Wisconsin's team-wide search for scoring may have ended Saturday night as the offense came alive in a 5-2 win over Minnesota-Duluth.
Offense was what the Badgers could not find when they needed it in Friday night's 2-2 tie after they squandered a late third period lead.
As a result, Mike Eaves decided again to change up his lines. With no new players stepping up on offense consistently, Eaves has been holding in-game auditions for line combinations and starting jobs. Saturday night, two freshmen presented their case to be permanent starters.
Freshman forward Ben Grotting began UW's scoring by one-timing a John Mitchell pass for his first collegiate goal. Late in the second period, freshman defenseman Jamie McBain gave Wisconsin the lead for good, utilizing a screen for his first goal.
""One thing that we have learned is that we have some young guys who can step in and play,"" senior forward and assistant captain Jake Dowell said after Saturday's win.
Dowell scored two goals himself Saturday, and has already scored as many goals this season (five) as he did in the championship run of last year.
Wisconsin, with the injuries to Ross Carlson, Kyle Klubertanz and Jack Skille last weekend, has just four offensive starters who saw playing time last season. A five-goal effort should give the team confidence heading into next weekend's championship game rematch with Boston College.
In goal, Wisconsin fans were reminded why they are so lucky to have a netminder as relaxed as Brian Elliott, as Duluth goalie Alex Stalock's over-aggressive tactics resulted in four empty net chances for the Badgers this weekend, none of which the Badgers were able to capitalize upon. Yet they were able to beat him seven times over the two games.
In Friday's game, Stalock's style took him away from the net and almost handed UW the game as junior forward Matt Ford hit the post near the end of the third. Elliott provides a contrast to this daring style, waiting for the puck to come to him and relying on his teammates to play the puck outside the crease.
""I would much rather have our style of goaltender,"" Badger head coach Mike Eaves said.
Until Grotting's goal, UMD had sucked all the energy out of the Kohl Center as fans pondered where the scoring would come from. Saturday night provided a glimpse into the future of this team: a wide distribution of scoring with no twenty-goal scorers. This year's team is much different than last year's because of the youth and lack of offensive leadership, although it seems Dowell has taken some scoring responsibility.
""Jake's almost going to become a poster child of our team's identity because we don't have that magic game-breaking type of performance player that ... you get from Robbie [Earl] or Joe [Pavelski],"" Eaves said.
