From the looks of things this weekend at the Kohl Center, it's probably a good thing the schedule-makers didn't have the Wisconsin and North Dakota men's hockey teams face off four times this season.
In a series that ended with a wild free-for-all and 10 ensuing ejections, the No. 10 Badgers (2-2 WCHA, 5-3 overall) and the No. 3 Fighting Sioux (3-3, 5-3-1) split two games. Wisconsin shut out North Dakota on Friday, 4-0, and the visitors took it to the Badgers for a 3-1 Saturday win.
The series began as a showdown between the top defense in the country and the second best offense. North Dakota's leading defense was allowing only 1.29 goals per game, while the Badger offense was scoring nearly five goals every 60 minutes.
Friday, it was the UW offense that prevailed, while junior goaltender Shane Connelly, in his first year as the primary backstop for the Badgers, turned in a memorable performance. He finished the night with 43 saves, including 25 in the third period.
UW head coach Mike Eaves said he got the ideal showing from Connelly, who got his fifth career shut out.
A, he was seeing the puck very well,"" Eaves said. ""And B, he couldn't have picked a better night to do that. We needed his effort. For a young team to get a goaltending show like that, it was part of the formula for us winning tonight. There's no question about it.""
The other part of that formula was the offense the Badgers brought to bear on the Sioux in the third period. The game was competitive through two periods, with the Badgers taking a 1-0 lead into the final 20 minutes. Junior Ben Street rebounded a shot by freshman Kyle Turris past UND senior goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, who brought a 1.05 goals against average to Madison.
In the third, the Badgers got an early power-play goal from freshman defenseman Brendan Smith, who took a rebound and shot from the circle past Lamoureux. Sophomore Blake Geoffrion added another goal to make it 3-0 with 6:22 remaining, and sophomore John Mitchell scored on an empty-netter before time ran out, bringing about deafening noise at the Kohl Center.
""It was a big game,"" Connelly said on Friday. ""I told myself I really needed to step up and help this team win.""
The Badgers brought a four-game winning streak against North Dakota into Saturday's game, but that string of victories would end. The Sioux had two goals before the first period was over, including one by junior T.J. Oshie with only 2.7 seconds left before intermission. Sophomore Chris VandeVelde had scored first on the power play 10 minutes in on a backhand shot from the slot past Connelly (31 saves).
Junior Andrew Kozek added another late in the second period, but not before Connelly provided a bright spot on an otherwise listless night for UW. Just minutes earlier, a diving Connelly used his stick to block, from mid-air, a point-blank shot from mere feet away. The play went under review and was ruled a save.
""It was just lucky,"" Connelly said afterward. ""My job is to keep the puck out of the net and that's what I tried to do.""
Senior Matthew Ford scored the lone Badger goal on a redirect from sophomore Jamie McBain's shot,. The Badgers thrown out included Smith, Street, freshmen Kyle Turris and Podge Turnbull, and senior Kyle Klubertanz.
""It's college hockey. For us ... we want to play hard between the whistles,"" said senior captain Davis Drewiske, clearly disappointed by the effort in the second game.
