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Everything finally fell into place last weekend as the Wisconsin men’s hockey team picked up its first victory of the season against North Dakota. This weekend, the Badgers hope to repeat that performance in a two-game series against Michigan Tech at the Kohl Center and triple their number in the win column.

“It is the WCHA, so every team is a battle,” junior defenseman Jamie McBain said. “Every team in the league is a good team, so any points you can pick up are huge. Coming off that win, we are a little relieved to know that we have one, but most importantly we have to build off it and have a great weekend.”

UW started off the season competing against four top 20 teams, and MTU (2-4-0, 1-3-0 WCHA) represents the Badgers’ first game against a non-ranked opponent. With a 1-6-1 record, though, the team knows it cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

“The teams that have that in the back of their mind are the teams that don’t do well and don’t come out hard,” junior forward Blake Geoffrion said of not playing a ranked team. “You have to just think about playing hard in the first period no matter who the opponent is. Ranked or unranked, drafted player or undrafted player, it doesn’t really matter. We just look at it as another game and another team we have to beat.”

The Badgers went 2-1-1 against the Huskies last year and expect a similar challenge this year. While MTU may not overwhelm opponents with its talent, the Huskies play a hard-nosed, controlled game and rarely beat themselves with mistakes.

“They are a real physical team; they battle hard and they do whatever it takes to win,” Geoffrion said. “They will dive to block shots; they battle real hard in all areas of the game — down low, neutral ice and on [offense]. One of their strengths is their heart and how much pride they take in that.”

“These games are going to be paced and physical,” UW head coach Mike Eaves added. “Their formula for success is the fact that they work very hard, first and foremost. They play well together as a group, they are well coached, and that gives them the best chance to be successful.”

The Badgers have lost six games this year mostly because a young defense and inconsistent goalkeeping have been unable to keep the puck out of the net. Last weekend, however, UW only let in five goals over the two games, marking their most impressive performance to date.

The Huskies have only averaged two goals per game on the year, giving the Badgers a chance to build on their success from last weekend.

“It comes down to taking time and space away,” Eaves said. “And doing your part in the defensive zone coverage. We did that much better [last weekend]. Saturday, we were able to block 26 shots, so that is a big factor as well, but basically we were much better with our time and space.”

While scoring has not been much of a problem this year — UW averages 3.1 goals per game — captain Geoffrion has struggled to consistently produce points so far this season. With two goals in last Saturday’s win, however, Geoffrion may be back on track.

“I had been getting my chances before, and I just stuck with it,” Geoffrion said. “I was lucky enough to get a great pass from [Jake Gardiner] on the power play, and I finished it off. … It feels great to contribute offensively, be a leader on this team and finally bury my chances. I’ll try to continue and do that — but we have a lot other guys who can score — and hopefully we will score enough to win.”