A lot of talk in the post-game centered around the events at the end of the second period, with Jack Skille's goal and then the scrum by the benches just a few seconds later. But in my mind, it was how the Badgers played in the other 59 minutes of the game that really made the difference. The game was almost a reverse of Friday night with the Mavericks being the team that came out really flat in the first period.
"I thought it was a good game after the first period," said Maverick coach Troy Jutting.
The biggest difference between Friday and Saturday night was that Wisconsin came out in the first period and really set the tone on Saturday night. Mike Eaves tried to make every excuse for his team on Friday night, saying the Wisconsin was coming off a bye week, and wasn't able to practice on the Kohl Center ice all week, though it should be noted that both statements were also true for their opponents.
Mike Eaves said he wasn't as hard on his team after Friday's loss as he might have been earlier in the season. "We’re at that time of the year when I have to get off my soapbox and they have to be responsible," said Eaves.
I mentioned Mike Davies quote about the importance of Wisconsin getting the lead in my game recap, and I think that's a really big thing for the Badgers. Mike Eaves really stresses to his players the idea of being "patiently persistent," but I think that strategy works better when they're in the lead.
Mike Eaves downplayed "The Shane Connelly" effect after the game, as did Jake Dowell who said "We were frustrated with last night. I don't think it makes a difference if Shane is in or Brian is in."
But it is interesting that Connelly has started three games the Saturday after a loss and has only allowed one goal total. Part of that could also be because Connelly is really improving as a goalie.
"When I see Shane in practice, he's stopping more pucks. His teammates would tell you that it's getting harder and harder to beat him in practice," said Eaves.
Troy Jutting seems to be on some sort of septuple secret probation with the WCHA. He was pretty subdued, yet again, on the bench, despite a pretty controversial play going against Minnesota State at the end of the second period.
Jutting said he didn't see the play involving Skille and Brownlee, though his tone and expression said otherwise. He would have been more believable if he said he was the Queen of England. I half expected him to break out the Rasheed Wallace "Both teams played hard" line.
He was even more brief when describing the start of the fight in front of his bench. When asked if he saw what started the fight, he gave a simple nod and said "Mmhmm," and when asked if he wanted to elaborate, just said "No."
Andy Baggot of the Wisconsin State Journal asked him if his tongue was bleeding.
Travis Morin maintained that he wasn't involved in the fight at the end of the second period, and looking at Morin's track record as a player, it's certainly believable. On his way from the penalty box to the locker room after the second period was over, he swung by referee Marco Hunt to let him know how he felt about the call.
The non-call on Skille was a mistake by Marco Hunt, but it was an honest mistake. The second period was extremely physical, and you can't really blame him for keeping an eye at what was going on behind the play. It's tough for one referee to see the entire ice. Is that an argument for having two referees on the ice for games? Perhaps, but it's anecdotal, and there are also situations where two referees would hurt.
I get as frustrated as anybody with the quality of officiating in the WCHA, but I can live with guys making the occassional mistake like that, because they are human. I get frustrated when I see each team held to a different standard on the ice by the officials, and I certainly don't think that was the case this weekend. Missing an obvious call that leads to a big goal is certainly way less subtle than not calling an obstruction penalty on one team after calling the same play on the opposing team earlier in the game, but also much more forgivable.
Wisconsin ended up getting an extra penalty out the fight at the end of the second period, but the penalties ended up benefiting the Badgers more than the Mavericks. The Mavericks lost three forwards for 14 minutes of game time, and due to some injuries, coach Jutting said they only had 7 available forwards for that stretch. The Mavericks were also without their entire top line with Travis Morin in the penalty box and Jon Kalinski and Mick Berge out with injurues.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota State-- Saturday Recap
After last night’s loss to Minnesota State, Wisconsin came into Saturday’s contest desperately needing a victory. Because the Badgers had labeled this as a “must-win” game, it may seem strange that head coach Mike Eaves decided to start sophomore goalie Shane Connelly over All-American Brian Elliott.
But this was Connelly’s third start of the season following a Badger loss on Friday night, and for the third time this season, Connelly led the Badgers to a victory; this time a 4-1 victory where Connelly made 17 saves.
“I just get excited,” said Connelly after the game. “Playing goaltender, you have enough pressure on you anyway. I get excited to know that the team is going to need someone to step up.”
Not only did Connelly step up for the Badgers, but the entire Badger team stepped up their play from Friday night’s loss.
“We went out there and played relentless from the start, said Jack Skille, who scored his first career hat trick for the Badgers.
The Badgers were rewarded for their relentless play at 11:01 of the first period. Seconds after a penalty to Minnesota State’s Jason Wiley had expired, Badger freshman Mike Davies collected a rebound from Ross Carlon behind the net and beat Maverick goalie Mike Zacharias to give the Badgers their first lead of the weekend.
“I think we have a little bit more jump in our step with the lead,” said Davies.
The Badgers out shot Minnesota State 17-2 in the first period, including 9 shots on four powerplay attempts, but could not extend their lead in the period.
The second period looked as though it would be scoreless, until the 18:21 mark of the second period when Jack Skille scored a controversial goal. Skille and MSU defenseman Chad Brownlee both raced after a puck in the Minnesota State zone, and Brownlee was the first one to reach the puck, but it look as though Skille tripped Brownlee, causing him to fall, which allowed Skille to gain possession and fire a backhand past Zacharias.
The strangest part of the play, however, was that despite the play happening on the puck, nobody on the ice seemed to see what happened.
“(Referee Marco Hunt) told me that he didn’t see the play,” said Maverick captain Travis Morin.
“I didn’t see what happened,” said Minnesota State coach Troy Jutting, who offered no further commentary on the subject.
“I didn’t see it. I was getting the next line up,” said Badger coach Mike Eaves.
Even Jack Skille, who didn’t have the benefit of pleading ignorance seemed unsure of what happened.
“He beat me to the puck, and somehow he fell. I’m not sure,” said Skille, while letting a small smile escape his face.
A similar bout of temporary blindness affected both coaches 42 seconds later when a fight broke out in front of the Minnesota State bench, which led to 3 players from each team being assessed 2 minute penalties and 10 minute misconducts. Wisconsin’s Blake Geoffrion also picked up an extra two minute penalty.
“I didn’t see it. I was trying to keep my guys on the bench,” said Coach Jutting, who once again wasn’t willing to say much on the topic.
“I saw Blake Geoffrion get smoked, and that’s all I saw,” said Eaves.
Badger forward Jake Dowell saw the altercation as a result of the intense atmosphere of the game.
