This year, more people than senior center Matt Murray's friends and family probably celebrated his birthday.
Murray turned 24 on Saturday and in turn treated Badger fans to a fabulous weekend of hockey by scoring one goal on Friday and two on Saturday to lead the men's hockey team (9-7-2 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, 11-12-3 overall) to a tie and win, respectively, against the third-ranked St. Cloud State Huskies (14-4-2 WCHA, 20-5-2 overall).
Head Coach Jeff Sauer also notched his 650th career victory with the Saturday triumph while Wisconsin strengthened its hold on the final home ice spot for first-round Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff games in March. The fifth-place Badgers lead sixth-place Alaska-Anchorage and North Dakota by four points.
Murray connected on a slap shot to tie Friday's game at 1-1 early in the third period and senior wing Matt Doman gave the Badgers the lead with a power play goal before St. Cloud State's Matt Hendricks concluded the game's scoring, tying the contest at 2-2.
Saturday, Murray beat St. Cloud State goaltender Dean Weasler at 4:21 in the first period, capitalizing on an offensive surge in which Wisconsin put significant early pressure on Weasler and gained control of the game's momentum, which the Badgers never relinquished.
Doman and senior center Kent Davyduke complemented Murray's score with goals of their own in the second period.
To add some closing drama to a third period dominated by defense, Murray capped the Badgers' admirable weekend play with a rare empty-net goal off a face-off.
With the Saturday win, the Badgers demonstrated the ability to carry over strong play from one game to the next, apparently distancing themselves from some Jekyll-and-Hyde-like weekends earlier in the season.
\I think we made a statement that we can play with the top teams in the league,"" Murray said.
Sauer also commented on Wisconsin's well-rounded play, suggesting it was simply a matter of his team finally doing what needed to be done.
""The real key is the guys played hard,"" Sauer said. ""It wasn't a fluke and anything else. We deserved to win.""
As evidence of Wisconsin's tough play, St. Cloud State's Mark Hartigan, the nation's leading goal scorer, had one goal Friday but was otherwise held in check all weekend by a superb Wisconsin defensive effort.
The Badgers also shut out St. Cloud's dangerous power-play unit and the Huskies came up scoreless on their nine power plays.
Bernd Bruckler, Wisconsin's freshman goaltender, played a big part in Wisconsin's defensive success as well. Bruckler stepped in for junior goaltender Scott Kabotoff, who strained a ligament in his left knee after getting caught under a pile of players during Friday's first period.
Bruckler may shoulder Wisconsin's goaltending load through next weekend, as Sauer tentatively deemed Kabotoff's status as questionable.
