To hear head coach Mike Eaves tell it, there was a silver lining amid this past weekend's results at the Kohl Center. Yes, the Badger hockey team (3-4-1 WCHA, 4-6-2 overall) was swept for the second-straight time at home, dropping their overall and conference records below the break-even point.
But Saturday's performance by the Badgers—they broke out of a scoring funk with three goals and showed grit making up a two-goal deficit in the third period, only to lose with 14 seconds left in overtime—showed that the team may be starting to turn the corner.
""The feeling in the locker room,"" after the game Saturday, according to Eaves, ""was, you know what, we're coming out of this. We're moving in the right direction.""
On the basis of points earned, the Badgers have entered a deep freeze over the past three weeks. They were swept by Boston College in a showdown between top-ranked teams, then took to the road for a series against Alaska-Anchorage, where effort was in question after UW failed to complete a sweep.
Then, this past weekend, the Badgers were shut out Friday. But encouraging signs could be found after Saturday night's contest, in which the Badgers showed marked improvement. The team fired a season-high 42 shots and made a spirited comeback in the third period.
It all adds up to five losses in six games— and a drop from second in the polls all the way to 14—but, as Eaves sees it, the team has reason to feel encouraged.
""We talked about the fact that when you're in a hole, the first rule of thumb is to stop digging,"" Eaves said. ""We stopped digging [Saturday]. We started focusing on things that are going to help us get back in that offensive flow and get things happening.""
With several difficult series in the near future, the Badgers have picked a good time to change their ways. They travel to Minnesota this weekend to take on the second-ranked team in the nation, and play two more top-10 teams—Michigan and Michigan State—the following weekend. Third-ranked North Dakota awaits the Badgers afterwards.
""When you're in these type of things, you wish you could turn on a dime,"" Eaves said. ""But, unfortunately, that's not real life. But [Saturday] was part of that step of turning that ship around and blowing it in the direction that we want it.""
The Badgers have a Saturday/Sunday weekend series against the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis this coming weekend.
