It was a playoff-like atmosphere this past weekend at the Kohl Center as the UW men’s hockey team skated away with three points from third-ranked St. Cloud State.
An intense, electrifying series characterized by hard hitting and fast-paced action saw the Badgers salvage a 2-2 tie on Friday night and shock the Huskies with a 4-1 victory on Saturday.
Saturday night’s win, the 650th career victory for Badgers’ coach Jeff Sauer, improved UW’s conference record to 9-7-2, separating the Badgers by four points from sixth place Alaska-Anchorage, and moving them within just one point of fourth place Colorado College.
In a series which considerably improved Wisconsin’s hopes of home ice advantage in the conference play-offs, the Badgers sent a message to the WCHA.
“I think we sent a message within the WCHA that this is going to be a rat race the rest of the year,” commented Sauer after Saturday’s victory.
Friday night’s contest featured a gritty performance by the Wisconsin club, most notably freshman goalie Bernd Bruckler, who replaced junior Scott Kabatoff late in the first period after Kabatoff left the game with a knee injury. Bruckler tallied 20 saves on the evening, including several big ones in the extra period as St. Cloud State went on a two-minute power play.
After the Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the second period on a Mark Hartigan goal, the Badgers responded with two third period goals, giving them a 2-1 lead. Just 1:44 into the final period, UW senior Matt Murray rifled one in from the point, and six minutes later Matt Doman took a one-timer from Andy Wozniewski past Huskies’ goalie Dean Weasler.
A late third period goal by St. Cloud State’s Matt Hendricks tied the game at two apiece, and that’s how it would finish.
Saturday night’s game kept the 14,127 people in attendance at the edge of their seats the entire game. Matt Murray’s goal just 4:25 into the opening period opened up a floodgate of excitement to follow. In a game illustrated with constant fights, bone-crushing checks and net-ripping slapshots, UW dominated every aspect of the contest.
For the second consecutive night, the Badgers held the country’s leading power-play unit scoreless and used a combination of highlight reel saves and flawless play on defense to hold the Huskies to just one goal for only the second time this season.
Once again, Murray was the catalyst on the offensive end, scoring two goals on the night, complementing the celebration of his 24th birthday.
“We scored on opportunities when they came,” Murray commented after the victory. “That was our game plan and we stuck with it.”
Doman scored his second goal of the weekend and Kent Davyduke added another goal after taking it the length of the ice and firing one in from the blue-line.
A second period scuffle between Doman, Mark Jackson and Rene Borque of the Badgers and Joe Motzko, Matt Hendricks and Peter Szabo of the Huskies delayed the game for about 10 minutes and brought the electrified Kohl Center to its feet.
Bruckler, who was playing twice in the same series for just the first time this season, compiled 32 saves on the evening, smothering the explosive Huskies’ forwards.
