MINNEAPOLIS—On the last weekend of the regular season, Wisconsin had a chance to secure the No. 2 for next week's WCHA Tournament and enter the postseason riding a wave of momentum. Consider that mission half accomplished.
A 3-2 victory Friday night at the Target Center, coupled with a St. Cloud State loss, ensured the best conference finish in the tenure of head coach Mike Eaves and extended Wisconsin's winning streak to a season-high four games. Instead of capping the regular season slate with an exclamation point, however, Sunday's 6-1 loss provided the Badgers with a list of questions to answer before the playoffs begin.
The Badgers continued their power-play success Friday, as freshman forward Craig Smith and freshman defenseman Justin Schultz each converted with a man advantage before Smith added the game-winner at equal strength.
""We were able to do some good things on our first two power plays and were able to execute and take what was given,"" Eaves said. ""When [senior forward] Michael Davies made that pass to Schultz, it was like that was the receiver that was open and it was a touchdown.""
For all the positive influence that special teams had on the Badgers' victory Friday night, it had equal or greater negative influence Sunday afternoon at Mariucci Arena.
The Badgers failed to convert six power-play opportunities and allowed the Minnesota power play unit to explode for five goals, the most given up by the team this season. The five power-play goals came as a result of too many penalties and not enough discipline, but Davies also gave the Gophers' penalty-kill unit some credit for stifling the UW attack.
""They did a good job of scouting us from the last game,"" said Davies, who scored the only goal of the game for the Badgers. ""They really weren't giving us much, but we still have to execute and make those plays.""
Wisconsin racked up 13 infractions that led to eight power-play opportunities for the Gophers. The two teams tussled throughout the afternoon, including a sequence that earned junior defenseman Ryan McDonagh a 10-minute game misconduct penalty after he wrestled with Minnesota senior forward Ryan Flynn. The physical play resulted in a total of 74 penalty minutes and three major misconduct penalties.
""It's hard to win games when you're shorthanded and you can't stay five-on-five, which is one of our strengths,"" senior forward Blake Geoffrion said. ""Every time we would get something going we took a penalty and lost all of our momentum.""
Geoffrion fell one point short of the WCHA scoring title after entering Sunday's game with a chance to become the first Badger to lead the league since the 1977-'78 season, when Mike Eaves and Mark Johnson shared the award.
The Badgers begin WCHA Tournament play next weekend at the Kohl Center as the No. 2 seed with a best-of-three series against the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves.
