After a huge Big Ten match-up against the Michigan Wolverines, the No. 17 Badgers are climbing the NCAA rankings ahead of their series against the No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday.
A three-goal comeback led to a 5-4 win on Friday, while a two-goal comeback led to a 4-4 tie that finished in a shootout on Saturday. This was the push the Badgers needed to finally jump into the Top 20 after falling out of the rankings late in October.
Wisconsin totaled a whopping 46 shots on goal Friday, their second-most-shot game this season. Saturday saw 28 shots on goal, with a more accurate .143 scoring percentage, which is above their average this season of .095.
The Badgers also saw improvement on their power play, scoring two power-play goals on Friday, one scored just seven seconds into the penalty. Saturday was less successful, letting three power plays slip away with no goal in the first period. Wisconsin played like they have all season: not letting the fight of the game get to them and keeping their play clean with only three penalties over the weekend.
Junior Christian Fitzgerald had a three-point weekend, scoring two goals on Friday and one goal on Saturday, doubling his goal production all season. Sophomore Quinn Finley also scored one goal on Saturday, holding his place atop team standings with 19 goals this season and 34 points. Finley sits at No. 3 in the top goal scorers in the NCAA.
The No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers will be a tough team to play. They currently rank No. 1 in NCAA rankings for offensive scoring, having 112 goals in 28 games, averaging four goals per game. The No. 2 team only has 90 goals.
Wisconsin’s defense will be battling high-scoring forward Jimmy Snuggerud and top point producers Connor Kurth and Matthew Wood. The Gophers also rotate their goaltenders frequently but primarily start Liam Souliere, who holds an impressive .923 save percentage.
The Badgers swapped goaltenders mid-game over the weekend, but senior goaltender Tommy Scarfone leads in net with a .908 save percentage, and sophomore William Gramme follows with .877. The Badgers bring junior defenseman Ben Dexheimer into the weekend, who is coming off a standout weekend with one goal and two assists for a huge three-point performance against the Wolverines.
Three of the last four games the Badgers played against the Gophers ended in losses, two of those being overtime losses. But Wisconsin does stand a real chance against this highly ranked team, especially on the power play. Minnesota opponents average a .258 conversion percentage against them, which Wisconsin could use to their advantage. Consistency is key to finishing out the season and climbing the rankings like the Badgers have been doing since the dip in the fall.
The games begin at 7 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis.