“It was just an intense game. Everybody is scrapping for points. Everybody is going to stick up for their teammate. I’m surprised it didn’t get worse.”
Minnesota State closed Wisconsin’s lead to one goal when Joel Hanson fired a shot from the point on the powerplay that bounced off the post and into the net. But the Badgers answered back just 15 seconds later when Skille scored his second goal of the game.
“That was huge,” said Jutting.
Skille closed out the evening with an empty-net goal to give the Badgers the 4-1 win.
“It’s somewhat bittersweet in that we didn’t win last night,” said coach Eaves of the victory.
The Badgers will take on Colorado College next weekend in Colorado Springs, while the Mavericks will host Michigan Tech.
But this was Connelly’s third start of the season following a Badger loss on Friday night, and for the third time this season, Connelly led the Badgers to a victory; this time a 4-1 victory where Connelly made 17 saves.
“I just get excited,” said Connelly after the game. “Playing goaltender, you have enough pressure on you anyway. I get excited to know that the team is going to need someone to step up.”
Not only did Connelly step up for the Badgers, but the entire Badger team stepped up their play from Friday night’s loss.
“We went out there and played relentless from the start, said Jack Skille, who scored his first career hat trick for the Badgers.
The Badgers were rewarded for their relentless play at 11:01 of the first period. Seconds after a penalty to Minnesota State’s Jason Wiley had expired, Badger freshman Mike Davies collected a rebound from Ross Carlon behind the net and beat Maverick goalie Mike Zacharias to give the Badgers their first lead of the weekend.
“I think we have a little bit more jump in our step with the lead,” said Davies.
The Badgers out shot Minnesota State 17-2 in the first period, including 9 shots on four powerplay attempts, but could not extend their lead in the period.
The second period looked as though it would be scoreless, until the 18:21 mark of the second period when Jack Skille scored a controversial goal. Skille and MSU defenseman Chad Brownlee both raced after a puck in the Minnesota State zone, and Brownlee was the first one to reach the puck, but it look as though Skille tripped Brownlee, causing him to fall, which allowed Skille to gain possession and fire a backhand past Zacharias.
The strangest part of the play, however, was that despite the play happening on the puck, nobody on the ice seemed to see what happened.
“(Referee Marco Hunt) told me that he didn’t see the play,” said Maverick captain Travis Morin.
“I didn’t see what happened,” said Minnesota State coach Troy Jutting, who offered no further commentary on the subject.
“I didn’t see it. I was getting the next line up,” said Badger coach Mike Eaves.
Even Jack Skille, who didn’t have the benefit of pleading ignorance seemed unsure of what happened.
“He beat me to the puck, and somehow he fell. I’m not sure,” said Skille, while letting a small smile escape his face.
A similar bout of temporary blindness affected both coaches 42 seconds later when a fight broke out in front of the Minnesota State bench, which led to 3 players from each team being assessed 2 minute penalties and 10 minute misconducts. Wisconsin’s Blake Geoffrion also picked up an extra two minute penalty.
“I didn’t see it. I was trying to keep my guys on the bench,” said Coach Jutting, who once again wasn’t willing to say much on the topic.
“I saw Blake Geoffrion get smoked, and that’s all I saw,” said Eaves.
Badger forward Jake Dowell saw the altercation as a result of the intense atmosphere of the game.
“It was just an intense game. Everybody is scrapping for points. Everybody is going to stick up for their teammate. I’m surprised it didn’t get worse.”
Minnesota State closed Wisconsin’s lead to one goal when Joel Hanson fired a shot from the point on the powerplay that bounced off the post and into the net. But the Badgers answered back just 15 seconds later when Skille scored his second goal of the game.
“That was huge,” said Jutting.
Skille closed out the evening with an empty-net goal to give the Badgers the 4-1 win.
“It’s somewhat bittersweet in that we didn’t win last night,” said coach Eaves of the victory.
The Badgers will take on Colorado College next weekend in Colorado Springs, while the Mavericks will host Michigan Tech.
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota State-Saturday Live Updates
6:28- Connelly gets the start for tonight to shake things up a little bit. He's pitched a shutout twice this season when starting in similar situations.
6:30- In case anyone was curious, the pre-game meal was BBQ torilla chips and fresh salsa, potato salad, steamed green beans, and ribs. I thought BBQ ribs would be a disaster, but I escaped with only a little stain on the cuff of my shirt.
6:54- I saw Jon Kalinski walking around the concourse. He had a slight limp, but it didn't look too bad. My guess is that he'll be ready for next weekend.
7:00-The Badgers take the ice. It's loud in here, as always, but there seems to be way less student turnout. Perhaps it's a late arriving crowd.
7:01: The PA announcer finally learned how to say Mike Zacharias' name.
The Mavericks are starting their third line of Stewart-Bruess-Irwin, and their top D pairing of Kilburg and Wagner.
Wisconsin is starting their top D pairing of Klubertanz and Jeff Likens, and their first line of Joudrey-Skille-Dowell.
After the national anthem, Eric Gregor, who won the 1998 Hockey Humanitarian award is out to honor Andrew Joudrey on being a finalist for the award.
1st period
20:00- The puck drops and we're underway.
Stewart brings the puck into the zone and fires it wide.
Mick Berge tries to jam a puck in from the side of the net, but Connelly stops it.
Wisconsin gets their first shot from the point, and Zacharias stops it with his pad.
MSU picks up the games first penalty. R.J. Linder gets called for interference.
17:24- Wisconsin gets a great shot from the point that just misses the net. They fire another shot from the point that Zacharias covers.
Another shot from the point and another save.
A third shot off the post hits the post cleanly. It was low to the ice and Zacharias never saw it.
MSU kills off the penalty, but UW is still threatening. They finally clear center ice and dump the puck in for a change.
15:00- Steve Wagner backchecks hard to break up a potential 2-on-1.
14: 27-Kurtis Kisio picks up his own rebound and tries to fire it under Connelly, but he traps it in his pads.
12:24- UW finally ices it after a long stretch of play. Tonight seems a little faster-paced than yesterday's first period, and the Badgers are hitting a lot harder.
A pass along the boards hits Marco Hunt, allowing MSU to clear the puck. Jason Wiley trips a Badger at the other end of the ice and gets a penalty. This will be UW's second powerplay.
10:43- UW fires a hard shot from a low angle that Zacharias is able to kick out. The Badgers bring it back into the zone, but offsides.
9:57- Ross Carlson fans a pass across teh crease that probably would have went for a goal. The Badgers keep control in the zone though. Carlson fires another shot that Zacharias makes a nice save on. Zacharias makes another save.
Carlson fires another shot that Zacharias saves.
