MENOMONIE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - For the second time this season, the UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team defeated UW-Stout with a 6-1 victory tonight at Dunn County Ice Arena.

Facing Stout for the third time this season, the Blugolds started out slow but finished strong for the win. The Blugolds also defeated the Blue Devils 3-0 on December 4, 2009 while the teams tied the following night 2-2. The last time the Blugolds beat Stout twice in a season was during their 1999-2000 campaign.

Stout's Joe Beaudette scored at 7:09 in the first period to give the Blue Devils the 1-0 lead but the Blugolds would go on to score six unanswered goals to take home the victory.

With just over a minute remaining in the first period, D.J. Clark (Sr.-Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) scored the Blugolds' first goal to tie the game up before the first intermission.

Eau Claire played well in the second period and recorded four more to take a 5-1 lead. Jordan Singer (Fr.-Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) scored the eventual game-winner at 2:12, while Isaiah Bennis (Fr.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) scored his 10th goal of the season four minutes later. Bennis' 10 goals leads Eau Claire this season.

At 11:31, Tyler Romasco (So.-Perry, Ohio) added another goal on a power-play while Bryce Wilcox (Fr.-Roschester, Minn./Century) found the back of the Blue Devils' net just under seven minutes later. Nic Weight (So.-Eagle River, Wis./Northland Pines) gave the Blugolds their final goal at 8:44 in the third period on a power-play.

The five-goal margin of victory tonight was the largest margin the Blugolds have achieved since January 24, 2009 when they defeated Lake Forest College (Ill.) 7-1.

Eau Claire went 2-for-6 on the power-play tonight while Stout went 0-for-5, the 10th time this season the Blugolds held their opponent to no power-play goals. The Blugolds also edged the Blue Devils in shots, 32-24.

Brandon Stephenson (Fr.-Saline, Mich.) played the entire game between the pipes for Eau Claire and picked up 23 saves and allowed one goal while Stout's Nick Hopper also played 60 minutes, allowing six goals and stopping 26 shots.

The Blugolds improve to 7-12-3 overall and 3-9-3 in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association while Stout drops to 9-9-4 on the season and 6-5-4 in NCHA play.

Eau Claire will try to keep its momentum going this Saturday when it travels to UW-River Falls. Action is set to get underway at 7 p.m. The Blugolds have just three more regular season games left this year.