[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′]
[/media-credit]After the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team lost seven key players from last year's national championship team, head coach Mike Eaves knew there would be a period of adjustment, especially on offense.
The Badgers no longer have the speed of Robbie Earl, the scoring of Joe Pavelski or the on-ice leadership of Adam Burish. But what Wisconsin does have is eight freshmen who possess a variety of talent, even without the knack for scoring of their predecessors.
Eaves' goal for this year was to see the Badgers play "patiently persistent," instead of trying to do too much. With the season winding down and the Badgers remaining in sixth place in the WCHA standings, they are still searching for that balance — culminating in Friday's 3-1 loss.
"[Not having balance is] part of the reason that we played as poorly as we did Friday night in the second period," Eaves said. "We came out and everybody tried to do everybody else's job, and as a result … we got worse. We played ourselves into a hole and we couldn't get out the rest of the night."
Another area where the Badgers are searching for balance is scoring on their power play.
After going 0-for-11 on the man advantage against Minnesota State last weekend, Wisconsin ranks seventh in the conference on power-play conversions (17.6 percent).
But despite not scoring a power-play goal, Eaves looks at the weekend as a step in the right direction with the production not far behind.
"We out-chanced Mankato on Saturday actually 26-to-13, and we had six power plays," Eaves said. "You see the goose egg and in our book — the first goal that we scored on Saturday was [like] a power-play goal."
While the forwards are looking to improve their power-play production and offensive balance, the Badgers as a team are looking to find ways to have their blue-liners get more shots on goal.
Among the seven defenders UW suits up, Jeff Likens is the last to score a goal. He netted one five games ago at Denver. As a unit, the Badgers have scored five goals in 26 games.
"[Scoring has] been a point of emphasis to have our defensemen jump up and to play a lot more in the second half," Eaves said. "In one scoring sequence in the second period, Davis Drewiske made a great shot on the goal [and the goalie] made a great save on it. So it's an emphasis … that secondary support from your defense to create scoring chances like that."
A change in net?
Following up one of the best seasons by a goaltender in NCAA Division I history, where he posted a 27-5-3 record, a 1.55 goals against average and a .938 save percentage, Brian Elliott has struggled a bit in 2006-07.
In 22 games this season, Elliott has an 8-13-1 record, a 2.26 GAA and .920 save percentage.
It may be the case that Elliott's struggles have been a result of the team's inexperience, but sophomore Shane Connelly doesn't appear to be having a problem. Connelly, who is 5-0-1 in his last six starts, allowed just one goal in his third win of the season Saturday.
For the season, Elliott's backup has given up less than one goal per 60 minutes (.98) and saves 95 percent of his opponent's shots. It's safe to say Connelly has been a force in the net this season despite playing sparingly.
Eaves and his coaching staff have pre-planned games for Connelly to play in the past, but now that the former Chicago Steel net-minder has established himself as an extremely reliable option, the Badgers might be looking to utilize Connelly more in the near future.
Yet, for the time being, the net still belongs to Elliott.
"What we've said all along is that we'll go night by night," Eaves said. "Young Mr. Elliott will play Friday night, and we'll see how we feel. If we feel that playing Shane would be the best thing for the team on Saturday, then we'll look at doing that."