Wisconsin goal. Off Carlson's rebound, Mike Davies takes the puck around the net and scores on the wraparound. 1-0 Wisconsin
Scoring on the goal was Davies from Carlson and Jamie McBain at 11:01 of the first.
8:06- R.J. Linder takes a bad penalty by tackling Jack Skille away from the play. All the momentum is giong Wisconsin's way right now.
Brian Kilburg gets away with a possible hit from behind.
Kilburg makes a nice play to block a cross-crease pass that saves a goal.
6:09- Four seconds left on Linder's penalty and a face-off outside the MSU zone.
MSU kills off the penalty.
Travis Morin makes a great play at the blueline, and Stewart gets a nice shot off.
UW comes back and Lucas Fransen takes Jack Skille hard into the net. It looks like MSU is also going to get a penalty on Chad Brownlee, so UW will get another powerplay.
Wagner gets his stick down to block a pass across the crease and save a goal. MSU ices the puck.
3:27: MSU kills off the penalty.
3:15- Wisconsin gets called for their first penalty. Andy Brandt gets called for interference right off the face-off.
Morin fires a quick one-timer that is blocked and cleared.
Nice work by Ben Street in the MSU zone to kill time on the powerplay. MSU isn't doing much with their powerplay.
UW kills the powerplay.
28.2- MSU's fourth line keeps play in the UW end, and UW ices it. Kurtis Kisio has some words with Jake Dowell after the whistle.
10.1- MSU is going to get another powerplay as Jake Dowell heads to the box for elbowing.
0:00- And the first period ends. Score: Wisconsin 1 Minnesota State 0
Wisconsin really controlled the play that period. They had way more powerplays, but that was a result of them having a little more jump than the Mavericks.
Stats for the period:
Wisconsin attempted 24 shots, had two blocked, and four that missed the net, along with one pipe, for 17 total shots. They had 9 shots on their powerplay.
MSU attempted 10 shots and 6 were blocked by the defense. They also had two that missed the net for only two total shots.
Wisconsin only had 24 shots on goal last night, and already have 17 tonight.
2nd Period
20:00: And we're ready to start the second period.
Ross Carlson catches MSU on a change and fires a big slap shot, but Zacharias is in position and stops it.
18:48- Jerad Stewart fires a shot from the halfboards that Connelly catches and hangs onto.
Stewart fires a shot from the point that Connelly drops, but knocks down. MSU goes offsides.
UW kills off the penalty without much threat.
MSU looks to be trying to set the tone physically this period.
16:16- Geoff Irwin fires a wrist shot from the slot that Connelly gloves. The shot probably would have been over the net anyway.
Irwin caught Olinger with his head down and laid him out with a nice hit in the corner.
14:39- Zacharias makes two amazing saves, then MSU comes down and Connelly is forced to stop a tough shot.
13:39- Trevor Bruess has a shot tipped out of play on a rush up the ice.
10:38- The hitting has really picked up from both sides. This is turning into a very physical game. MSU is starting to control the play a little more too and get a territorial advantage.
9:25- Zacharias makes another tough save on a Wisconsin rush.
Jason Wiley tries to hit Blake Friesen in the slot, but the puck hops over his stick.
8:14: Fisticuffs! UW goes offsides, but after the play, Brian Kilburg and Ben Street went into the boards, which led to some pushing and shoving. Kilburg gets a double minor, while UW's Klubertanz only gets one. UW powerplay.
Travis Morin gets a great chance on the penalty kill, but his low, hard shot was kicked out by Connelly.
He gets another rush and fires a quick wrist shot that gets behind Connelly, but Connelly pounces on it before it goes over the line. It probably didn't have enough steam to get over the line even if he hadn't, but still very close to a goal.
MSU kills off the penalty.
Geoffrion circles all the way around the net, but can't get the backhander on net. UW takes an interference penalty away from the puck and MSU will get a powerplay. The call is on Grotting for interference.
Wagner gets a shot through that Connelly stops. Hanson fires a one-timer that Connelly blocks and UW clears.
Andy Brandt gets a breakaway but shoots the puck wide of the goal.
Wisconsin scores. Chad Brownlee beat Jack Skille in a footrace for the puck, but Skille tripped Brownlee, picked up the puck and fired a backhand past Zacharias. Skille unassisted at 18:21
1:38- There's some pushing and shoving right off the face-off and Matt Tyree and Mike Davies will both go to the box.
Now there's a huge fight in front of the Maverick bench. Trevor Bruess is pretty fired up, and isn't making any friends in Madison.
I kind of wish Bruess would have dropped the gloves. Apparently he was a pretty good fighter in juniors. When I was in Omaha, I talked with his housing parent from Lincoln, and he said Bruess once dropped a guy from the Lancers then skated over to the Lancer bench and challenged their entire team to a fight.
The refs are trying to sort this out right now, which could take a while.
MSU will come out of this with an extra two minutes, and more importantly, Travis Morin gets a 10 minute misconduct. Morin, Bruess, and Harrison all get 2 and 10 for the Mavs. Blake Geoffrion gets a double minor and a 10. Jamie McBain gets a 2 and 10. MSU gets a powerplay.
Connelly makes two huge saves and the period expires with Wisconsin leading 2-0.
Travis Morin had some choice words for Marco Hunt after the period. I have a hard time believing Morin did anything to earn a 10 minute penalty.
Between period entertainment is a youth hockey game. The poor kids had to wait at the door for like five minutes thanks to that fight at the end.
That was a better period from Minnesota State. It's a shame they gave up that goal at the end of the period, and now find themselves in a really deep hole. UW really caught a break on that second goal. I don't know if Marco Hunt wasn't watching the play or what.
The bigger loss though is that they will be without captain Travis Morin for half of the third period. He's been the best player on the ice for the Mavericks again tonight.
Second period stats:
For Wisconsin: 14 shots attempted, three blocked, and one missed. 10 shots on goal and one went in.
For Minnesota State: 19 attempted shots, four blocked, four missed for 11 shots on goal, with none going in.
Game totals MSU: 13 shots on goal Wis: 25 shots on goal
The penalties in that period were off the charts, literally. They ran out of space on the scoresheet.
3rd period
Teams are back on the ice and we're almost ready to get underway. MSU will have 27 seconds of 4-on-3 and then another 40 seconds of 5-on-4 hockey.
Irwin fires a one-timer too high and it goes out of play, bringing the face-off outside the zone.
MSU is going to get another powerplay. Likens gets called for roughing.
MSU has a brief 5 on 3. They're now only one man down. MSU really misses Morin and Kalinski, who both play on the top powerplay unit.
