It is no secret that Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves preaches defense, but the offensive potential for the No. 12 Wisconsin Badgers (3-0-1 WCHA, 4-1-1 overall) hockey team was on full display this weekend in a two-game romp over the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (0-2-0, 2-4-0), rolling 6-1 Friday night and 5-1 Saturday night at the Kohl Center. In the two games, Wisconsin outshot Alaska 87-40.
From the opening faceoff Friday night, the first game of the series was all Wisconsin. The Badgers poured in two first-period goals, one by juniors Andrew Joudry and Ross Carlson and outshot Alaska 22-6 in the first frame, dominating territorial play.
The Seawolves looked shell-shocked in the first, but strong play from goalie John DeCaro and a late power-play goal by Mark Smith kept the game 2-1 after the first period.
Sophomore Joe Pavelski kept the Badgers' momentum going into second period, scoring just 34 seconds into the second frame. But the always-pesky Seawolves were refreshed in the second and played much better, regrouping after an awful start. Despite Alaska's improved play, Wisconsin senior Nick Licari was able to net his first goal of the season late in the period, which was the back-breaker in the game for Alaska. After two periods, Wisconsin led 4-1, and a pair of third-period goals by junior forwards Robbie Earl and Andrew Joudrey sealed the strong Friday night win.
'I thought we were clearly outplayed tonight. We just didn't compete, especially in the one on one battles,' Alaska Anchorage head coach Dave Shyiak said.
Saturday night was a much different story for the two teams, despite the 5-1 final score. Alaska weathered the initial onslaught of Wisconsin in the first period, keeping the first period scoreless thanks to fantastic play from Alaska goaltender Nathan Lawson.
'I thought [Lawson] had a great performance tonight ... we didn't give him much help offensively, but he's one of those guys that can steal hockey games for us,' Shyiak said.
The two teams traded off goals in the second period. First Earl scored for the Badgers, then Merit Waldrop, during four-on-four play, scored for Alaska. But special teams would be the difference-maker in the hard-fought contest. Midway through the second period, the Seawolves were on the power play with a chance to take a 2-1 lead in the game. Instead, it was Wisconsin that took the lead on a great short-handed goal by Licari, who chipped a rebound up and over the sprawling Lawson.
The goal seemed to seal the fate of Alaska Anchorage for the weekend. In the third period, despite having only a one-goal lead until 11 minutes left in game, the Badgers played confident hockey, scoring three goals and finishing off the Seawolves 5-1. Line mates Ben Street and Ross Carlson were all over the place in the third, with Street picking up a pair of goals, while Carlson contributed two great helpers. Carlson had an excellent weekend and was Wisconsin's best player Saturday. Despite crashing into the post early in the first period, Carlson played on, and simply got better and better all night.
'[Carlson] ran into the goal post early and banged his knee up, but he fought through it and did a really inspirational job leading this team tonight,' head coach Mike Eaves said.
Licari hopes that the hard work and effort shown by the Badgers in their dominating wins this past weekend will carry over to next weekend's North Dakota series.
'We have a lot of talent on this team, but talent can only get you so far,' Licari said. 'You have to work hard every night, and I think we really have that going right now.'
