For the No. 6 Wisconsin men's hockey team (15-6-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, 20-8-2 overall), solid special teams play has been the staple of its success. Such was the case this past weekend as the Badgers struggled on the power play and the penalty kill, resulting in a tie and loss at now-No. 1 Denver (16-4-2, 21-6-2).
The Badgers have converted 21.4 percent of their power play opportunities this season and have scored on nearly 24 percent of their chances in the WCHA. However, it was their inability to convert the man-advantage which had them leaving Denver with one point instead of four.
On Friday night, a 4-3 loss, the Badgers went 0-for-5 on the power play. Included in those five chances was one early in the third period which could have tied the game and given the Badgers the momentum and perhaps even a victory. Instead, they were kept out of the net and ran out of steam in the Mile High city.
Saturday night was not any better. Wisconsin went 0-for-6 in a 3-3 tie. While sophomore forward Robbie Earl-who scored one goal and assisting on another-helped the Badgers score two goals in the final period to salvage the tie. It is not hard to believe that Wisconsin could have come away with two points instead of one.
But the concern does not lie solely in the statistics. The Badgers had few legitimate scoring opportunities on the weekend. A few times they even spent the full two minutes trying to dump the puck into the zone without any success in setting up their system.
Equally disheartening for the Badgers was that they allowed the Pioneers to score twice on five power play chances in the tie. They nearly stopped a five-on-three chance in the second period before the Pioneers scored on a one-timer. Then, senior goalie Bernd Br??ckler gave up a goal that he typically stops 99 times out of 100. He attempted to catch the puck, but it bounced off his glove and into the net.
Yet the Badgers continue to kill more than 88 percent of opponents' power plays, one of the best penalty kill percentages in the country.
Wisconsin will have its work cut out for it again this weekend-No. 3 Colorado College leads the league, converting on more than 27 percent of their power plays, and is third in penalty killing.
It all starts here this weekend if the Badgers want to stay in the hunt for the MacNaughton Cup. Having cashed in on just four of their last 39 power play attempts in their last seven games, the Badgers will need to turn that number around to beat the league-leading Tigers.
