Considering his team's spotty play this season, Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey head coach Mike Eaves asked the right question between games this weekend: could this team keep the momentum going?
The answer was definitive, as were the results. UW used a newfound burst of offense, scoring seven goals over two games to sweep Alaska-Anchorage by scores of 4-0 and 3-1 at the Kohl Center.
By taking all four points available in this conference series, the Badgers (10-11-1 WCHA, 13-15-2 overall) moved into a tie for sixth place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings. Perhaps just as important, the team established a degree of momentum as the regular season enters its final stages.
""There's a satisfaction,"" Eaves said following the first sweep at home this season. ""They worked hard. They did their part. Everybody pulled. At the end of the day, this is what we wanted to accomplish.""
UW carried over a solid week of practice and emerged Friday night an aggressive team. Late in the first period, junior Matt Ford got his seventh goal of the season on a sequence started by senior goalie Brian Elliott (15 saves, 15th career shutout, second career assist).
The Badgers added two more goals in a two-minute span late in the second. Senior Jake Dowell ripped a shot from the right circle for his team-leading 15th goal, and freshman Michael Davies scored on a rebound to put UW up 3-0. Davies added a power play goal in the third, giving him eight scores thus far in his first collegiate year.
Saturday night the Badgers and Seawolves played a scoreless first frame, but UW scored two goals in the second. Junior defenseman Davis Drewiske, who played his 100th career game Friday, was credited with his third goal of the season when his shot was redirected off the stick of an Alaska-Anchorage player.
""[The goal was] right what I was looking for,"" Drewiski said afterwards.
Seldom-used sophomore Tom Gorowsky got his third goal of the season on a breakaway after taking a well-placed feed from sophomore Ben Street. That goal turned out to be the game-winner for UW.
Gorowsky stepped in at right wing after Ford suffered an ""injury above the shoulders"" Saturday morning and was declared unable to play.
""Every time you're not in the lineup, you're itching to get in there,"" Gorowsky said. ""You always keep yourself ready no matter what.""
Freshman defenseman Jamie McBain added a goal in the third period, his third of the season, which put the Badgers up 3-0. Elliott (24 saves) allowed a score with just over nine minutes remaining, which stopped him from matching the WCHA shutout record.
It was quite possibly the only damper of the series for UW, which considers this past weekend mission accomplished.
""This is exactly what we needed to have done in order to get to where we want to be,"" Eaves said.
