The No. 18 Wisconsin men's hockey team (3-2-1) returns home this weekend to square off against WCHA conference rival Michigan Tech (3-0-2).
The Badgers will be looking for their first win in conference play after failing to come away with a victory last weekend against Denver. Following an admittedly poor showing on Friday against the Pioneers, the Badgers players and coaches believe there is a lot they can build off of from their Saturday performance, despite only coming away with a tie.
""We came out flat on Friday,"" freshman forward Mark Zengerle said. ""We didn't have our best performance but we like what we were able to do on Saturday. We probably should have won that game, but we had team highs in blocked shots and hits, and the preparation and energy were there so we have to build off of that.""
Michigan Tech comes into Madison this weekend, and the Badgers will be seeing a much different Huskies team from the one they swept the season series from last season, outscoring them 24-6 in the process.
The Huskies have been one of the biggest surprises in college hockey this year, and come into this weekend's series with an undefeated record. Boasting a prolific offensive attack that is averaging almost five goals per game.
""They have a new year, new life, new attitude, and are believing in themselves right now,"" head coach Mike Eaves said. ""Their power play is second in the country, penalty kill is in the high 80s, and they score around five goals a game.""
""They are a big team and they come after you,"" he added. ""They like to position guys at the front of the net so we need to try to block them out from getting to the front of the net. They are a pretty simple team, they get the puck back and they try to get it to the net. A lot of their goals have been rebounds and stuff like that.""
Sophomore defenseman John Ramage said Wisconsin will try to use their home ice to slow Micigan Tech's momentum.
""They are coming in hot right now and are going to try to come in and take four points from us,"" Ramage said. ""But this is our barn and we're going to have to match their intensity.""
""We have more team speed than they do,"" Zengerle said. ""We have to take advantage of that, but we have to show up right away on Friday and be ready to play.""
Despite the gaudy offensive statistics that Michigan Tech has put up this season, senior goaltender Scott Gudmanson is confident in the ability of his defense to keep the Huskies' scorers in check this weekend.
""Last year we had one of the top defensive corps in the country, and I definitely believe we do again this year,"" he said. ""We have experienced guys back there like [Jake] Gardiner, Ramage, and [Justin] Schultz. They just have to play well and the forwards need to back check, help us out, block a lot of shots and I think we'll be fine.""
