University of Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves has probably spent more time than he would like to recall tinkering with his lineup card.

But it appears the Badgers are that much closer to solving the mystery of what line each player should be on after last weekend's series with Alaska-Anchorage. The strange part is, the potential new top line makes so much sense that it's a mystery how they weren't playing together sooner as an even-strength line.

Seniors Ross Carlson and Jake Dowell have been stalwarts on the power play, with freshman Michael Davies and sophomore Jack Skille playing into the mix. Davies got his chance last week in practice, and against UAA to play with whom he calls "probably the two best forwards on the team," and didn't disappoint.

Davies had his first two-goal game since the season opener, and Carlson and Dowell each chipped in two points Friday night as the new-look second line helped Wisconsin burst out of an offensive slump.

In practice Monday, those three were practicing together on a line again, and could see themselves ascending to the top line's spot.

"We clicked right from the start," Davies said. "The chemistry was just there this weekend, and hopefully we can keep that going as long as we can."

After a frustrating winless weekend at Colorado College two weekends ago, Eaves asked Dowell what he thought of making the power play line an even-strength line as well.

"Coach just wanted to shake things up," Dowell said. "He asked us what we thought about it when we met with him for lunch on Monday with the captains. He said he wanted to shake things up, and it seems to work."

This line appears to be as balanced as any line Wisconsin is going to get, for a couple reasons. Past statistics suggest a good mix among these three: Dowell the goal scorer has 15 goals and six assists this season, Davies has been consistent with eight goals and nine helpers, and Carlson, while struggling for goals this year, has still done his part within the offense with five scores and 12 assists.

But numbers don't tell the whole story. Carlson and Davies are talented skaters and puck handlers, and tend to succeed away from the net. Dowell, on the other hand, is Wisconsin's best inside player, gifted at setting screens and clearing space for Carlson and Davies to move around.

"He's a value just to get in front of the net," Carlson said of Dowell. "He just brings that physical aspect, he'll take cross-checks, he'll throw his weight around, he'll get the pucks in the corners when there's rebounds. It's one of those things, both 5-on-5 and on the power play."

Leading 2-0 going into the third period Saturday, this line showed why it could potentially work so well for Wisconsin. Freshman defenseman Jamie McBain scored his third goal of the season 3:52 into the final period for an insurance 3-0 lead.

Though the power play unit had previously gone 1-for-14 on the weekend, it only took UW nine seconds to capitalize on this opportunity. Davies and Carlson got assists on the play, while Dowell set a valuable screen, occupying two defensemen and allowing McBain to gain the open look.

"We feel pretty good about the power play right now. We work on it in practice; we kind of try to adjust to what the team's doing," McBain said. "We feel for the most part we're generating a lot of energy through the power play."

The numbers, admittedly, aren't anything to write home about. The Badgers have just a 15.3 percent conversion rate with the man advantage, near the bottom of the WCHA.

But if you ask the Badgers, the statistics mean just that — a number. In fact, since Wisconsin has shown a propensity to score goals just moments after a power play opportunity expires, Carlson said the unit knows what it has done this year, regardless of what the numbers say.

"A goal's a goal, no matter what," Carlson said. "It's nice for the team to know that we got credit for the power play goal, but if they get out of the box and then we score, it's not a big deal as long as we get that goal."

The fact that Carlson, Dowell and Davies have played together on the power play could lead to more success to the line as a five-on-five unit, and Dowell said the benefits will go both ways once they play more hockey together in both situations.

"When you play some power play and have some success on the power play, you build some chemistry," Dowell said. "That way, we're feeling good offensively when we get back out there five on five, so we're gelling instead of all being split up and out of sync.

"We could go an entire period without playing a regular shift with your line, so it helps to have that defined group."

Is this line ready to put an end to Eaves' nightly shuffling of the lineup?

"It could," Eaves said. "One would hope that would happen because they're on the ice together and you would hope that the chemistry is such that it becomes an automatic type of thing."