Goal MSU. A shot from the point by Joel Hanson goes off the post and in. It's a whole new hockey game now.
Goal Wisconsin. MSU turns the puck over in their own end and Jack Skille buries it over Zacharias' glove hand. 3-1 Wisconsin.
MSU's goal: Hanson from Wagner and Mouillierat at 2"06
Wisconsins' goal: Skille from Drewiske at 2:21
14:33- Skille has a chance in front but can't corral it, then is gimpy as he gets up. But it looks like he skated it off.
11:46- Drewiske hits the side of the net from the left point
Joudrey fired a huge slapper that Zacharias stopped.
11:13- Joel Hanson gets called for tripping in the neutral zone and Wisconsin will go back on the powerplay.
Jerad Stewart gets a shorthanded two-on-one and tees a big shot that Connelly just barely stops.
8:55- Zacharias makes another huge save on a shot off a pass from behind the net. Zacharias has had an outstanding game.
7:06: Zacharias stops a shot from the point, and there is a mass migration from the penalty box as all six players with 10 minute misconducts head back to the bench.
6:51- Now Mouillierat and Davies mix it up a little bit. Nevermind. Davies is the only one to get a penalty for boarding. MSU powerplay.
Morin beats Connelly, but the puck catches his glove and goes over the net. MSU needs to score on this PP to make a game of this.
UW kills off the penalty.
Mike Davies had a mini-breakaway, but Brian Kilburg got back and broke it up.
1:18- Dowell has a chance in front but knocked the puck down with a high stick.
Timeout Minnesota State
MSU gets a change off the faceoff but Connelly stops. Connelly is without a glove for a couple seconds, but he recovers it.
Goal Wisconsin. Jack Skille buries the empty-netter to get a hat trick. 4-1 Wisconsin.
Skille from Joudrey at 19:03.
UW fans want a 5th goal to get free ice cream, but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.
And the game is over. Wisconsin wins 4-1 to earn a split on the weekend.
I'll be back with postgame in a bit.
6:30- In case anyone was curious, the pre-game meal was BBQ torilla chips and fresh salsa, potato salad, steamed green beans, and ribs. I thought BBQ ribs would be a disaster, but I escaped with only a little stain on the cuff of my shirt.
6:54- I saw Jon Kalinski walking around the concourse. He had a slight limp, but it didn't look too bad. My guess is that he'll be ready for next weekend.
7:00-The Badgers take the ice. It's loud in here, as always, but there seems to be way less student turnout. Perhaps it's a late arriving crowd.
7:01: The PA announcer finally learned how to say Mike Zacharias' name.
The Mavericks are starting their third line of Stewart-Bruess-Irwin, and their top D pairing of Kilburg and Wagner.
Wisconsin is starting their top D pairing of Klubertanz and Jeff Likens, and their first line of Joudrey-Skille-Dowell.
After the national anthem, Eric Gregor, who won the 1998 Hockey Humanitarian award is out to honor Andrew Joudrey on being a finalist for the award.
1st period
20:00- The puck drops and we're underway.
Stewart brings the puck into the zone and fires it wide.
Mick Berge tries to jam a puck in from the side of the net, but Connelly stops it.
Wisconsin gets their first shot from the point, and Zacharias stops it with his pad.
MSU picks up the games first penalty. R.J. Linder gets called for interference.
17:24- Wisconsin gets a great shot from the point that just misses the net. They fire another shot from the point that Zacharias covers.
Another shot from the point and another save.
A third shot off the post hits the post cleanly. It was low to the ice and Zacharias never saw it.
MSU kills off the penalty, but UW is still threatening. They finally clear center ice and dump the puck in for a change.
15:00- Steve Wagner backchecks hard to break up a potential 2-on-1.
14: 27-Kurtis Kisio picks up his own rebound and tries to fire it under Connelly, but he traps it in his pads.
12:24- UW finally ices it after a long stretch of play. Tonight seems a little faster-paced than yesterday's first period, and the Badgers are hitting a lot harder.
A pass along the boards hits Marco Hunt, allowing MSU to clear the puck. Jason Wiley trips a Badger at the other end of the ice and gets a penalty. This will be UW's second powerplay.
10:43- UW fires a hard shot from a low angle that Zacharias is able to kick out. The Badgers bring it back into the zone, but offsides.
9:57- Ross Carlson fans a pass across teh crease that probably would have went for a goal. The Badgers keep control in the zone though. Carlson fires another shot that Zacharias makes a nice save on. Zacharias makes another save.
Carlson fires another shot that Zacharias saves.
Wisconsin goal. Off Carlson's rebound, Mike Davies takes the puck around the net and scores on the wraparound. 1-0 Wisconsin
Scoring on the goal was Davies from Carlson and Jamie McBain at 11:01 of the first.
8:06- R.J. Linder takes a bad penalty by tackling Jack Skille away from the play. All the momentum is giong Wisconsin's way right now.
Brian Kilburg gets away with a possible hit from behind.
Kilburg makes a nice play to block a cross-crease pass that saves a goal.
6:09- Four seconds left on Linder's penalty and a face-off outside the MSU zone.
MSU kills off the penalty.
Travis Morin makes a great play at the blueline, and Stewart gets a nice shot off.
UW comes back and Lucas Fransen takes Jack Skille hard into the net. It looks like MSU is also going to get a penalty on Chad Brownlee, so UW will get another powerplay.
Wagner gets his stick down to block a pass across the crease and save a goal. MSU ices the puck.
3:27: MSU kills off the penalty.
3:15- Wisconsin gets called for their first penalty. Andy Brandt gets called for interference right off the face-off.
Morin fires a quick one-timer that is blocked and cleared.
Nice work by Ben Street in the MSU zone to kill time on the powerplay. MSU isn't doing much with their powerplay.
UW kills the powerplay.
28.2- MSU's fourth line keeps play in the UW end, and UW ices it. Kurtis Kisio has some words with Jake Dowell after the whistle.
10.1- MSU is going to get another powerplay as Jake Dowell heads to the box for elbowing.
0:00- And the first period ends. Score: Wisconsin 1 Minnesota State 0
Wisconsin really controlled the play that period. They had way more powerplays, but that was a result of them having a little more jump than the Mavericks.
Stats for the period:
Wisconsin attempted 24 shots, had two blocked, and four that missed the net, along with one pipe, for 17 total shots. They had 9 shots on their powerplay.
MSU attempted 10 shots and 6 were blocked by the defense. They also had two that missed the net for only two total shots.
Wisconsin only had 24 shots on goal last night, and already have 17 tonight.
2nd Period
20:00: And we're ready to start the second period.
