Every year, the four weeks of February seem to produce a knockdown, drag-out fight for bragging rights atop the WCHA, and this year is no different. With four weeks remaining in the regular season, the top five teams are separated by only four points. The Badgers (11-6-3 WCHA, 16-7-4 overall) enter the stretch run looking to gain ground against a Minnesota State team that has long since exited the race and is attempting to play spoiler. The puck drops at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers enter the weekend tied with Colorado College for fourth place in the conference with 25 points. They trail Denver (28 points), St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth (29 each). While the Badgers do have an extra weekend of conference play remaining over St. Cloud and UMD, they still need a little help if they hope to hoist the MacNaughton Cup in early March. Senior forward Aaron Bendickson noted that while scoreboard watching is natural late in the year, moderation is important.
""You don't want to dwell on it, but obviously we all look at it,"" he said. ""Every night you really have to focus the game more than anything.""
This weekend, that focus centers around a Mavericks squad that has struggled to string wins together this year. Minnesota State (5-13-2, 12-14-2,) ranks eighth in the conference in both scoring offense (2.45 goals per game) and defense (3.2 goals against per game). However, it plays a physical brand of hockey and will try to slow the pace of the game down.
""Mankato always plays you tough,"" Bendickson said. ""You know it's always going to be a grind out there against them.""
If the Mavericks keep the Badgers from getting out and creating opportunities in transition, special teams will become even more important than usual. For Wisconsin, that means keeping junior Brendan Smith and the power play rolling after two conversions in Saturday's win over Michigan at Camp Randall Stadium.
""It just helped our whole squad on the power play,"" Smith said. ""I've been kind of taken away a lot so finally I got my chance. If they try to take me away we've still got the backdoor to Blake [Geoffrion].""
While the power-play unit attempts to sustain production, Bendickson and the penalty kill have been solid all year. In conference play, the Badgers currently have the second-ranked PK unit in the WCHA at 86 percent. Bendickson has driven the success of the unit by forechecking aggressively and frustrating teams as they attempt to advance the puck up the ice.
""As a team we really focus on pressure during the penalty kill,"" he said. ""We just need to keep it up and keep our feet moving.""
As the men's basketball team found out this week, getting help from other teams in the conference will not do the Badgers any good if they fail to take care of the Mavericks this weekend. That fact was not lost on the UW coaching staff or Smith.
""On the locker room board they've got the quote ‘Take care of your home,'"" he said. ""We're going to take care of it.""
