If this was Kyle Turris' final game at the Kohl Center, then he provided the 9,816 on hand with a lasting impression.

With one moment of individual brilliance Sunday night, the University of Wisconsin freshman center showed the type of skill that made him the third overall pick in last year's NHL draft.

Rumors that Turris, recently tabbed the league's No. 2 prospect by The Hockey News, will leave school to get his professional career started with the Phoenix Coyotes have been flying rampantly.

Exactly why that's a possibility surfaced early in the second period of the Badgers' 3-2 overtime loss to Western Collegiate Hockey Association rival North Dakota in the NCAA men 's hockey tournament's Midwest Regional final.

After looking off the defense, Turris fired a pass -- he said afterwards it was actually a shot -- from the left point that whistled through several bodies in front of goal and landed right on sophomore defenseman Jamie McBain's stick at the back post.

With an easy tap-in, the third-seeded Badgers had a 1-0 lead.

"Kyle just made a great look, great pass, and they really had no chance," McBain said. "All I had to do was tap it into the empty net."

Turris nearly set up a second for UW (16-17-7) less than 3 minutes later, releasing sophomore forward Michael Davies for a breakaway -- only to see Fighting Sioux senior goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux sprawl out to make the denial.

A win over top-seeded North Dakota (28-10-4) would have helped Turris exact a bit of revenge on the Fighting Sioux, the team that made roughing the slightly-built, 18-year-old forward up a top priority when the two sides met in early November in this building.

Turris came close to providing a winning goal with just more than 3 minutes left in the third period, but Davies' pass for him in the right slot wouldn 't settle.

And unfortunately for Turris, he was involved in the ending. He lost the faceoff to North Dakota junior center T.J. Oshie before blocking a shot -- only to see it drop to Fighting Sioux junior left wing Andrew Kozek for the winning goal.

"I should have won the draw to begin with," said Turris, who finished his freshman season with 11 goals and 24 assists for a team-leading 35 points.

Whether he'll add to those totals isn't clear.

When Turris was asked the million dollar question in front of his locker, his voice dropped into a quiet tone.

"I'm not worried about it right now," he said.

"I'm just worried about us right now. So I'm not thinking about it."

And he said he didn't give a thought to whether it was his last time on the Kohl Center ice.

"No, I just wanted to play my hardest," Turris said. "I want (to play) every game like it's my last game, so I just want to try my hardest every game."