Anytime Wisconsin and Minnesota get together it is going to be a spirited affair, but when the Gophers come in to the series ranked No. 1 in the country, it is bound to carry a little extra weight.
Facing the nation's top-ranked team was a good test for a young Badgers squad (4-5-1 WCHA, 5-6-1 overall) and, for the most part, they didn't look overmatched against No. 1 Minnesota (7-1-0, 10-2-0), earning a series split with a 3-1 win on Friday before falling 4-1 Saturday.
In the series opener Friday the teams battled through a defensive, scoreless first period before Wisconsin broke through in the second with a flurry of goals.
Sophomore forwards Mark Zengerle and Tyler Barnes combined on a 2-on-1 for the game's first marker, with Zengerle tallying his fifth goal of the season-tying the team lead and matching his entire total from last year. The Badgers struck again just 45 seconds later with a goal from sophomore forward Keegan Meuer, building 2-0 lead.
Getting that second goal from Meuer so quick after the first was important for Wisconsin. Meuer's tally didn't allow the Gophers anytime to respond to the first goal and put the momentum firmly in the Badgers' hands, a valuable commodity when playing a team as talented as Minnesota.
"It was real big, anytime you can jump on a team maybe they are a little down or shell shocked from the first goal and the fans get into it you can jump on them again," Meuer said. "There is something about the Kohl Center when the fans get into it you start just pouring them on."
Sophomore forward Michael Mersch scored on a breakaway later in the period to build the Badger lead to a commanding 3-0. Minnesota's Jake Hansen added a goal in garbage time late in the third to close out the scoring.
Friday's win was Wisconsin's first against a No. 1 ranked team since the Badgers defeated then-No. 1 Denver, 6-3, in the 2010 WCHA Final Five third-place game.
After Friday's game UW head coach Mike Eaves warned that the Gophers would "have some hornets in their nest" for Saturday and Minnesota didn't disappoint, controlling the pace of play the entire night.
The Gophers outshot Wisconsin 33-14 for the game, including shot advantages of 12-4 in the first period and 13-5 in the third period. But, despite being outplayed, the Badgers still found themselves in a tie game, 1-1, heading into the third thanks to the play of their freshman goaltender Joel Rumpel.
Rumpel started both games against the Gophers-the first time he and fellow freshman Landon Peterson haven't split time in a series-and he justified the decision, making 19 stops through the first two periods Saturday, allowing the Badgers to weather the Minnesota storm and keeping Wisconsin in a game they shouldn't have been in.
"Rumpel was excellent. Excellent. He gave us a chance," Eaves said of his young net minder.
The Badgers appeared to have built momentum early in the third after killing off a five-minute Minnesota power play, but after two periods of dominating play by the Gophers, Wisconsin finally ran out of gas in the third.
After Minnesota's Taylor Matson gave the Gophers a 2-1 lead early in the period, the Badgers committed a pair of costly turnovers, leading to two unassisted Gopher goals from Nick Bjugstad and Nate Condon that sealed the game for Minnesota.
"We had a chance to win this thing and have a great weekend," Eaves said. "Unfortunately we went out and shot ourselves in the foot with some of the decisions we made with the puck and that cost us in the end."
Despite Saturday's result, junior defenseman Justin Schultz said that this weekend showed the mettle of this Badgers team.
"I think we definitely learned that we can compete with the top teams in the country," Schultz said.
