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“We actually have a hat trick tonight.”

That was the first thing said as Justin Schultz, Jake Gardiner and Scott Gudmandson sat down for the postgame press conference Saturday night. Schultz, a sophomore defenseman, scored three goals on the night for Wisconsin in its 4-1 win over Michigan State.

The phrase “for Wisconsin” is added because Schultz scored MSU’s goal as well, when Zach Golembiewski’s shot on net went straight off Schultz’s skate and past Gudmandson into the net.

The importance of actually having a hat trick needs to be noted, because in Friday night’s game against Michigan, Gardiner, a junior defenseman, appeared to have a three-goal game as well. But upon entering the media room, he announced his first goal had touched center Sean Dolan before going in, leaving him with two on the night.

It was the first hat trick by a UW defenseman since Barry Richter did it 18 years ago to the day.

Schultz wasn’t going to gloat though.

“It means a little bit; I’ve been playing with a lot of good players and thank them for setting me up for every one of those goals there, so I’ve got to compliment them,” Schultz said.

Schultz’s first goal came just 1:03 into the game, as he poked in a rebound off a Mark Zengerle shot to put the Badgers up 1-0 and give them the quick start at home they’ve been searching for so desperately this season.

He struck again at 5:26 in the second. Winger Jordy Murray carried the puck into the MSU zone and got tangled up with a defenseman. He saw Schultz trailing, poked the puck to him and the defenseman slammed a one-timer past Spartan goaltender Drew Palmisano to give UW a 3-1 lead.

The sophomore hit two posts in the game as well.

But on the power play to begin the third, Gardiner found Schultz in the high slot, and the West Kelowna, B.C. native’s shot went through to complete the hat trick.

“My shot’s definitely gotten better. I’ve been working on that this summer, getting stronger has helped,” he said. “Just being more confident with the puck, a year under my belt has helped me a lot. I’ve got some good guys playing on the power play with me to help me out there.”

Wisconsin’s other goal against Michigan State came courtesy of – you guessed it – a defenseman. Freshman Frankie Simonelli got his first career collegiate goal, putting away an easy feed from sophomore Derek Lee.

The previous night against Michigan, Gardiner accounted for three goals – two officially – and Schultz had the other. All in all, seven of the eight goals Wisconsin scored on the weekend came from defensemen, six from Schultz and Gardiner alone

“It just shows how much talent we have,” Gardiner said. “Any of us can score on the blueline. Coach thrives on us jumping the play, and we’ve been able to do that a lot this weekend.”

Schultz is second on the team with nine goals and second in points with 19. He has already surpassed his point totals last season of 6-16-22, despite filling the same role on the first-unit power play that he did last a season ago. Gardiner has four goals and 18 points after going 6-7-13 in 2009-2010.

The duo seem to be continuing the recent trend of talented offensive defensemen at UW.

Last season, Brendan Smith was named a first-team All American and finished 15-37-52, with 11 of his goals coming on the power play. Most of them also came on shots from the right circle.

Guess where all of Gardiner’s goals came from.

“That’s his position on the power play, the off-side, so he has that one-time shot,” head coach Mike Eaves said. “He’s basically stepped in there and taken Smitty’s spot on that power play, very much a similar look.”

Two seasons ago, Jamie McBain had seven goals and 30 assists en route to being named WCHA Player of the Year.

This year more than either of the last two though, the Badgers have needed their defensemen to contribute offensively. UW returns little experience at forward and has often filled six of the 12 forward spots with freshmen.

So it’s been expected that Gardiner and Schultz would put points on the board. Just not this many in one weekend.

“I can’t remember a weekend that’s happened here in our time,” Eaves said. “It was one of those nights and one of those weekends for our young defensemen. Part of our plan is to have them be involved in our offense.”