This past weekend was a big one for the Wisconsin men's hockey team. Minnesota came into town, trailing the Badgers by only three points in the WCHA standings. With only a handful of games left in the season, this Border Battle had some huge playoff implications.
The Gophers came into the Kohl Center and dominated the Badgers, completely outclassing them in a 5-2 victory Friday. The Badgers were going to have to regroup quickly to be able to bounce back in time for Saturday's game if they wanted to split the series.
In that series finale, the Badgers played one of their better games of the season, looking like a completely different team than the one that got trounced the night before. But, as hockey the gods have it sometimes, the game ended in a 3-3 tie.
As the game ended the Minnesota players slammed their sticks on the ice in frustration. In the middle of a tight playoff race, they knew how much a win in that game would have meant. They were leaving Madison with three of the four points from the series, but they weren't satisfied, they wanted more. That is the mentality you need to have in a playoff race.
I expected a similar reaction from Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves and the players after Saturday's game. There was no way they could be happy with letting their biggest rival come into their barn and leave with three out of four, right?
Wrong. To my surprise, the Badgers were complacent with what happened on Saturday.
""The way we came back tonight from last night, it's a positive,"" freshman forward Jefferson Dahl said. ""I think we're all happy with the effort we put out there today.""
I can see why the team would be all right with salvaging a point from Saturday's game. They did come back in a big way after Friday's game, played very well and deserved to win that game. Both teams are fighting for a home series in the WCHA playoffs (you need to finish sixth-place or higher to do that). Wisconsin came into the series in fifth place, Minnesota seventh. The way the WCHA standings look right now, seeding for the playoffs is completely up for grabs, which makes every game a playoff game for the Badgers from here on out.
Standings wise, the Gophers are still trailing Wisconsin, albeit by only one point now, so the end results weren't a complete disaster. But in the overall picture, the Badgers cannot be OK with managing a single point from a home series against a big rival that happens to be chasing down your spot in the standings. That is not going to get it done. At this point of the season, just playing well isn't enough. They don't give you effort points in the standings; the Badgers need wins.
They need to be in the mindset that anything less than a win isn't good enough. Wisconsin is 0-3-1 in their past four games against the two teams that are directly above and below them in the standings. With two series left, this weekend on the road in St. Cloud and at home against Colorado College (who is two points behind the Badgers) the weekend after that, the rest of the season is crucial for Wisconsin's seeding for the WCHA playoffs and they cannot afford to continue that trend.
The upcoming series for the Badgers are of vital importance for their postseason future. With Wisconsin holding onto home ice advantage by a mere two points, anything less than wins form here on out isn't going to cut it. Results like the ones from the Minnesota series should be considered unacceptable. That is the mentality that the team needs to have moving forward and will get Badgers to where they want to be this year.
Success in the playoffs will depend on what they are able to do in the next few weeks and that starts with the belief that failure is not an option.
Were you satisfied with the results of this weekend's border battle? E-mail Ryan at rmevans2@dailycardinal.com
