[media-credit name=’JAKE NAUGHTON/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]

Nobody needed to tell the Wisconsin men?s hockey team how big their rivalry with Minnesota is. And after winning 3-1 Friday and tying 2-2 Saturday, nobody needed to tell them how crucial a three-point weekend was either.

With the win and tie, the No. 16 Badgers are now unbeaten in their last five contests and moved into a tie for fourth with No. 19 Minnesota-Duluth in the WCHA standings.

?I think in the big picture, getting three out of four points ? that?s been our task this second half is to get points, as many as we can every weekend,? UW head coach Mike Eaves said.

Earning a point Saturday night did not come easy for the Badgers, as they had to come back from two goals down. Eaves? squad got off to a slow start when Minnesota?s first goal of the game came six minutes into the contest after two costly Wisconsin penalties.

Freshman Sean Dolan was given a two-minute minor for holding, and just 25 seconds later defenseman Kyle Klubertanz was called for cross checking, giving the Gophers an extended five-on-three. Minnesota only needed 14 seconds of the two-man advantage to capitalize, as Ben Gordon beat UW goaltender Shane Connelly five-hole to give Minnesota an early 1-0 lead.

Later in the first, Mike Carman made it a two-goal game after taking a pass from Ryan Flynn and faking out Connelly.

Down 2-0 after the first period and still feeling the effects of a long road trip to Alaska the previous weekend, the Badgers seemed to be skating with tired legs. But a power play goal from freshman Patrick Johnson revitalized UW midway through the second.

Johnson took a pass from linemate Podge Turnbull and fired from the right faceoff circle. Johnson?s one-timer beat Minnesota goalie Alex Kangas and lit a spark in the Wisconsin offense.

The Badgers were still down, but hardly out.

With less than eight minutes to play in regulation, Johnson again got into the scoring mix with an assist on a deflection goal by Aaron Bendickson. Johnson fired a shot on net, and Bendickson got a stick on the puck to redirect it past Kangas.

?It was just a great play by Patty to get the puck to the net so quick,? Bendickson said. ?I was just in the right place at the right time.?

A five-minute overtime period wasn?t enough to break the tie, as the game ended 2-2. Ben Street gave Wisconsin its best look in the extra frame, but his point-blank shot was deflected off a Minnesota stick.

The Badgers jumped out to a much quicker start in Friday?s game, as they built a 2-0 lead midway through the first period.

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh opened up the scoring for Wisconsin 12 minutes into the game. After collecting a pass at the top of the zone from fellow freshman Kyle Turris, McDonagh faked the shot to lose the Minnesota defender and fired the puck past Kangas to give UW a 1-0 lead.

?You just visualize and dream about those kind of goals, especially playing against a big-time team like that,? McDonagh said.

With perhaps his most memorable goal of the season ? a goal that made the SportsCenter Top 10 Friday night ? Turris gave the Badgers a 2-0 advantage halfway through the second period. Turris took a pass at mid-ice from defenseman Cody Goloubef, who was behind the UW net. With Minnesota?s Cade Fairchild draped on his back, Turris broke toward the net with the puck. After using his body to protect the puck from Fairchild, Turris faked right, pulled the puck back and beat Kangas on the left side of the net.

?I tried to cut him off and avoid him from getting a stick on the puck,? Turris said. ?I kinda got lucky the goalie went to poke check and kind of left that side open.?

With the clock winding down at the end of the second period, Minnesota finally got on the board with an unassisted goal from Blake Wheeler. Facing away from the net, Wheeler fired a backhand shot at the net through traffic. Connelly reached back to pull the puck out but was unable to do so before it crossed the goal line.

The goal halted Wisconsin?s momentum that had been building all night and sent them into the locker room with just a one-goal lead.

?It was a good thing the second period ended when it did,? forward Ben Street said. ?We were kind of finding some tough times.?

It would be Street?s goal in the third that would seal the win for UW. Michael Davies fired a pass from behind the net to a wide-open Street, who found the left side of the net after Kangas was caught out of position.

?I?ve got to give all the credit to Mike Davies on that,? Street said of his goal. ?I just was waiting and hoping that he could make that saucer pass over the back of the net. It was perfect.?

Wisconsin will now have a chance to separate itself from Minnesota-Duluth when the Bulldogs come to town this weekend for a series at the Kohl Center.