Coming off the team's first bye week since the winter break in December, the Wisconsin men's hockey team (7-13-2 WCHA, 12-14-2 overall) will host No. 10 Denver in their final home series of the regular season.
After tough back-to-back losses against St. Cloud State the last time they hit the ice, the Badgers are looking to get off to a quick start and shut down the Pioneers (12-6-4, 17-9-4) and their high-powered offense.
"We've got to come out in the first 20 minutes and compete," sophomore forward Michael Mersch said. "We've been emphasizing that because we had the last weekend off."
The bye week gave Wisconsin an opportunity to rest up and go out with a bang in their final home series, as well as put their last series behind them.
"It's our last series of the year at home, put on a show and get some wins," sophomore forward Tyler Barnes said when asked about his team's goals for this weekend. "We're going to have to wait 10 more months to get back on the ice. It's a big weekend, you definitely go out and give the fans something to watch."
Denver is coming off a sweep of No. 7 Minnesota at home last weekend and currently sits two points behind the Gophers for the top spot in the WCHA. The Pioneers have been on a tear lately, going 9-2-1 in their last 12 games while putting together one of the best offenses and power plays in the nation.
"Just like with every team we focus on [their power play]," Barnes said. "But with a team like that-they might be first in the WCHA in power play percentage so that's something we did take a look at."
The Pioneers are ranked first in the WCHA and sixth in the nation for power play percentage. They are No. 3 in the nation for total team offense (3.53 goals per game). If the Badgers want to shut down the Pioneers, they have to stay out of the penalty box and keep the puck in Denver's zone.
"We know who their good players are," Mersch said. "Our best play is to play in their offensive zone."
As teams begin to key in on the Badgers' two best offensive threats, sophomore forward Mark Zengerle and junior defenseman Justin Schultz, players like Mersch and Barnes have had to step up their scoring to keep their offense alive.
"That's something that we have to continue to do and maybe even bring up a little more," Barnes said. "We've had some close games where a little more production would get us a win."
The Badgers have dropped their last four straight games and head coach Mike Eaves admitted that the team would need help if they had any shot at home-ice advantage in the WCHA playoffs. The players however, are only focused on what they can do.
"That's out of our control, that's not something we want to focus on," Barnes said about looking at other teams for help. "I think the biggest thing for us is getting some momentum and some confidence and get our mojo going into the playoffs."
