After splitting its first conference series of the season before winter break, Wisconsin took a nearly month-long hiatus before returning to the ice with gusto last weekend.
The Badgers (10-7-1, 3-1) swept Michigan State right out of town, with a pair of 5-1 victories at the Kohl Center, moving into third place in the Big Ten.
But the big story over break was sophomore captain Luke Kunin, who captained Team USA to a gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship games. Team USA defeated arch nemesis Canada in a gold medal game for the ages, which ended in a shootout after neither team could break the 4-4 tie in overtime.
Kunin scored twice, had two assists and finished plus-3 in the tournament, a seven-game stretch in which the US didn’t lose a single contest. He played those seven games in 11 days, including the championship game Thursday night in Montreal and missed the Badgers first contest back from the break as a result. Wisconsin was able to win without him, but got a huge boost from him in the Saturday game as Kunin buried the puck twice to key Wisconsin.
UW has been impressive thus far, especially considering the last two abysmal seasons, but face a string of tough tests in the coming weeks. They still have to play No. 1 Penn State, No. 7 Minnesota and No. 11 Ohio State twice each. Sitting at just three games above 500, the Badgers will have to take more than a couple games from these top squads if they want to finish with a winning record for the first time in two years. The Badgers will learn a lot about the caliber of this year’s unit in the next few weeks.
Kunin and Wisconsin will also get a flash of the bright lights this semester, as they will take on Ohio State in the famed Madison Square Garden in two weeks.