Ross Carlson catches MSU on a change and fires a big slap shot, but Zacharias is in position and stops it.
18:48- Jerad Stewart fires a shot from the halfboards that Connelly catches and hangs onto.
Stewart fires a shot from the point that Connelly drops, but knocks down. MSU goes offsides.
UW kills off the penalty without much threat.
MSU looks to be trying to set the tone physically this period.
16:16- Geoff Irwin fires a wrist shot from the slot that Connelly gloves. The shot probably would have been over the net anyway.
Irwin caught Olinger with his head down and laid him out with a nice hit in the corner.
14:39- Zacharias makes two amazing saves, then MSU comes down and Connelly is forced to stop a tough shot.
13:39- Trevor Bruess has a shot tipped out of play on a rush up the ice.
10:38- The hitting has really picked up from both sides. This is turning into a very physical game. MSU is starting to control the play a little more too and get a territorial advantage.
9:25- Zacharias makes another tough save on a Wisconsin rush.
Jason Wiley tries to hit Blake Friesen in the slot, but the puck hops over his stick.
8:14: Fisticuffs! UW goes offsides, but after the play, Brian Kilburg and Ben Street went into the boards, which led to some pushing and shoving. Kilburg gets a double minor, while UW's Klubertanz only gets one. UW powerplay.
Travis Morin gets a great chance on the penalty kill, but his low, hard shot was kicked out by Connelly.
He gets another rush and fires a quick wrist shot that gets behind Connelly, but Connelly pounces on it before it goes over the line. It probably didn't have enough steam to get over the line even if he hadn't, but still very close to a goal.
MSU kills off the penalty.
Geoffrion circles all the way around the net, but can't get the backhander on net. UW takes an interference penalty away from the puck and MSU will get a powerplay. The call is on Grotting for interference.
Wagner gets a shot through that Connelly stops. Hanson fires a one-timer that Connelly blocks and UW clears.
Andy Brandt gets a breakaway but shoots the puck wide of the goal.
Wisconsin scores. Chad Brownlee beat Jack Skille in a footrace for the puck, but Skille tripped Brownlee, picked up the puck and fired a backhand past Zacharias. Skille unassisted at 18:21
1:38- There's some pushing and shoving right off the face-off and Matt Tyree and Mike Davies will both go to the box.
Now there's a huge fight in front of the Maverick bench. Trevor Bruess is pretty fired up, and isn't making any friends in Madison.
I kind of wish Bruess would have dropped the gloves. Apparently he was a pretty good fighter in juniors. When I was in Omaha, I talked with his housing parent from Lincoln, and he said Bruess once dropped a guy from the Lancers then skated over to the Lancer bench and challenged their entire team to a fight.
The refs are trying to sort this out right now, which could take a while.
MSU will come out of this with an extra two minutes, and more importantly, Travis Morin gets a 10 minute misconduct. Morin, Bruess, and Harrison all get 2 and 10 for the Mavs. Blake Geoffrion gets a double minor and a 10. Jamie McBain gets a 2 and 10. MSU gets a powerplay.
Connelly makes two huge saves and the period expires with Wisconsin leading 2-0.
Travis Morin had some choice words for Marco Hunt after the period. I have a hard time believing Morin did anything to earn a 10 minute penalty.
Between period entertainment is a youth hockey game. The poor kids had to wait at the door for like five minutes thanks to that fight at the end.
That was a better period from Minnesota State. It's a shame they gave up that goal at the end of the period, and now find themselves in a really deep hole. UW really caught a break on that second goal. I don't know if Marco Hunt wasn't watching the play or what.
The bigger loss though is that they will be without captain Travis Morin for half of the third period. He's been the best player on the ice for the Mavericks again tonight.
Second period stats:
For Wisconsin: 14 shots attempted, three blocked, and one missed. 10 shots on goal and one went in.
For Minnesota State: 19 attempted shots, four blocked, four missed for 11 shots on goal, with none going in.
Game totals MSU: 13 shots on goal Wis: 25 shots on goal
The penalties in that period were off the charts, literally. They ran out of space on the scoresheet.
3rd period
Teams are back on the ice and we're almost ready to get underway. MSU will have 27 seconds of 4-on-3 and then another 40 seconds of 5-on-4 hockey.
Irwin fires a one-timer too high and it goes out of play, bringing the face-off outside the zone.
MSU is going to get another powerplay. Likens gets called for roughing.
MSU has a brief 5 on 3. They're now only one man down. MSU really misses Morin and Kalinski, who both play on the top powerplay unit.
Goal MSU. A shot from the point by Joel Hanson goes off the post and in. It's a whole new hockey game now.
Goal Wisconsin. MSU turns the puck over in their own end and Jack Skille buries it over Zacharias' glove hand. 3-1 Wisconsin.
MSU's goal: Hanson from Wagner and Mouillierat at 2"06
Wisconsins' goal: Skille from Drewiske at 2:21
14:33- Skille has a chance in front but can't corral it, then is gimpy as he gets up. But it looks like he skated it off.
11:46- Drewiske hits the side of the net from the left point
Joudrey fired a huge slapper that Zacharias stopped.
11:13- Joel Hanson gets called for tripping in the neutral zone and Wisconsin will go back on the powerplay.
Jerad Stewart gets a shorthanded two-on-one and tees a big shot that Connelly just barely stops.
8:55- Zacharias makes another huge save on a shot off a pass from behind the net. Zacharias has had an outstanding game.
7:06: Zacharias stops a shot from the point, and there is a mass migration from the penalty box as all six players with 10 minute misconducts head back to the bench.
6:51- Now Mouillierat and Davies mix it up a little bit. Nevermind. Davies is the only one to get a penalty for boarding. MSU powerplay.
Morin beats Connelly, but the puck catches his glove and goes over the net. MSU needs to score on this PP to make a game of this.
UW kills off the penalty.
Mike Davies had a mini-breakaway, but Brian Kilburg got back and broke it up.
1:18- Dowell has a chance in front but knocked the puck down with a high stick.
Timeout Minnesota State
MSU gets a change off the faceoff but Connelly stops. Connelly is without a glove for a couple seconds, but he recovers it.
Goal Wisconsin. Jack Skille buries the empty-netter to get a hat trick. 4-1 Wisconsin.
Skille from Joudrey at 19:03.
UW fans want a 5th goal to get free ice cream, but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.
And the game is over. Wisconsin wins 4-1 to earn a split on the weekend.
I'll be back with postgame in a bit.
