Mike Eaves had blamed the Wisconsin men’s hockey team’s losses on Saturdays to a lack of scoring. But the Badgers’ head coach had to have been happy with the UW’s six-goal outburst Halloween as they swept New Hampshire.
Sophomore forward Jordy Murray had two goals Saturday and was one of eight Badgers to score goals over the weekend. Wisconsin’s offense finally carried over from one game to the next, and Murray said it was very beneficial for the team’s confidence.
“Well, our biggest thing was staying consistent, playing as good as we did on Friday as Saturday, keeping it going throughout the weekend,” he said. “I think we matured this weekend and played a real good game on Saturday. Hopefully, we can keep it going into next week.”
In a series in which Wisconsin scored 10 goals, a closer look at the numbers show just how much the Badgers broke out offensively. UW outshot UNH 96-35 for the series, with an astounding 51-13 advantage in shots on goal in Friday’s game. Those 51 SOG were a season high for the Badgers, who entered Friday with 141 shots on goal for the season.
The weekend boosted UW to a WCHA-leading average of 39.5 shots on goal per game. UW has posted at least 40 shots in three of its six games this season.
Despite 18 shots in the first period of Friday’s game, Wisconsin didn’t score until almost six minutes into the second period. Eaves said the team didn’t allow this slow start to get them down.
“The thing that we talked about after the first period is when you’re not rewarded in terms of goals for your efforts, there’s a phrase we use. We needed to stay ‘patiently persistent’ — don’t change your mindset, stay after, in terms of what we were doing,” Eaves said.
In both games, the Badgers had opportunity after opportunity to score right in front of the Wildcats’ net but seemed unable to bury the puck. Although UW wasn’t terribly efficient in terms of its shots-to-goals ratio in either game, persistence paid off in the end for the Badgers, even if they left a few goals on the ice.
“You always want more. You tend to get greedy, but the fact was that we got rewarded for the hard work we’re doing offensively and guys using their individual skills to put the puck away,” Eaves said. “And that’s a really healthy sign, because that’s part of that offensive confidence you need to have happen.”
Ramage breaks out
While a lot of eyes were on freshman Derek Lee as the series started, the real rookie story this weekend was defenseman John Ramage.
Ramage opened the scoring Friday night, getting his first college goal on a beautiful slap shot from the right point in the second period. He scored UW’s fourth goal Saturday, firing a shot that took a deflection before getting by UNH goaltender Brian Foster.
But just as impressive as the self-proclaimed stay-at-home defenseman’s two goals was the fact that he led the team in plus-minus with a plus-three in both games. Ramage also only took one penalty during the series and showed that he could contribute offensively without sacrificing anything on the defensive end. The freshman said that he was proud of performing well in both aspects.
“Well, obviously getting your first goal as a Badger is a big deal for me, so that’s pretty big. Especially for a stay-at-home defenseman — not scoring too much — so that was definitely a big plus,” Ramage said. “But also being the plus-three, that’s my main goal — keep the plus-minus high.”
Asked if he was surprised that Ramage had such a good shot, Eaves said he already knew his defenseman had offensive potential.
“It’s interesting about John, how people get pigeonholed or labeled,” he said. “Him coming in, we knew he was a stay-at-home, no-nonsense [guy who] … had a real good shot. And he used that tonight to score his first college goal.”
Ramage also assisted on Michael Davies’ goal Saturday and, after his breakout weekend, is tied for 19th in the nation in rookie points per game. And while encouraged by his first two college goals, his priority is still on his defense.
“I’m trying to be defensive, just make sure to keep the puck out of our net. And when the team puts some goals in the net when I’m on the ice, it just makes it even better,” Ramage said.
Eaves noted that with freshmen there’s a level of uncertainty as to how long it will take for them to adjust to the college game. With Ramage, it’s about the defenseman’s approach to the game.
“John has come in and he’s played to his strengths, and through his strengths, he’s been able to have success,” Eaves said. “Now, he’s kind of blossoming in front of us, and we just hope that keeps happening.”