If the Wisconsin men's hockey team was expecting a scare at home on Halloween weekend, they warded off any possibility of that with a stout defense and a high-powered offense.
The Badgers ran over the New Hampshire Wildcats for their first series sweep of the young season. After a 4-1 victory on Friday night, in which Wisconsin attempted a season-high 51 shots and allowed a season-low 13, the Badgers routed the Wildcats 6-1 on Saturday night, capping off an emphatic weekend against a quality opponent.
The Badgers came out in control from the opening faceoff on Friday. While they did not tally a first period goal, they outshot the Wildcats 18-5 over the first 20 minutes and set the tone for what would be a high scoring weekend.
Early in the second period, freshman defenseman John Ramage scored his first goal as a Badger on a slap-shot rocket from the blue line. After the teams traded goals later in the period, sophomore Derek Stepan converted twice in the third to seal a 4-1 win for Wisconsin.
The Badgers kept the Wildcats goalie Brian Foster on his toes the whole night, registering at least 14 shots in each of the three periods en route to the season-high output.
Eaves said that, while the shots-on-goal discrepancy was a sign of total control, the scoreboard was not.
""You think of 6-1, 7-1 as a dominating type outcome of a game,"" he said after Friday's game.
Perhaps Eaves' players took note of that comment on Saturday. After another scoreless first period, the Badgers exploded for three goals in three minutes early in the second period. Senior Ben Grotting's goal at the 4:35 mark was sandwiched by two from Jordy Murray, including an unassisted breakaway goal to cap off the run.
The Badgers got three more goals in the third period to turn the game into a 6-1 rout. Wisconsin proved to be tough on defense as well, holding the Wildcats scoreless on five power-play opportunities.
""We played as a fist,"" Eaves said. ""There's an old analogy that if you play like a hand that's open, you're not as strong as if you play with your fingers closed and is a fist. We played as a unit out there.""
As always, a key part of that defensive unit is the goaltender, and Wisconsin got good play from junior Brett Bennett on Friday night and fellow junior Scott Gudmandson on Saturday night, in what has become a regular rotation.
Eaves praised the focus of each, saying of Bennett, ""It's tough to play in games when you're only getting 11 or 12 shots and he's done a nice job of staying focused. He came up with some nice saves in the first period.""
He had similar comments about Gudmandson following Saturday's win, saying that his goalie was ""good when he had to be.""
""There's a healthy competition between us,"" Gudmandson said. Every day we come to practice we both have to work and earn our spot on the ice""
This marks the first time this season that the Badgers (3-2-1) have swept an opponent, and it could not have come at a better time. New Hampshire plays in the Hockey East
Conference against elite opponents, and the victories will be a real asset to the Badgers when it comes time to select the NCAA Tournament field.
The Badgers have found a way to improve each week, and welcome the rival Minnesota Golden Gophers to the Kohl Center next weekend looking to continue the trend.