Saturday's Line Charts
For Minnesota State:
Kevin Huck-Travis Morin-Mick Berge
Joel Hanson-Zach Harrison-Kael Mouillierat
Geoff Irwin-Trevor Bruess-Jerad Stewart
Matt Tyree-Kurtis Kisio-Jason Wiley
Steve Wagner-Brian Kilburg
R.J. Linder-Blake Friesen
Lucas Fransen-Chad Brownlee
Mike Zacharias
Chris Clark
Jon Kalinski and Nick Canzanello are the scratches for Minnesota State.
Kalinski was injured in a collision into the boards last night. He was able to return to the game last night, but wasn't able to skate that well this morning, so he is out tonight, but it doesn't sound like a long-term injury.
Canzanello was a coach's decision.
For Wisconsin:
Jake Dowell-Andrew Joudrey-Jack Skille
Ross Carlson-Blake Geoffrion-Michael Davies
Ben Street-Aaron Bendrickson-Ben Grotting
Matt Ford-Andy Brandt-Tom Gorowsky
Kyle Klubertanz-Jeff Likens
Davis Drewiske-Jamie McBain
Joe Piskula-Matt Olinger
Shane Connelly
Brian Elliott
Jamie McBain is back in the lineup for Josh Engel after missing last night due to illness.
Obviously the big surprise is that Connelly will get the start in goal for Wisconsin instead of Brian Elliott.
Kevin Huck-Travis Morin-Mick Berge
Joel Hanson-Zach Harrison-Kael Mouillierat
Geoff Irwin-Trevor Bruess-Jerad Stewart
Matt Tyree-Kurtis Kisio-Jason Wiley
Steve Wagner-Brian Kilburg
R.J. Linder-Blake Friesen
Lucas Fransen-Chad Brownlee
Mike Zacharias
Chris Clark
Jon Kalinski and Nick Canzanello are the scratches for Minnesota State.
Kalinski was injured in a collision into the boards last night. He was able to return to the game last night, but wasn't able to skate that well this morning, so he is out tonight, but it doesn't sound like a long-term injury.
Canzanello was a coach's decision.
For Wisconsin:
Jake Dowell-Andrew Joudrey-Jack Skille
Ross Carlson-Blake Geoffrion-Michael Davies
Ben Street-Aaron Bendrickson-Ben Grotting
Matt Ford-Andy Brandt-Tom Gorowsky
Kyle Klubertanz-Jeff Likens
Davis Drewiske-Jamie McBain
Joe Piskula-Matt Olinger
Shane Connelly
Brian Elliott
Jamie McBain is back in the lineup for Josh Engel after missing last night due to illness.
Obviously the big surprise is that Connelly will get the start in goal for Wisconsin instead of Brian Elliott.
Women's Hockey Game Notes
Wisconsin was a pretty impressive team. Minnesota State coach Jeff Vizenor seemed to think that they were the best team in the country.
Wisconsin just had such a speed advantage that they were able to dominate the game. Their defenseman were able to take a lot of chances offensively, and if they did get caught, they had the speed to recover.
For as good as Wisconsin was, they actually had some trouble breaking their puck out of the zone when they got the puck in deep.
My frame of reference in terms of women's college is so incredibly limited, but if there was a team that could match Wisconsin's speed, I could see them being a little vulnerable in those respects.
Sara is just an outstanding player. The comparison I would make it to Colorado College's Marty Sertich. She's great at controlling the puck along the sideboards and finding a passing lane to set up a teammate for an open shot.
Defenseman Meaghan Mikkelson is the sister of WHL player and Anaheim Ducks top prospect Brendan Mikkelson. Meaghan played an outstanding game today and looks like a great player.
Bauer's last goal came with less a minute left, and though Vizenor wouldn't comment on it, he did not look pleased that Wisconsin's top line was out with less than a minute and scoring a goal.
Wisconsin just had such a speed advantage that they were able to dominate the game. Their defenseman were able to take a lot of chances offensively, and if they did get caught, they had the speed to recover.
For as good as Wisconsin was, they actually had some trouble breaking their puck out of the zone when they got the puck in deep.
My frame of reference in terms of women's college is so incredibly limited, but if there was a team that could match Wisconsin's speed, I could see them being a little vulnerable in those respects.
Sara is just an outstanding player. The comparison I would make it to Colorado College's Marty Sertich. She's great at controlling the puck along the sideboards and finding a passing lane to set up a teammate for an open shot.
Defenseman Meaghan Mikkelson is the sister of WHL player and Anaheim Ducks top prospect Brendan Mikkelson. Meaghan played an outstanding game today and looks like a great player.
Bauer's last goal came with less a minute left, and though Vizenor wouldn't comment on it, he did not look pleased that Wisconsin's top line was out with less than a minute and scoring a goal.
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota State-- Women's Game Recap
The city of Madison is often referred to as “70 square miles surrounded by reality,” but for the Minnesota State women’s hockey team, it was their trip to Madison that returned them to reality.
After winning seven straight games, including a sweep of the University of Minnesota last weekend, the Mavericks lost 8-0 to the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday afternoon at the Kohl Center and were swept by the Badgers on the weekend.
Wisconsin controlled the play early on, getting goals from Meaghan Mikkelson at 3:48 of the first period, and Meghan Duggan at 6:15 of the first period.
“They’re deadly when they get a lead,” said Minnesota State head coach Jeff Vizenor.
The Badgers got one more goal from Heidi Kletzien at 16:27 to close out the first period. The Badgers never looked back after that and added two more goals in the second period and three more in the third.
“They played like the top team in the country,” said Vizenor.
Leading the way for the Badgers was standout senior Sara Bauer, who scored assisted on the first two Badger goals, and the last Badger goal, with two goals of her own in the middle to finish with 5 points. Linemate Meghan Duggan had two goals and two assists.
Perhaps the biggest positive for Minnesota State to come out of this series is that it is over. After facing Minnesota and Wisconsin on consecutive weekends, the Mavericks will face an easier schedule in 6th place Bemidji State, 7th place St. Cloud, and 4th place Ohio State to close out the regular season. Only Ohio State is a ranked team, at 10th in the country.
“Obviously we’d love to be 4-0(in our last 4 games),” said Vizenor, “but if you had told me two weeks ago that we’d be 2-2 against two ranked teams, I would have said ‘Alright’ That’s the way we have to look at that series.”
After winning seven straight games, including a sweep of the University of Minnesota last weekend, the Mavericks lost 8-0 to the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday afternoon at the Kohl Center and were swept by the Badgers on the weekend.
Wisconsin controlled the play early on, getting goals from Meaghan Mikkelson at 3:48 of the first period, and Meghan Duggan at 6:15 of the first period.
“They’re deadly when they get a lead,” said Minnesota State head coach Jeff Vizenor.
