If the Wisconsin men's hockey team has one thing for which it is far from thankful, it might be the annual Thanksgiving weekend College Hockey Showcase.
The UW men's hockey team fell 4-1 to Michigan (6-1-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association, 10-2-1 overall) Friday and 2-1 to Michigan State (3-4-0 CCHA, 6-6-1 overall) in overtime Saturday, extending its losing streak to four games overall and seven games in the Showcase. The Badgers (1-5-0 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, 5-9-0 overall) also dropped to a disappointing 2-17-1 in 10 years of the tournament.
The weekend had some bright spots, though, and some came right away Friday. Badger senior defenseman Mark Jackson started the scoring, beating Michigan freshman goalie Al Montoya with a slap shot from the point. Wisconsin went on its first power play less than two minutes later, and it looked as though this year's young squad was about to take a major step toward exorcising some of its tournament demons.
The Showcase, though, quickly became a showcase for the nation's top penalty killers and for a hopeless Badger power play unit. Michigan quickly got a short-handed two-on-one rush, and sophomore defenseman Eric Werner tied the game.
The mishap definitely foreshadowed what was to come for the Badgers' special teams. Wisconsin's power play unit struggled all night as it has much of the season.
Just two seconds into a power play for a late hit penalty, MU senior forward John Shouneyia sent a shot past Wisconsin sophomore goalie Bernd Bruckler to beat the first period buzzer and usher a shocked UW team to the locker room.
Wisconsin Head Coach Mike Eaves considered that first intermission a \moment of truth,"" like many other Badger opportunities Friday night. At most of these moments Friday Wisconsin simply didn't do what needed to be done at crucial times. In this instance, the team started the second period flat, even after coaches told players to stay positive. No fire returned to the Wisconsin bench until Michigan began putting the game out of reach.
Still, after the team brought back some intensity, Eaves wasn't entirely disheartened.
""At least I thought we battled,"" Eaves said. ""From a system standpoint, we were in the right spots in the right times. We didn't execute when we got there.""
The late charges may have helped the Badgers come out much stronger Saturday night. Michigan State did stumble upon a 1-0 lead in the second period, though, when freshman forward David Booth scored on a fortuitous turnaround shot to convert one of just three Michigan State power plays.
Junior wing Rene Bourque netted a game-tying power play goal of his own in the third period, ending Wisconsin's 0-33 drought in November. Sophomore center Alex Leavitt assisted on the goal by holding a weak Michigan State clearing attempt in the Badger offensive zone and connecting with Bourque just outside the crease.
If not for a couple inches, Wisconsin's two third-period shots that hit goal pipes might have given their struggling offense an explosive three-goal period. Instead, the game went to overtime, and the Spartans won on another blind turnaround shot by senior defender John-Michael Liles.
The Badgers felt that like the night before, the third period could be something on which they can capitalize. They recorded 16 shots on Michigan State sophomore goalie Matt Migliaccio, and the number of late scoring opportunities the Badgers had encouraged their head coach.
""We can take that period and we can do something with it,"" Eaves said. ""We gave ourselves a chance to win that game.\
