive game.

The barrage started early. UW outshot the Fighting Irish, 25-7, during the first period and scored twice during the first 5 minutes.

Pietila set up the first score by advancing the pick into the zone to Deering, who found junior Ryan Botterill in the slot at the 3:05 mark.

Wooten scored off a rebound to give the Badgers a 2-0 advantage 4:53 into the game. At that point, Wisconsin already had a 9-3 edge in shots on goal, setting the tone for what would be a 46-28 edge at the end of the night.

Solomon dials long distance for first multi-goal game

Solomon finished with five shots, one off the team high. Both his goals came beyond the face-off circles.

His goal in the 17 th minute of the second period gave Wisconsin a 4-0 edge. It came in the slot.

His second was an unassisted play on which he brought the pick from the defensive zone and to just in front of the left circle before getting off a shot that got past freshman goaltender Michael Quinlan during the third minute of the final period. The goal gave Wisconsin a 6-0 edge.

Shove on UW captain leads to fisticuffs

Wisconsin finished the night with 43 penalty minutes with all but six coming during the final period. Notre Dame had 40 with all but four coming during the final 20 minutes.

The penalties came in the aftermath of a fight that started after Notre Dame’s Sammy Nelson shoved UW senior Joe Palodichuk into the boards with about 9 ½ minutes to play.

Pietila, in response, went after Nelson. Other skirmishes followed..

When the dust settled Pietila was ejected, but a handful of other players, including Nelson, were also done for the night. They were assessed 10-minute major penalties for their role in the scuffle and given the time left in the game were sent to the locker room.

Palodichuk, meanwhile, lay on the ice for a few minutes before being helped to the locker room.

Game 2 of the series will be played at 5 p.m. Oct. 31.