[media-credit name=’AJ Maclean’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The Wisconsin men’s hockey team boasts several lines capable of scoring goals on any given night. While the trio of sophomore Robbie Earl, freshman Joe Pavelski and junior Adam Burish features the team’s top two point-scorers, UW is hardly a one-line team.

“So if you’re an opposing team and you’re looking at our lineup and you focus on Pavelski, Earl and Burish, well, then who’s going to watch the other guys?” Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said. “So you have to have good balance as well in order to shut us down completely.”

Freshman Matt Ford has come on strong of late, and along with junior Ryan MacMurchy and sophomore Andrew Joudrey, the group has become a very potent scoring line. Ford and MacMurchy are each in the midst of a five-game points streak, while Joudrey has posted a goal or an assist in four-straight contests.

The return of sophomore Jake Dowell from the World Junior Hockey Championships and classmate Ross Carlson from injury has added even more punch to Eaves’ lineup.

“One thing that is pleasing from our coaching staff is … the great balance that we have in our scoring,” Eaves said. “That’s the one stat that, when you look from top to bottom, how many guys we have in double digits, how many guys … are getting close to the 20-point mark.”

Five Badgers have already broken that barrier after just 24 games, and Carlson and freshman defenseman Kyle Klubertanz currently sit at 19 and 16 points, respectively. Wisconsin totaled six 20-point scorers in 43 games last season.

All in all, the Badger offensive attack is vastly improved from a year ago. Eaves’ squad has scored 36 power-play goals in the season’s first 24 games, compared to 33 total last year. Wisconsin is also on pace to smash last season’s overall-goals mark, with 86 thus far after tallying 123 in 2003-04.

“Hollywood” drawing defense: Earl has already exceeded his point total from last season (28 to 27), and opponents are starting to pay extra attention to Wisconsin’s leading scorer.

“I think it’s been done within the rules and stuff, but [Robbie] has been taking a pounding,” Eaves said.

However, with teams locked in on Earl, other players have been given chances. Two weekends ago in St. Cloud, Earl failed to tally a point, but Wisconsin cruised to a series sweep. Last weekend Alaska-Anchorage also tried to take Earl out of the game, but other Badgers rose to the occasion. Earl, in his own right, posted a goal and an assist in the Badgers’ weekend sweep of the Seawolves.

“Our goal both nights on our power play with Robbie (Earl) in there, he’s in the slot and they’re so focused on him, what was given and what was taken was the back-door pass to Jeff Likens,” Eaves said. “So he is getting more attention and because of that, it’s opening up other opportunities for people he’s playing with.”

In addition, Earl’s assist total thus far (17) is four more than the number of helpers he produced all of last season.

Badgers avoiding penalties: Entering the season, much of the talk in the world of college hockey centered on officiating. The NCAA decided in the offseason to emphasize obstruction, holding and hooking penalties. After a penalty-marred opening series against Mercyhurst in which the two teams combined for 47 penalties, Wisconsin has adjusted nicely. For the season, UW averages 8.2 penalties per game and ranks third to last in the WCHA in penalty minutes per contest.

“I think we take great pride in the fact that in our practices, we work on technique along the wall to make sure we’re not holding,” Eaves said. “And if we have penalties in practice, we make our guys do push-ups. So it’s on their mind. They’ve got to get away from those habits.”

Eaves likened his team’s avoidance of penalties to the UW basketball team’s lack of fouling. The hard-court Badgers have attempted 109 more free throws than their opponents this season, something that has become a recurring theme over the last several seasons.

“I’ve always enjoyed listening to Bo (Ryan) talk about officials in basketball and the way they perceive, the way they look from the game,” Eaves said. “And I’ve heard Bo talk about when you reach around like this, they’re going to call it.”

With fewer penalties committed, Wisconsin has enjoyed even more success when killing man advantages. UW currently ranks No. 1 in conference play in penalty-killing percentage (90.5 percent) by more than 5 percent and second in the nation in all games (89.3 percent). Boston University sits atop the national leader board.

“When you have to kill off [fewer] penalties, you’re going to have a higher percentage, probably,” Eaves said.

On the other side, Wisconsin has made opponents pay while on the man advantage, outscoring them 36 to 15 on the power play.