Neither game was perfect. There were misplays, lucky bounces, a slew of power play scores and even a pair of disallowed goals.
At the end of Saturday night, however, the Wisconsin men's hockey team did something they had failed to accomplish since March of 2007: win three games in a row.
The Badgers (3-4-1 WCHA, 3-6-1 overall) swept Michigan Tech over the weekend, more than doubling their point total for the season.
Wisconsin's 6-0 victory Saturday looked excellent on the score sheet, but that overstates the Badger's performance.
We probably played average,"" Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said. ""You take a look at the 6-0 score and you think, wow, that's really something. But there's a little false gold there. The power play was five-for-seven. We still didn't do things as well as we wanted to 5-on-5 for whatever reason.""
The special teams were a highlight on Saturday as Wisconsin turned away all six of the Huskies' power plays and saw five of their nine power play shots make their way into the net.
The Badgers' scoring punch was spearheaded by junior forward Blake Geoffrion, who made himself comfortable in front of the Michigan Tech crease. Geoffrion scored the first and last Wisconsin goals, redirecting two long shots from sophomore defenseman Brendan Smith into the net.
""He's most effective when he's there and it's finally showing itself,"" Eaves said. ""I hope he continues to buy into it and plant that big body of his in front of the net and let the puck hit him and whack away at rebounds and tip pucks in because that's where he's being most effective right now.""
The game was also a first for sophomore goaltender Scott Gudmandson. The Alberta native had his first career shutout, stopping 34 Michigan Tech shots.
When the game was still 1-0, it appeared that the Huskies scored after the puck trickled through Gudmandson's pads and was slammed into the net. The referees, however, disallowed the goal, saying the whistle had been blown.
The Badgers had a bit more trouble with the Huskies Friday despite a fast start. Sophomore defenseman Ryan McDonagh opened the scoring for the Badgers just over a minute into the game.
That lead grew to two when junior defenseman Jamie McBain hit a long slap shot from the point with just 13 seconds left in the first frame. The Badgers scored once in the second period, when junior wing John Mitchell found himself all alone in the slot and fired the puck over Husky senior goaltender Rob Nolan.
""I just thought in the first period they were first to loose pucks, they won the 50/50 battles and I don't think we were very physical in the first period,"" Michigan Tech head coach Jamie Russell said.
After that, the game began to turn.
Senior center Alex Gagne got Michigan Tech on the board when he sent a rebound, which Wisconsin senior goalie had kicked away through an open net. Michigan Tech cut their deficit to one when freshman forward Alex MacLeod put back another rebound.
The Badger defense held strong for the game's final 13 minutes, and Wisconsin came away with the 3-2 win.
""When we didn't keep it simple '¦ when we did not get the puck deep and those types of things, that's what caused the flow to go the other way at times,"" Eaves said. ""That's something we will continue to pound with our guys, and again raise that level of consistency to get that puck in the zone and get that puck in the neutral zone.""
The Badgers got a fair amount of production from their core of defensemen over the weekend. Blueliners accounted for 15 points in the two games, 11 coming from McBain and Smith.
""When you talk about the points that our young defensive core has gotten, that's them playing to their strengths, that's them using what they have naturally,"" Eaves said. ""That's something that we want them to do. The fact they are doing it, it makes us a better team.""
In conference play, Smith ranks fourth in the WCHA in points, and McBain ranks first.
