In his weekly press conference, Wisconsin women's hockey head coach Mark Johnson discussed the team's last two wins against No. 10 Ohio State as well as the team's upcoming pair of games against Minnesota State.
The No. 1 Badgers (4-0-0 WCHA, 6-0-0 overall) extended their season-opening winning streak to six games with a series sweep of then-No. 10 Ohio State this past weekend. The Badgers won in an overtime thriller 6-5 Friday night, followed by a 5-2 victory Saturday night.
Johnson saw Friday's overtime victory as a huge boost for the young season.
""Offensively and creating opportunities, we were getting quite a few five-on-five,"" Johnson said. ""When you get as many chances as we were getting and their goaltending was stopping it, the tendency is to get frustrated; and I told them not to get frustrated. I knew we were going to get opportunities in the third period, and it was very entertaining and it was nice to win the game.""
""It was a good character-building opportunity for our team Friday night,"" Johnson said. ""When you're down 2-0 and 4-2, how are [you] going to respond? I thought we responded very well.""
Sophomore Brianna Decker was instrumental in the win, earning her second career hat trick, including the game-winner in overtime to seal the victory.
Johnson did have some criticisms, though.
""Of course our penalty kill wasn't very good Friday night, and Ohio State, with the personnel that they're able to put together on their power play obviously capitalized. And giving up four power-play goals certainly wasn't something that we were looking at,"" Johnson said.
The team reviewed Friday's film, and it was clear they learned a lot from it in preparation for the Buckeyes the next night.
""I thought we came back Saturday night and did a great job on our penalty kill,"" Johnson said.
In game two of the series, the Badgers held Ohio State scoreless on three power plays— a big improvement, allowing just one shot in that span.
Senior Meghan Duggan and junior Hilary Knight led the Badgers in Saturday's game with two goals apiece. Duggan also earned an assist to finish with a team-high three points.
Johnson and his team must now look ahead to this weekend, however.
Minnesota State (1-3-0, 2-3-1) split a series with No. 6 North Dakota this past weekend, taking the first game 4-2 and losing the second 6-1.
""I know [Minnesota State is] well-coached,"" Johnson said. ""They'll come in, a lunchpail-type of team, where they're gonna work hard and they'll be aggressive. They're coming off a split against North Dakota, who's a team that surprised several groups already in the short part of the season. They're capable of beating you. You have to stay disciplined.""
Tied with North Dakota for first place in the conference with 12 points, the Badgers look for their fifth-straight WCHA win Friday.