The Badgers got one more goal from Heidi Kletzien at 16:27 to close out the first period. The Badgers never looked back after that and added two more goals in the second period and three more in the third.
“They played like the top team in the country,” said Vizenor.
Leading the way for the Badgers was standout senior Sara Bauer, who scored assisted on the first two Badger goals, and the last Badger goal, with two goals of her own in the middle to finish with 5 points. Linemate Meghan Duggan had two goals and two assists.
Perhaps the biggest positive for Minnesota State to come out of this series is that it is over. After facing Minnesota and Wisconsin on consecutive weekends, the Mavericks will face an easier schedule in 6th place Bemidji State, 7th place St. Cloud, and 4th place Ohio State to close out the regular season. Only Ohio State is a ranked team, at 10th in the country.
“Obviously we’d love to be 4-0(in our last 4 games),” said Vizenor, “but if you had told me two weeks ago that we’d be 2-2 against two ranked teams, I would have said ‘Alright’ That’s the way we have to look at that series.”
Minnesota State vs. Wisconsin- Women's Game
I'm all set here in the Kohl Center for today's women's game between #2 Wisconsin and Minnesota State. There's probably about 50-100 people here in the arena about 45 minutes before game time. Wisconsin won yesterday's game by a score of 5-0.
1:27-Both teams are out on the ice for warm-ups. To be honest, I had seen the MSU women's road jerseys before. That's a whole lotta purple. For those who also haven't seen them, they're purple with a black stripe in the middle and the gold Minnesota State 'M' in the center and gold names/numbers.
Wisconsin has outscored their opponents 116-28 this season. In 6 non-conference games, they've only allowed one total goal.
1:42-More people are coming in. The crowd isn't looking so bad. I think there's easily going to be more people here than at the game in Omaha between UNO and MSU two weeks ago. Yesterday's crowd was only listed at 857, but was a weekday afternoon. The largest crowd MSU has played in front of this season was 1110 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. Today's game should easily top that.
Line Charts for today's game:
For Wisconsin:
Jinelle Zaugg-Sara Bauer-Meghan Duggan
Angie Keseley-Erika Lawler-Jasmine Giles
Heidi Kletzien-Kayla Hagen-Phoebe Monteleone
Tia Hanson-Emily Kranz-Kyla Sanders
Bobbi-Jo Slusar-Emily Morris
Mikka Nordby-Meaghan Mikkelson
Alycia Matthews-Rachel Bible
Christine Dufour
Jessie Vetter
Alannah McCready
For Minnesota State:
Kristina Bunker-Amanda Stohr-Jodi Helminen
Maggie Fisher-Ashley Young-Christina Lee
Kala Buganski-Shera Vis-Lindsay Macy
Jenna Hewitt-Brittany Mackley-Noelle Needham
Sammy Miller-Kathleen Rosso
Andreanne Thibault-Ida Clark
Richelle St. Croix-Megan Jedinak
Britni Kehler
Katerina Geertsen
Jen Gorny
For those not familiar, Wisconsin's Sara Bauer is the big gun for the Badgers. She won the Patty Kazmaier Award last year as college hockey's top player, and is second in the country in scoring this season. Jinelle Zaugg and Bobbi-Jo Slusar are two other big names for the Badgers. For Minnesota State, junior Lindsay Macy and sophomore Maggie Fisher are the top scorers. The Mavericks also have a strong goalie in Brit Kehler.
1:57-There's an extremely vocal group of about 10 young girls behind the MSU net who are showing a great deal of enthusiasm.
Both teams take the ice. I'd guess there's probably about a 1000 or so people in the stands. It's certainly not the same as the men's game, but for a women's hockey game, the crowd support is pretty good.
Minnesota State will start their third line and second defensive pairing. The Badgers will start their top defensive pairing and second line.
1st period
20:00- The puck drops and we're under way.
MSU controls the face off, but UW recovers and comes back the other way with a 3-on-1 that Brit Kehler stops.
UW wins a face-off and comes in on Kehler on a breakaway, but Kehler makes another great save.
18:05-Meaghan Duggan had Kehler down and out in front of hte net but put a backhand off the crossbar. That's three defensive breakdowns already for MSU.
Wisconsin scores. After cycling the puck around the MSU zone, a quick pass from Sara Bauer allows a streaking Meaghan Mikkelson to deflect the puck past Kehler. Goal scored by Meaghan Mikkelson with an assist from Sara Bauer. Time of hte goal, 3:48. 1-0 Badgers
MSU takes the games first penalty as Sammy Miller takes a Wisconsin player into the MSU net. She's called for interference.
14:57-Meaghan Mikkelson takes a shot from the point that is stopped, and UW can't get a handle on the rebound before it's covered.
A big shot from Bobbi Jo Slusar is deflected out of play.
Goal Wisconsin. Sara Bauer passed it from the point ot Meghan Duggan at the goalline and she stuffed it past Kehler for the PP goal. Meghan Duggan with the goal from Sara Bauer and Alicia Matthews. Time of the goal is 6:15. 2-0 Wisconsin
11:08-A nice move by Jodi Helminen in the neutral zone allows her to skate in and get the Mavericks first shot of the game. Dufour is able to hang onto the puck to get the whistle.
After a rough start, the Mavericks are getting some pressure in the Wisconsin zone with Maggie Fisher's line, but only get one shot out of it.
8:01-Sara Bauer circles the zone and fires a low shot that Kehler stops.
6:09-A rush by Kristina Bunker of MSU leads to a nice slap shot that Dufour holds on to.
Goal Wisconsin. An excellent shift from Wisconsin's third line leads to a shot and a rebound that deflects over Kehler and into the net. Goal scored by Heidi Kletzian with an assist to Kayla Hagen at 16:17 of the first. 3-0 Wisconsin.
Sammy Miller takes another interference penalty and the Badgers are on the powerplay.
Sara Bauer almost picks up her third assist of the period twice. Once feeding a defenseman at the point for a one-timer and then finding Jinelle Zaugg for a one-timer in the slot.
Minnesota State manages to survive the penalty.
33.2- Wisconsin fires another shot in on Kehler that she covers.
0:00-That will do it for the first period. Wisconsin is leading 3-0 after the first period. Brit Kehler made 14 saves on 17 shots while Christine Dufour stopped all five shots that she faced.
1st period stats:
First off, they've added an assist for Meghan Duggan on Meaghan Mikkelson's goal.
Wisconsin attempted 23 shots inthe first period, had two blocked, 3 that missed the net, and one that hit the pipe. They had 6 shots on the powerplay.
Minnesota State attempted 9 shots, had two blocked and two that missed the net.
