The No. 3 Wisconsin Badgers (4-0-0 WCHA, 6-0-0 overall) return home to Madison and LaBahn Arena this weekend to face the No. 6 Bemidji State Beavers (3-0-1, 6-0-2). The last time the two foes met, Wisconsin got the upper hand with a 4-0 victory in Grand Forks, N.D.
The Badgers will come into the matchup boasting four straight consecutive shutouts over conference opponents with a 22-0 goal differential. They have done this with outstanding penalty killing, having only allowed a single goal on 22 power plays with five shorthanded goals and five power-play scores.
Though Wisconsin has been controlling both zones of the ice for the entirety of the season, the Beavers will come into Madison with their own sense of confidence after an upset overtime win over then-No. 6 North Dakota (2-1-1, 4-1-1) when the Beavers managed to sneak one past the goaltender with seven seconds remaining in the extra period.
Bemidji, like the Badgers, has been demonstrating impressive ability in the defensive zone, holding opponents to just three goals in the past six contests. Bemidji State junior goaltender Brittni Mowat was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week back-to-back weeks.
It’s been a superb start to the season for the Beavers, and one that has caught the eye of Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson.
“So this class that will be seniors, they probably want to leave with something more special than they had last year, so they’re off to a good start,” Johnson said. “They’re difficult to play against, they’ve got a very good goaltender, and they’ve got kids that chip away and score goals, especially in a timely fashion.”
The class that Johnson speaks of has been putting the Bemidji program on the map for some time now. Last year they defeated perennial favorite Minnesota in the playoffs and have followed that up this year by achieving a No. 8 ranking in the USCHO.com poll, the highest in program history, only to be broken the following weekend when they were moved up the No. 6 after their win over North Dakota.
Johnson, as usual, is looking only at the next matchup but with a bigger picture in mind.
“We’ve gotten better in a lot of different areas, so the process starts today, getting better at practice and then Friday night getting tested against Bemidji and hopefully playing better Friday night than we did this past Saturday, and I think if you do that over a period of a winter, by the end you end up becoming a pretty good hockey team,” Johnson said.
The puck will drop at 7 p.m. Friday night and 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Friday is Student Night where students receive free admission, t-shirts, pizza, and Dr. Pepper products with a valid ID.
