By Jacob Messing

The battle of the Great Lakes between newly ranked Michigan and top-10 Wisconsin could be over in the first 20 minutes — and not because of a blowout.

Both teams struggle mightily when relinquishing an early lead: When trailing after the first period, Michigan is 0-1-1, while Wisconsin holds a 0-3-0. Whoever controls the first period on Friday night controls the game.

The puck drops at 8 PM EST on Friday in Madison and will be streamed right here on FloHockey.

Michigan has impressed under new coach Mel Pearson with a 6-3-1 record through the first 10 games, and just one regulation loss. They earned their first rank of the season on Monday, coming in at No. 17 after an overtime win and tie against No. 4 Minnesota.

There’s little time to celebrate, though, as they visit a No. 9 Wisconsin team still searching for consistency coming off another split series.

After coach Tony Granato turned around a lowly Wisconsin team in his first season behind the bench, the Badgers have underwhelmed with a 7-5-1 record, which speaks to the expectations placed on them.

Both teams will seek to start the game with a spark.

The First 20

Heading into the Minnesota series, Michigan had only allowed three goals in the opening frame, but the Golden Gophers tripled that mark over the weekend.

The Wolverines surrendered three first-period goals in each of its two games against the Gophers — Michigan only scored two — forcing the Wolverines to start each second frame with a deficit.

Those were the first two games of the year in which Michigan found itself down after the first period, but the Wolverines have given up the first goal in eight of its 10 games.

The early-game struggles is a trend Pearson will look to put a halt to, as Wisconsin has 15 first-frame goals on the year, six more than Michigan; that number includes three for the Badgers against Michigan State last weekend.

“We play the full 60,” Pearson told Benjamin Katz of the Michigan Daily last week. “And at the end of the game, we’ll look up and see where we’re at. Behind by three, ahead by five, we have to continue to play and they did that.”

At some point, catch-up hockey catches up to you — and 60 minutes of hard-fought hockey is substantially easier when you’re not starting behind.

Michigan is toying with fire by giving up early leads, and Wisconsin could be what finally burns them given its 5-1-1 record when leading after the first.

The Final Frame

No matter who’s leading at the end of the second period, and no matter what the statistical trends show, there’s always the possibility of a comeback.

But Wisconsin — strangely enough, given their success — is the only Big Ten team without a come-from-behind victory this season.

"I think that's just something that is going to grow as a team, as we keep on growing as a group here in our confidence level in our abilities to just continue to play, no matter what the score is,” Wisconsin associate head coach Mark Osiecki told Todd D. Milewski of the Wisconsin State Journal.

Still, that’s a glaring problem. On the surface, if the Wolverines hold the lead after two periods then the victory is all but sealed. And they may even be in a good spot if the tie is knotted.

Michigan has scored 18 third-period goals, more than double the seven it has allowed, and is 3-1-0 when entering the third period with a deficit.

Pearson chalks the stellar comeback record up to one thing.

“It’s adversity,” he said. “You’re going to have it in life; you’re going to have it in a hockey game. And it’s how you deal with that adversity. I think through our conversations, after a while, it sets in with them and I think it has.”

Adversity isn’t an easy lesson to teach, but Pearson has seemingly relayed it well since overtaking the program, a team that never quits and won’t look up until the final buzzer.

Don’t miss the action from Madison, Wisconsin, starting Friday at 8 PM EST, streamed right here on FloHockey.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.