Special teams play has always been one of the most important parts of hockey, but with the NCAA mandate to crack down on obstruction-style penalties, special teams' play was taken to another level in the Wisconsin men's series sweep of Mercyhurst. All five of the goals in Friday night's game were power play goals, while two of the first three goals Saturday came with the man advantage.
"It's a big part of the game," captain Adam Burish said following Friday night's 3-2 Badger victory in which Wisconsin rebounded from an early 2-0 deficit. "Obviously the power play penalty kill was a huge part of the game tonight as it put us down 2-0."
In that first period, Wisconsin looked unsure of itself on special teams. Not only did the Badgers give up a pair of power play goals, they also failed to score on five different power play opportunities. Two of those chances came with a 5-on-3 advantage.
After making some adjustments between periods, Wisconsin's special teams play became one of its strengths. The fact that his players were able to make the changes on the fly and get the job done impressed head coach Mike Eaves.
"Under game conditions, [the Badger players] made adaptations and that's a sign of good players," Eaves said.
Another sign of how well the Badgers were adjusting to the stricter officiating was how they avoided penalties throughout the series.
"I actually saw our guys at times do the right thing," Eaves said. "They were behind the guy and they wanted to hook and I remember guys dropping their stick and keeping their legs going."
While some in the media are still questioning what is a penalty this year and what isn't, the players seem to have a firm grasp on what is and is not allowed.
"I think it's clear," Burish said. "You put a stick on a guy they're going to call a penalty. You interfere with a guy they're going to call a penalty."
Both Wisconsin and Mercyhurst appeared to have a far better idea of what to expect in the second game of the series. In game one, the teams combined for 60 minutes of penalty time, resulting in 30:52 worth of odd-man hockey. In the second game there were only 34 minutes worth of penalties called resulting in 22:29 worth of power play time.
After giving up two goals on three chances in the first period and coming away with nothing in five of its own, Wisconsin would go on to dominate the rest of the special teams play throughout the weekend. The Badgers connected on six of their remaining 14 power play chances while holding the Lakers to 0-14. As a result, six of Wisconsin's 11 goals game via the power play.
Eaves was pleased at the way the weekend went, but knows that there is more work to be done.
"We need to continue to build [on the special teams success]," Eaves said. "I really liked the way we competed on the power play, but we weren't as fluid or consistent as I would like us to be."
According to Burish, the disruption to the flow is a bigger issue, with the increased number of penalties, than the special teams' play.
"I think the hardest part is just getting used to the flow of the game," Burish said. "You come off a 5-on-5 shift and next thing you know you're back out there on the power play, you're out there killing a penalty, that's what's different."
What wasn't different was the intensity level that Wisconsin came into the game with. Despite knowing that there would be more penalties called, the Badgers went right after the Lakers, not allowing the situation to effect their aggressive mentality.
"It's not tough to be aggressive," Burish said. "If you want to win the game you have to play hard and pay a price. If you back off so you don't hit a guy wrong, then you're doing your team a disservice."
