A week after going to Mankato and sweeping Minnesota State, No. 2 Wisconsin now welcomes the Mavericks (7-20-1 WCHA, 12-21-1 overall) into Madison for the first round of the WCHA playoffs.
Over the two games last weekend, the Badgers (21-5-2, 25-5-2) outscored Minnesota State 8-2, led by a solid offensive performance from junior forward Blayre Turnbull.
Turnbull recorded four points in the series, including a pair of shorthanded goals in UW’s 5-1 win Friday night.
Success on the penalty kill is nothing new for Turnbull, notching five shorthanded goals on the season, tying her for the most in the country.
“I personally love penalty killing,” Turnbull said. “I feel like there’s a lot less pressure when you’re on the penalty kill than when you’re on the power play.”
With two shorthanded goals on Friday, she became just the second player in UW history to score multiple shorthanded goals in a game, and the first player in program history to score two in a period.
For her efforts, Turnbull was named the WCHA Co-Offensive Player of the Week, the second time in her career she received the honor.
But it wasn't just Turnbull contributing on offense. Seven different players scored in the Badgers’ two wins. As a team, they’re hoping to carry over some of the momentum they built last weekend against the Mavericks into the upcoming series.
“I think what was good about the weekend is that different people scored each night,” redshirt junior forward Brittany Ammerman said. “That’s always good going into the postseason, to have more people scoring. In the postseason, people have to step up.”
Ammerman, Wisconsin’s team points leader, recorded a goal last Friday in Mankato. The point pushed her season total to 22, which is seventh in the nation.
Heading into the postseason, the Badgers appear poised to make deep runs in both the WCHA and NCAA tournaments. However, the team also knows that they have to continue to improve if they want to make those expectations a reality.
One of the areas that UW head coach Mark Johnson believes is most crucial to playoff success is special teams.
“This time of year, you want your special teams to be good,” Johnson said. “You want to be disciplined and you want to take advantages of the opportunities you have, because the games tighten up and they’re lower scoring than the regular season.”
If special teams are a key to success in the postseason, the Badgers are in pretty good shape.
Wisconsin is one of the best teams in the country this season when it comes to special teams, ranking second in the nation on the power play and fourth in penalty killing.
“Everybody’s back at the starting line, and our objective is to come out and play better than we have all season,” Johnson said. “If you beat somebody and you eliminate somebody, that means their seniors are finished for their careers. In those environments, you usually get the other team’s best effort.”
