[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Even the nation's best couldn't slow down the Wisconsin men's hockey team.

The Badgers upset top-ranked Colorado College at the Kohl Center this weekend with a 3-0 victory Saturday night, just one night after skating to a 2-2 tie with the Tigers on Friday. Wisconsin goalie Brian Elliott tallied his first shutout of the season against the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's most potent offense as the Badgers proved they can skate with one of the best teams in the country.

"Tonight I think we all played a solid game, and the guys in front of me played great, so I kind of have to thank them for the shutout," Elliott said.

The Badgers didn't waste any time Saturday, as senior forward Adam Burish scored just 17 seconds into the game. Robbie Earl passed the puck to Burish in the left circle. He lost control of it for a second and spun around before whistling a shot past Tiger goaltender Matt Zaba.

After dual penalties, the four-on-four situation resulted in another quick Wisconsin goal from forward Ross Carlson. Just more than a minute later, Carlson forced a turnover in the Colorado College zone and backhanded a shot over the shoulder of Zaba.

With a quick 2-0 lead, the Badgers set to work shutting down the dangerous Tiger offense. Both teams had several scoring opportunities and combined for 27 shots in the first period, but Elliott made several key saves throughout the frame.

The Badger defense turned up the heat in the second period, as the Tigers only generated six shots. Both teams were heavily penalized as well, combining for nine second-period penalties.

After a Nick Licari penalty at the end of the second frame, the Tigers began the third with a five-on-three advantage for the first 1:40. They couldn't capitalize, however, and the Badgers took the momentum from that to the end of the game.

"It was a little excitement in there," Elliott said. "We were happy to know that all we had to do was kill that off and we had the momentum going the rest of third. It got us going the rest of the game."

Tigers head coach Scott Owens was also impressed with the Badger defense.

"We had pretty good movement on it, but we just couldn't get it through," Owens said. "They were very good defensively and their penalty kill was outstanding."

In Friday's game, the Badgers overcame a two-goal deficit to tie it up and bring the momentum into Saturday.

The first period began with solid defense, with both teams threatening to score several times early on but failing to cash in. Unfortunately for the Badgers, however, the stalemate wouldn't last. CC's Brett Sterling threw a quick shot at Elliott, and it squeezed between the UW goalie's pads and into the net just past 11 minutes into the game. The Tigers struck again when senior forward Joey Crabb bounced a shot off Elliott's left shoulder and in to put the Tigers up 2-0.

Things started to look grim when Badger defenseman Tom Gilbert got called for interference less than 30 seconds after the second Tiger goal. After a close call on a Sterling shot that hit the post, the Badgers successfully killed the penalty, and junior forward Jake Dowell passed the puck up to the recently released Gilbert, who stood waiting at the blue line. Gilbert then skated in alone and knocked a wrist shot past Tiger goaltender Matt Zaba to cut the lead in half just before the end of the period.

"The last thing you're thinking about when you're in the box is whether you're going to get a breakaway," Gilbert said. "Jake made a great pass to me, I saw five-hole, and it was perfect. It gave us momentum going into the second."

The Badger defense turned it up for the remainder of the game. Wisconsin made it difficult for the Tigers to breathe, allowing them no room to move around the net or in the neutral zone.

Late in the second period, Carlson poke-checked the puck from one of the Tigers and passed it to freshman Jack Skille, who pounded it into the net to tie the game.

In the third, the Badgers and Tigers skated at even strength the entire period, and they played to a draw. Colorado College didn't get off a shot for the last 20 minutes while the Badgers fired only four shots on Zaba.

In shutting out the Tigers and holding them to only first period goals on Friday, Elliott logged 103:37 minutes of shutout hockey, a streak he will carry into next week's games.