Backed by the confidence of last weekend’s conference sweep, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team squares off on the road tonight against arch-nemesis Minnesota.
Riding a two-game winning streak, Wisconsin (8-13-3 overall, 2-9-3 WCHA) will have the chance to extend its run to three by breaking a four-game slide in Mariucci Arena. The No. 7 Golden Gophers enter the series with their own momentum after splitting last weekend’s series against No. 1 Colorado College.
When the teams last met over the weekend of Dec. 6 in Madison, Minnesota (15-7-7, 10-5-5) won two hard-fought battles against the Badgers, 3-2 and 2-0.
“[The rivalry] is like [Boston College] and [Boston University] — it’s an all-out war,” UW head coach Mike Eaves said. “It brings the best out of the kids.”
Nearly two months removed from their last meeting, both clubs have made some changes. The Gophers in the past five home games, have suffered a rare spell going 1-2-2. The Badgers will be playing on a winning streak, having made strides in Eaves’ philosophy since the last meeting.
“[The players] do not feel so robotic as we did last time we played Minnesota,” UW assistant coach Troy Ward said. “The roboticism has left. I think we are a little bit more free-flowing, more natural.”
Despite sporting a 0-4-2 road record the past six games, Wisconsin appears to be calm and collected for this weekend’s series. Improved play on the offensive end, especially concerning the power-play unit, led to an eight-goal outburst the past two games, perhaps marking the beginning of consistency offensively for UW.
“The fact of having success on an individual shift or an individual night, (our players) feel so much better about it,” Ward said after watching six different UW players score goals against Alaska-Anchorage.
Captain Brad Winchester and Nick Licari (WCHA freshman of the week) led the Badgers with a combined four goals and three assists against UAA. Winchester, to whom UW will look again tonight for point production, needs support. The freshman class, which includes Licari, has aided the struggling UW offense throughout the year. Freshmen Ryan MacMurchy (5 goals, 5 assists in WCHA play) and Tom Gilbert (4 goals, 10 assists on the year) have to harass the Gopher goaltending if legitimate scoring opportunities are to develop this weekend.
If the Badgers hope to win this weekend, they will be counting on the play of their goaltender more then anyone else. UW sophomore Bernd Bruckler, who was named WCHA defensive player of the week, will make his third-straight start in the net. Bruckler surrendered one even-strength goal in 120:00 against UAA last weekend, stopping 50 of 53 shot attempts.
Bruckler, who has the ability to keep Wisconsin in every game with his cat-like reflexes, could possibly notch his third-consecutive victory with the support of only a goal or two. A shutout for Bruckler this weekend would mark the first time a Wisconsin goalie has blanked Minnesota in the past 87 games, dating back to 1983.
“Right now, it is Bernd’s net and he is doing a good job for us,” Ward said.
Defensively, the Badgers will need to stymie Gopher freshman forward Thomas Vanek, who netted one goal and created at others in December. Leading all freshmen in the nation with 22 goals, Vanek has shown explosive play-making ability and the knack for finding both the puck and the defensive void.
Playing a struggling Gopher group on the road, UW has the opportunity to extend both its winning streak and the woes of Minnesota.
“I think we are a lot more confident going into Minnesota,” Ward said. “I like our momentum going into the weekend.”
