After a nearly two-week break, the Wisconsin men's hockey team (5-9-2, 3-6-1 WCHA) is back to work, as the Badgers are set to take on conference opponent North Dakota (7-6-1, 5-4-1) this weekend. The last game the Badgers played was a 2-0 victory over Michigan State, which finally halted Wisconsin's six-game losing streak. Now, Wisconsin will be looking to build on that victory.
However, the Badgers are still having major problems scoring goals. During the losing streak, which included a shutout loss and three games with just one goal scored, the Badgers mustered just nine goals. Wisconsin is now averaging fewer than two goals per game for the season.
The team knows this, as the Badgers' goal-scoring troubles have been apparent all season. Wisconsin's top two scorers, freshman forward Michael Davies and senior forward Andrew Joudrey, have combined for just seven goals and 15 assists.
"It's tough, when the goals aren't going in, you want to fix things right away," Joudrey said. "The biggest thing for me to do is keeping plugging away, get in front of the goalie … screen him and get rebounds. We're not going to score a lot of highlight-reel goals."
An increase in goal scoring would result in more than just points; it would take a lot of pressure off senior goaltender Brian Elliott and the defense. Elliott has been a workhorse for the Badgers, starting in 14 of 16 games and recording the second-most minutes played among goalies in the WCHA.
Elliott currently holds a solid save percentage of .922, second in the conference, and a goals-against average of 2.19. Though UW head coach Mike Eaves sat Elliott for the Michigan State game — backup Shane Connelly earned the shutout of the Spartans — it was evident whom Eaves would be depending on to turn this season around.
"Elliott is your 'starting pitcher,'" Eaves said, "and you put the ball in his hand as much as possible. … This weekend, we're going to put the ball into our best pitcher's hand, and that's Brian Elliott going into North Dakota."
Elliott stacks up quite well against the Sioux's goaltenders. North Dakota goalies Philippe Lamoureux and Anthony Grieco have been splitting time all season, and both are inexperienced. Lamoureux, a sophomore, holds a save percentage of .892 and a GAA of 2.65. Grieco, a freshman, has an even weaker save percentage (.880) and allows more than three-and-a-half goals per game.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin's defense has held opponents to just 2.25 goals per game, good for third-best in the conference. However, the success of Elliott and the defense goes for naught when the Badgers' offense can't get the puck past the opposing goaltender.
"If we can get three or four goals, I think we're in pretty good shape," Eaves said. "We're still the type of team that's got to manufacture [goals]. I don't think you're going to see this group score a lot of goals … so we'll just have to continue to work on that thought process of manufacturing some gritty goals, getting tip-in goals and rebound goals."
The Badgers' power-play percentage hasn't helped either. The Badgers have converted just 14.6 percent of power-play opportunities into goals, resulting in just 12 goals. The penalty kill has been mediocre so far this season, killing off almost 85 percent of opponents' power plays.
However, this series could turn out well for the Badgers' special teams. North Dakota's power-play percentage has been respectable, converting 23 percent of their chances. However, the Sioux's penalty-kill rate is the second-worst in the conference (stopping 77.6 percent of opponents' power plays), and they spend more time in the penalty box than the Badgers do (17.6 minutes per game for North Dakota; 15.2 minutes for Wisconsin).
If Wisconsin can play with relatively few penalties, the Badgers' power play would be pitted against the Sioux's woeful penalty kill.
North Dakota has also been very streaky thus far. After starting the season with a four-game winning streak, the Sioux went on to lose three in a row before recording another three losses and one tie. The Sioux are currently riding a two-game winning streak.
"It will be a great series," Joudrey said. "They play hard, they play fast … they have a lot of good players. It's going to be fun, it's going to be fast paced and we're really looking forward to going up there."
The Badgers are going to need goals if they want to win this series, which will likely be a hard-fought, physical battle. If Wisconsin can light the lamp, Eaves feels Elliott and the defense will take care of the rest.
"We're starting to be more comfortable with who we are and what our strengths are," Eaves said. "Playing to those strengths … is going to give us the best chance to be successful."
