[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald Photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]

After the UW men?s hockey team lost in overtime to the
Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs Saturday night, head coach Mike Eaves delivered a
message of optimism at Monday?s press conference.

Despite the fact that Friday?s victory gave the Badgers sole
possession of fourth place in the WCHA standings, a loss Saturday brought them
back to where they started ? tied with UMD. Eaves emphasized the positive play
the team brought to the ice Saturday despite coming up on the losing end.

?We [won] Friday night, but to be real honest I was somewhat
frustrated in the way we played, but we [won],? Eaves said in his Monday press
conference. ?Then Saturday we played close to an A-game, and we lost.?

The disparity in the team?s level of play and the outcome of
each game don’t always match up, Eaves said.

?We created great scoring chances, did a lot of good things
with the puck and away from the puck,? Eaves said. ?Unfortunately we didn?t
find the back of the net, and as a result they [got] a tip-in goal to win a
game.?

The tip-in goal by Jordan Fulton that won the game for UMD
Saturday night came a minute into the overtime.

?We had guys play at a level that we hadn?t seen in a while,
like the Ben Street line,? Eaves said. ?I really felt bad for them; they were
on the ice for the winning goal, but I bet they led us in scoring chances with
Mike Davies, Matthew Ford, along with Ben Street.?

Looking at the stats from Saturday’s loss, the Badgers
dominated the shot total. They outshot the Bulldogs 32-23.

?I thoroughly enjoyed breaking down most of that game
yesterday,? Eaves said. ?There is great stuff that we can take to our players
and show them ?This is us.??

Team continues to grow

Wisconsin entered the season as the youngest team in the
league, with a roster boasting nine freshmen and only four seniors, and there
was speculation as to whether or not experience was going to be a major concern
for the Badgers. As the season has progressed, however, Eaves has seen
tremendous progression in his young players.

?We have changed a whole deal, especially since
Christmastime,? said Eaves. ?The freshmen are no longer freshmen.?

This progress is evident in the stats, with freshman Kyle
Turris leading the team with 28 points and fellow freshman Patrick Johnson
fourth on the team with 17.

Eaves has seen this change in his entire team, not just the
freshmen, and he said the overall development was apparent in Saturday’s loss.

?We have grown in so many areas,? Eaves said. ?Our defensive
zone coverage was better, our breakouts were better, our breakouts in the
neutral zone were better and we created scoring chances because we put the puck
where we needed to.?

The team got back on the ice Monday, and Eaves is anxious to
highlight their achievements.

?We will be able to give them some video feedback to say,
?Hey, look at all these things we did,? and if we keep playing like that we
will get our W?s.?

Street finds power play success

Junior alternate captain Ben Street currently leads UW with
14 goals and is on one of the two power-play units that Eaves has put together.
Ironically, Street has yet to score on a power play this season. Eaves said
Street has found success on the power play for reasons other than simply
finding the net.

?What we have always said about Ben is that he does a lot of
little things,? Eaves said. ?If you remember the goal against the Minnesota
Gophers, Ben took coverage away from Patrick Johnson by going out in the slot
and being a target there.?

Being a target for his teammates and a goal scorer during
five-on-five play are not Street?s only strengths, however, said Eaves.

?He does a
lot of those little things,? Eaves said. ?He wins face-offs, he gets pucks, so
yes, he doesn?t have any power-play goals, but he is contributing to our power
play in terms of [it] being successful