The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers (15-3-2, 8-2-0 Big Ten) swept the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (3-14-0) over the weekend after a two week break.
Wisconsin shutout the Seawolves 5-0 in Madison Friday before winning Saturday’s contest 3-2.
Heading into the final stretch of the season with a .800 win percentage, the Badgers are looking like a top national championship contender.
New year, same strength
Freshman goaltender Daniel Hauser drew another start for Wisconsin on Friday, securing his fourth shutout of the season.
Wisconsin came out of the tunnel with a fire ignited by their 4-1 loss to No. 3 Western Michigan two weeks ago.
The Badgers dominated the first period with 35 shots as Alaska netminder Tyler Krivtsov stood on his head for 21 saves.
Hauser made three saves in the first, as four of the seven Seawolf shots went wide.
Three minutes into the second period, Wisconsin senior defenseman Ben Dexheimer was assessed a two-minute minor for boarding. Hauser made two saves, and junior forward Quinn Finley had a close chance 30 seconds into the penalty kill that hit a pipe.
The Badger’s first power play halfway through the game lacked urgency as Wisconsin landed no shots on goal.
With six minutes left in the second, Wisconsin went on their second power play. One minute into the man-advantage, freshman forward Blake Montogmery and Seawolf Pavol Funtek were assessed two-minute roughing penalties.
Alongside his minor penalty, Montgomery was given a 10-minute misconduct for abuse of officials. The 10-minute penalty didn’t affect the power play, but Montgomery was not allowed to play for 12 minutes as a result.
Fired up by the scoreless start and match penalties, Dexheimer scored on the power play with assists from Finley and sophomore forward Gavin Morrissey. With three minutes to go in the second period, Dexheimer wristed in the first goal of the game.
Starting off the first 2:30 of the third period with puck possession, the Badgers notched their second goal with 11 minutes to go. Sophomore forward Ryan Botterill grabbed his seventh goal of the year with a wrister between the circles that went bar down.
Senior forward Jack Horbach skated behind the net two minutes later and passed to freshman forward Bruno Idžan to knock in. With Idžan’s body in Krivtsov’s crease, the Badgers extended their lead to 3-0.
Over an outstretched Krivtsov, freshman forward Oliver Tulk sniped in Wisconsin’s fourth of the game from his knee to widen the gap 4-0. Tulk has 3 goals and 15 points in 20 games, cementing his place on the first line.
Once again on the power play, Tulk cycled the puck with sophomore defenseman Logan Hensler before passing it to freshman defenseman Luke Osburn. On his return from the World Juniors tournament, Osburn made his place with the Badgers known with a one-timer just past the blue line.
In front of a loud crowd of Badger faithful, Wisconsin was back in the win column.
Brooms out
Wisconsin beat Alaska Anchorage 3-2 on Saturday evening, with Hauser back in net.
With a power play seven minutes into the first period, the Badgers had a few chances to score that didn’t show on the scoresheet. They managed four shots before the end of the man-advantage.
Wisconsin kept possession of the puck for a majority of the next seven minutes before a hooking penalty put them back on the power play. Three seconds later, Dexheimer won the faceoff and passed to Morrissey. Morrissey then found Finley who put the Badgers on the board with a slapshot.
Within 70 seconds, freshman forward Finn Brink notched his fourth goal of the season on a wrap-around. With senior forward Tyson Dyck’s faceoff win and an assist from Tulk, Brink put Wisconsin up 2-0.
Alaska went on their first power play after a Wisconsin too-many-men penalty put senior forward Simon Tassy in the box. The Seawolves managed just one shot, which was blocked by sophomore defenseman Jack Phelan.
The second period ended with the Badgers ahead, and they extended their lead 10 minutes into the second period.
Hensler sat two minutes for boarding and Morrissey won the first faceoff. Dexheimer pitched the puck down the ice as Finley and senior forward Christian Fitzgerald raced down the ice for a two-on-two. Fitzgerald guided the puck down to the ice with his glove and set Finley up for a short-handed goal.
Botterill had to sit two minutes for boarding with just over seven minutes to go in the second period. The Wisconsin penalty kill resulted in a Seawolves goal to shorten the Badger’s lead to 3-1.
Alaska came out of the locker room for the third period looking like a new team. They kept the puck in the Badger’s defensive zone as Finley was the only Badger with a shot in over three minutes of play.
Alaska grabbed their second goal of the game against top six forwards in Tulk, Fitzgerald and Montgomery and top defenders in Hensler and junior Joe Palodichuk.
Alaska pulled Krivtsov with less than three minutes to go. The game got chippy as Tassy and Seawolf Judah Makway were assessed matching two minute roughing penalties, but the game ended shortly after with a Wisconsin win.
Wisconsin’s next matchup is against No. 4 Michigan State Thursday at 8 p.m. in a Big Ten showdown at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin swept the then No. 1 Spartans in November.
