The sizzling UW men's hockey team could not have picked a better time to be playing the No. 1 team in the country. The Badgers (5-0-1 WCHA, 6-1-1 overall) are fresh off a two-game sweep at No. 5 North Dakota (5-4-1, 1-3-0). The Badgers handily defeated the Fighting Sioux 4-2 and 4-1.
The special teams accounted for five of UW's eight total goals, with four goals coming from the power play and one in a short-handed situation. Head coach Mike Eaves cited the improvement of the offense.
'You talk about offense, you talk about an offensive rhythm'a flow. We've got more of that in our game right now,' Eaves said. 'The power play numbers have picked up, and I think our overall scoring has picked up. There's a couple new guys in there. We put [sophomore defenseman Joe] Piskula on one power play unit; that was different from last year. It's about getting back together, getting on the same page and having things happen as second nature.'
The Badger offense has most definitely picked up. In their first four games, UW was able to amass only nine goals while going 2-1-1.
In their last four games, all victories, the Badgers have been red hot, scorching opposing goalies for 19 goals. In these games, all but three players who have played in each game have contributed with at least one goal or one assist.
'Starting in the last game at St. Cloud [Oct. 22, a 3-1 victory] we came together and played as a team,' junior forward Robbie Earl said. 'We started [the season] a little slow, but I think everyone is contributing. All four lines can play the puck and everything is just meshing together really well.'
Of course, you cannot assess the recent success of the Badgers based only on special teams and offense. The stellar play of junior goaltender Brian Elliott is also worth mentioning.
'I think if you talk to his teammates'they shoot on Brian every day in practice'they'll tell you that the only reason he didn't start last year is because Bernd [Br??ckler] was an All-American goaltender,' Eaves said. 'He had to bide his time and wait for his opportunity; now he has that opportunity.'
Elliot has not allowed more than two goals in one game all season, and two of the three goals netted against him by North Dakota were on the power play. However, Elliott has his work cut out for him as the Badgers take on No. 1 Colorado College this weekend at the Kohl Center. The Tigers (9-1-0, 4-0-0) boast the top three scorers in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, including the leading goal scorer, senior left wing Brett Sterling and the league's assist leader, junior defenseman Brian Salcido.
They are the top-scoring team in the WCHA, scoring 40 goals thus far in the season and averaging an astounding four goals per game. Elliot knows he and the Badger defense have their work cut out for them.
'We know they're a good team, they've got a couple of big scorers obviously,' Elliot said. '[We need to] try to shut their top line down. If we can do that, we'll have a good chance this weekend.'
According to Elliot, the offense of the Badgers isn't too bad either.
'We've got some guys who can throw the puck in there as well,' Elliott said.
'It's nice to have that positive momentum going for us. We need to stay focused on that and keep riding it as long as we can,' Eaves said.
Given the strength of both teams, whichever squad comes to play will likely carry the day.
According to coaches and players, individual and team statistics matter far less than focusing on the task at hand and battling it out for three periods. 'Our focus, every weekend, is to go 2-0.'
