Wisconsin captured just its second series sweep of the season with a 4-2 victory over Alaska Saturday night.
After the Badgers (6-12-6 overall, 1-7-2-1 Big Ten) compiled an impressive second period, they broke through in the third with four goals to secure the win.
“It was fun to watch them on the bench in the third period. They kinda took over, they were coaching each other,” head coach Mike Eaves said. “We got the timely goals tonight that we haven’t had earlier in the season.”
The Badgers came out strong in the first period, firing several shots on Nanook junior goalie Davis Jones. He was tested early and often, stopping a flurry of Wisconsin shots, including two rebound opportunities. But after Wisconsin held the zone for an extended period of time, freshman center Seamus Malone danced around an Alaska defender and sent a pass across the ice to freshman forward Will Johnson, who buried the golden opportunity.
The tide turned about midway through the period though as the Nanooks (5-11-4 WCHA, 7-15-4 overall) picked up their offensive pressure. Badger freshman goalie Matt Jurusik was forced to make several saves. The wave of shots caught up to Wisconsin, though, as freshman John Mullally found the back of the net off a rebound on a shot from junior Josh Erickson. Alaska continued to control the puck from that point forward, forcing Jurusik to make 16 saves, including several on a power play at the end of the period.
The Badgers turned it up a notch in the second, spending a significant amount of time in their offensive zone. With 15 minutes to go in the period, the Badgers gained control of the puck and did not give the Nanooks any offensive chances. Jurusik had to make nine saves in the second, seven less than he made in the first.
“We had a pretty good start, obviously to get that first goal was huge,” sophomore center Cameron Hughes said. “And then they had a push back, but we came out in the second and were a lot better.”
However, Wisconsin failed to put enough shots on the net, especially on the power play. The Badgers had excellent puck movement, but were too patient and did not test Jones enough.
Wisconsin reversed this trend in the final period. Freshman forward Luke Kunin scored a power-play goal in the first minute, lighting the lamp after a cross-ice pass from sophomore forward Adam Rockwood.
“The power-play goal right away got us going,” Eaves said.
Shortly after, sophomore Austin Vieth scored for the Nanooks, evening up the score at two. But the Badgers responded just over a minute later, as Jake Linhart knocked in a pass from Cameron Hughes.
“They responded but then we got right back which was a good response by our guys,” Eaves said.
Hughes then added a power-play goal of his own after several chances in front of the net that Jones turned away. After being denied on the power play in the second period, Wisconsin found the back of the net twice when they had a man advantage in the third, enabling the Badgers to complete the sweep.
“Each guy that had the puck was like the quarterback and they found the open receiver,” Eaves said. “That will give us some real good confidence as we move forward here.”
After the second period, the Badgers had a quick film session in the locker room to review the power play and discuss what they needed to do better in order to find twine. Eaves said Kunin was able to find the “seams” better in the third.
The Badgers have next weekend off and then take on Michigan in Big Ten play the following weekend. This series sweep, the first since Halloween weekend over Arizona State, could serve as a momentum builder going into that series.
