The Wisconsin men’s hockey team is determined not to let history repeat itself this weekend.

Last season, the Badgers played a pair of close games — ultimately losing both — against Minnesota on home ice early in the year, before the Golden Gophers had truly found their form.

When UW traveled to Mariucci Arena last February, however, it was a different story. The Badgers were blown off the ice by a Minnesota team that was just starting to rev up for its second consecutive championship run.

Fast-forward a year.

Again, the two teams played a competitive series at the Kohl Center in the early going, though this time Wisconsin took three of a possible four points against the Gophers, who were clearly struggling.

After UW’s come-from-behind 4-3 win on Saturday, Nov. 15, Minnesota dropped to 2-7-1 overall and 1-6-1 in the WCHA.

Since then, however, the U of M has turned things around.

The Gophers (9-8-1 WCHA, 14-9-3 overall), who split last weekend’s series against top-ranked North Dakota, are 12-2-2 in the 16 games since they last faced Wisconsin and have outscored their opponents 74-32 during that span.

The return of junior defenseman Keith Ballard to the lineup has been a major factor in the team’s recent surge.

Ballard, the 11th overall pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, missed seven of the Gophers’ first ten games — including their trip to Madison — with a knee injury. Not coincidentally, the club’s turnaround began when he returned to bolster an inexperienced group of defensemen and quarterback what is now the nation’s top power play unit.

In addition, sophomore winger Thomas Vanek has picked up his game after a sluggish start.

Vanek, who was chosen fifth overall in last June’s draft, had seven points in his first eight games, but starting with the four goals he netted in two games against fellow Graz, Austria native Bernd Bruckler when the Gophers played UW, he has picked up 14 goals and 25 points in his past 16 games.

Minnesota has even risen to fifth overall in the national polls, leapfrogging the seventh-ranked Badgers (9-4-5 WCHA, 15-7-6 overall).

“It’s a very fair assessment to say that their team is back on track and trying to defend what is rightfully theirs,” said UW assistant coach Troy Ward.

“The last few weeks are as well as I’ve seen them play all year.”

Ward admitted that the circumstances surrounding this weekend’s match-up bear more than a passing resemblance to the situation a year ago.

“They seem to be going [strong], and we seem to be playing [just] okay right now,” Ward said. “So everything leads [one] to believe that history could repeat itself, if you look at the big picture from last year and this year.”

However, Ward was quick to point out that this is not the same Wisconsin team that made the trip to Minneapolis last season.

“I think we’re a better hockey team [than last year] and I think we’ve established that game in and game out all year,” he said.

Minnesota certainly doesn’t have nearly as decisive an advantage in the skill department as it did when the two teams met last February, with the Badgers having added several talented freshmen to the mix, including defensemen Ryan Suter and Jeff Likens and forwards Robbie Earl, Andrew Joudrey and Jake Dowell, among others.

Ward stressed that brains and heart would be the keys to UW’s chances against the Gophers.

“We have to play as hard as them and we have to play smarter,” he said.

Playing smarter, in this case, means being disciplined enough to keep Minnesota’s power play off the ice.

The Gophers have converted 27.6 percent of their man-advantage opportunities this season.

“When they go on the power play, this is a team that can strike and strike quickly,” Ward said.

The combination of Minnesota’s red-hot power play and the Badgers’ suddenly struggling penalty kill — UW has allowed nine goals in 33 chances over the past six games — is a potentially combustible one that Wisconsin will attempt to avoid.

One area where the Badgers have a clear advantage is in net.

The poor play of freshman goaltender Kellen Briggs was a significant factor in Wisconsin’s success against the Gophers in Madison. And, though Briggs has played better of late, he’s still the weak link on an otherwise talented team.

Bruckler, meanwhile, has been the Badgers’ best player this season, and just racked up his third WCHA Defensive Player of the Week award of the year for his play against Colorado College last weekend.

“The way we look at it is that Bernd is a very experienced goaltender,” Ward said.

“Their goaltender is not as experienced, so what we have to do is try and capitalize on his inexperience.”