[media-credit name=’AJ MACLEAN/Herald Photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The No. 3-ranked Wisconsin men’s hockey team (19-6-1 overall, 14-4-0 in WCHA) returns to action after a week off Friday and Saturday as it hosts No. 8 Minnesota (19-10-0 overall, 12-8-0 in WCHA). The Badgers and Gophers have met 230 times before, with Minnesota winning 141 of those contests.

“Emotionally I don’t think we’re going to have to work too hard having the kids get ready to play,” UW head coach Mike Eaves said. “It’s going to be about the coaching staff making sure that our kids understand to keep their emotional tap on their emotions because they can lose a lot of energy thinking about beating the Gophers both games instead of just focusing on Friday night.”

UW will be looking to reverse a trend that has seen it lose 11 of the last 13 meetings between the two border rivals, including a pair of losses in Mariucci Arena in November. Last season, however, the Ice Badgers defeated and tied the Gophers in Madison to take three of the four weekend points.

Minnesota has been extremely inconsistent on the road this season against some of the WCHA’s top teams. In their first conference series of the year, the Gophers beat North Dakota 6-0 in Grand Forks after losing 4-2 the previous night. At Denver, they snuck by the Pioneers 5-4 before falling 5-2 in the second game of the series. In Colorado Springs, Minnesota lost 3-1 to Colorado College and then responded with a 7-2-blowout victory.

UM enters this highly anticipated series as losers of three of its last four. Two weekends ago, the Gophers dropped two home games to last-place Michigan Tech. Last week the struggles continued, as Don Lucia’s squad split a home series with struggling Minnesota-Duluth.

“That’s definitely tough,” UW left wing Robbie Earl said of the Gophers’ recent struggles. “I think we had our rockies when we lost to Yale and Ferris State. That was our kind of wake-up call and I think we’ve played our best hockey after that. Minnesota, they’re going to be a very good team, and that’s what we’ve got to be aware of and play our hockey.”

Minnesota does possess plenty of talented players. Sophomore forwards Ryan Potulny and Danny Irmen have combined for 38 goals and 25 assists on the season thus far. Potulny’s 20 goals rank fourth in the nation, while Irmen has scored 15 tallies in WCHA play to lead the conference. Irmen posted three goals and an assist in the Gopher’s sweep of the Badgers earlier this season, including the game-winner on a penalty shot in the Friday night match-up.

“They’re an unbelievably skilled team,” UW captain Adam Burish said. “They bring a different element of skill that any team in the WCHA might not have. And they compete too, so the biggest thing for us is we just have to compete, really be ready to battle and finish hits. Then we’ll be competitive, it will be a competitive weekend.”

Minnesota features three 30-point scorers, with junior forward Tyler Hirsch joining Irmen and Potulny. The Gophers also receive substantial offense from their defensemen — blue liners Chris Harrington, Derek Peltier and Alex Goligoski all have at least 13 points on the season. The trio combined to total four points against Wisconsin in the two teams’ first series.

“Their [defensemen] jump in the rush, so it’s something that not a lot of teams do,” Burish said. “Instead of having three forwards coming at you, you might have four guys, maybe five guys at times jump in the rush. Both of their [defensemen] will jump in the rush, so that’s something you’ve got to be aware of as far as making our back check is getting back.”

Sophomore goaltender Kellen Briggs anchors the Gopher defense. After an up-and-down debut season, in which he won 25 games but posted just a .894 save percentage, Briggs has improved and ranks first in the conference in minutes played (1083:27).

With five tough weekends coming up for Wisconsin and both teams still in MacNaughton Cup contention, this series takes on more meaning than even its usual rivalry.

“I think the challenge for both of us is to keep our cool,” Earl said. “I think, there’s obviously going to be a lot of heat and I think the media distraction this week, it’s going to be tough for both teams. I think we both pose the same stuff. We’ve got to be focused on the game and not look ahead. Minnesota’s going through a little rocky time right now, and we’re just getting off a break, so you can take it as it is. But, we both have the same kind of challenges that we have to get over.”