The normally dominant University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team recently hit a rough patch. After starting the year with a dominant 16-2-1 record and being ranked No. 2 in the college hockey polls, the Badgers entered a new year’s funk, losing five straight games to start 2023. Looking closer at the games, some of the causes of the streak become clear.
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Poor Offensive Output
While many teams can point to poor defensive displays during losing streaks, this wasn’t the case for the Badgers, as their defense kept them competitive in four out of the five games. The problem was on the other end of the rink with the usually potent Badger offense — currently ranked third in the country — averaging nearly four and a half goals scored per game. Over the five-game losing streak, however, they managed just two goals total.
“If you don’t score, you’re probably not going to win,” Badgers head coach Mark Johnson said in a media conference.
The Badgers’ poor scoring wasn’t due to a lack of chances. Over the first three games of the losing streak, the Badgers outshot their opponents 107-78. The puck ended up not bouncing their way against two of the best goalies in college hockey, Catie Boudiette and Emma Soderberg.
No sequence may have exemplified their losing streak more than the overtime against Ohio State. Following an excellent performance, the Badgers found themselves in a 3-on-1 break early in the extra period. With a chance to pull off an upset on the road against the best team in the country the Badgers failed to convert, and about one minute later the Buckeyes finished the game with a long-range snipe from defenseman Sophie Jaques. This short sequence turned what could have been a season-defining victory into just another disappointment in a bad stretch of games for the Badgers.
Power Outage
Some dismal performances on the power play didn’t help the Badgers’ lack of scoring. While the Badgers’ power play has never been a focal point of their offense — just 14.9% on the year — the Badgers ended up going zero for 13 over the course of their five-game losing streak. Johnson viewed this as a key factor in their offensive struggles.
“[The team has] gotta get some production off our power play because if you don’t, then your room for error when you’re not scoring a lot of goals really shrinks up,” Johnson said.
Johnson added that he’ll make some adjustments to the power play during practice, but in the end, the best solution is for Badgers to start scoring.
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Unfavorable scheduling
While the Badgers weren’t playing their best, their schedule didn’t give them any favors, as it was undoubtedly their toughest stretch of the year. Their first loss came in the second game of a split series against then fourth-ranked Quinnipiac. The second and third losses of the streak came against a hot Minnesota Duluth team, who entered the series ranked eighth in the country. The fourth and fifth losses came against Ohio State, which is the number one team in the country.
Not only did the Badgers’ schedule lead to them being out of gas, but their opponents had favorable schedules leading up to the games that kept them fresh. The Buckeyes had a bye week before they played the Badgers, Quinnipiac had two weeks off and Minnesota Duluth had almost a whole month off leading up to the Badgers game. This led to the Badgers struggling near the end of games, as they got outscored 7-0 in the third period over the losing streak.
While the Badgers arguably got unlucky in the first few games of the losing streak, they ran out of gas by the end. Facing top-eight teams three straight weekends is tough, and it culminated in the Badgers’ worst performance of the season in the final game of the Ohio State series. In the game, the Badgers got outshot 39 to 17 as the Buckeyes cruised to a 5-0 win, proving once again why the reigning national champs are still the best team in the country.
Looking Forward
In a media conference following the Ohio State games, Johnson stressed how this was an important benchmark in the Badgers’ season.
“It won’t get any harder than what we faced Saturday,” Johnson said. “And again, if you learn from it and you push yourself forward, and you try to gain some momentum, you know, it can be a real positive experience even though you lost games.”
With the Western Collegiate Hockey Association season wrapping up, the Badgers have just two more home series before the postseason begins Feb. 24. First, they play St. Cloud State on Feb. 3 in a special “Fill the Bowl” game at the Kohl Center before they return to La Bahn for the second game of the series the next day. The Badgers then end the season with a rematch against Ohio State on Feb. 18 and 19, the second being senior day for the Badgers.