Minnesota State actually holds a 10-9 advantage in face-offs.
2nd Period
20:00- We're underway in the second period.
19:22-The second period starts like the first. Wisconsin controls the puck, and MSU is forced to ice it.
19:03- Wisconsin's favorite offensive play seems to be having Bauer circle around from behind the net and hit a streaking defenseman for a shot. That was how they scored the first goal, and they tried it again, but Kehler made the stop.
15:40- MSU's Kristina Bunker takes a cross-checking penalty in the neutral zone.
14:42-After a strong forecheck by the Mavericks after icing it, Meaghan Mikkelson takes a high-sticking penalty to negate the UW powerplay.
14:21: The Mavericks turn the puck over at their own blueline, which allows Jinelle Zaugg to come in on a semi-breakaway, but Shera Vis dives to break up the play. Vis slid into the net hard, and had to be helped off the ice.
Wisconsin goal. Meaghan Duggan gets her second of the game as Erica Lawler makes a nice pass out of the corner. It looked like Duggan fanned on the shot a little, but that allowed to the puck to stay on the ice and sneak under Kehler. Duggan from Lawler at 6:01. 4-0 Wisconsin.
12:18-MSU gets a little pressure, but Maggie Fisher is called for a hand pass, bring the puck out of the zone.
12:12- Off the face-off, Jodi Helminen broke into the UW zone and had to be hooked by Kyla Sanders. MSU gets their first full powerplay of the game.
MSU almost deflected a pass from behind hte net off Meaghan Mikkelson's skate and into the net. Shera Vis had a shot from the point that just missed. Another shot by Amanda Stohr is stopped despite MSU getting a lot of traffic in front of the net.
Wisconsin kills off the powerplay.
Helminen had a shot from the high slot deflect just wide. And now Wisconsin will go back on the powerplay as Lindsay Macy takes an interference penalty on the way back up the ice.
9:09-Mikkelson makes a great rush up the ice and a great move past an MSU defender, but Kehler just hangs on to the shot.
MSU is able to kill off the penalty despite Wisconsin generating a few shots on goal.
3:44- Wisconsin gets a three-on-one rush, but can't score.
Goal Wisconsin. But Sara Bauer picks the puck back up and skates into the slot where she fires a high wrister over Kehler's glove. 5-0 Wisconsin.
Scoring on the goal was Sara Bauer unassisted at 16:27.
0:00-Second period is over and the score is 5-0 in favor of Wisconsin.
Between period entertainment is the UW women's synchronized skating team. I don't know, nobody fell down so I guess it was good.
Ooh, an upcoming basketball game is going to have the Frisbee-catching dogs as halftime entertainment. Frisbee-catching dogs is the pinnacle of intermission entertainment.
Second period stats:
Wisconsin attempted 23 shots that period, with one being blocked and four missing the net. They had 18 shots on net and scored on two of them.
MSU attempted 14 shots, but had six blocked, and three missed the net. They had 5 shots on goal for the period, and all were stopped.
Game totals are now 35 SOG for Wisco and 10 SOG for MSU.
The Mavericks continue to stay close in terms of face-offs, trailing only 22-23. Ashley Young is 7-2 on the afternoon.
While there is a disparity in shots on goal, there's an even bigger disparity on where those shots are coming from. MSU only attempted two shots from lower than the bottom of the circles, while Wisconsin attempted 10 from close-in.
3rd period
The third period starts with Erica Lawler coming in on a breakaway off the face-off. She deked to her backhand and beat Kehler, but the shot went off the crossbar.
Shera Vis is called for hooking, putting Wisconsin on the powerplay.
Goal Wisconsin. Bobbi-Jo Slusar intercepted a pass at the blueline, walked in, and fired a high shot that was tipped by Sara Bauer and beat Kehler. Bauer from Slusar at 1:55. 6-0 Wisconsin.
MSU generates some pressure in the UW zone, forcing Emily Kranz to tackle an MSU player. MSU is on the powerplay.
MSU controls the puck in Wisconsin's end for the whole powerplay, and generate a couple shots, but the Badgers kill the penalty.
Goal Wisconsin. Phoebe Monteleone made a nice move one-on-one with a defender and cut to the slot where she fired a high wrist shot past Kehler. Monteleone unassisted. Time of the goal: 6:15. 7-0 Wisconsin.
10:18- MSU takes another penalty behind the play and the Badgers will go back on the powerplay.
Wisconsin gives some powerplay time to the their fourth line, and they work the puck around, but can't score. MSU kills the penalty.
7:32- MSU gets one of their best chances of the game when Shera Vis pokes a puck past the UW defender at the blueline and gets a 2-on-1, but her shot sails over the net.
5:29- Sara Bauer almost scores her 80th goal of the game when she cuts into the slot on a rush, but he shot is tipped out of play by the MSU defenseman.
Granted, I don't think Wisconsin is pushing the pedal to the floor right now with a 7 goal lead, but the Mavericks certainly have not quit. They're generating some nice opportunities, but haven't been able to get anything past Dufour.
Goal Wisconsin. Jinelle Zaugg uses her size to shield an MSU defender in the slot and fires the puck past Kehler. Zaugg scores at 19:02 8-0 Wisconsin.
The goal is under review. I guess the refs don't have anywhere to be later today. And it stands. 8-0 Wisconsin. Give Sara Bauer another assist, and an assist for Meghan Duggan.
0:00-And the game is over. Wisconsin wins convincingly by a score of 8-0.
1:27-Both teams are out on the ice for warm-ups. To be honest, I had seen the MSU women's road jerseys before. That's a whole lotta purple. For those who also haven't seen them, they're purple with a black stripe in the middle and the gold Minnesota State 'M' in the center and gold names/numbers.
Wisconsin has outscored their opponents 116-28 this season. In 6 non-conference games, they've only allowed one total goal.
1:42-More people are coming in. The crowd isn't looking so bad. I think there's easily going to be more people here than at the game in Omaha between UNO and MSU two weeks ago. Yesterday's crowd was only listed at 857, but was a weekday afternoon. The largest crowd MSU has played in front of this season was 1110 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. Today's game should easily top that.
Line Charts for today's game:
For Wisconsin:
Jinelle Zaugg-Sara Bauer-Meghan Duggan
Angie Keseley-Erika Lawler-Jasmine Giles
Heidi Kletzien-Kayla Hagen-Phoebe Monteleone
Tia Hanson-Emily Kranz-Kyla Sanders
Bobbi-Jo Slusar-Emily Morris
Mikka Nordby-Meaghan Mikkelson
Alycia Matthews-Rachel Bible
Christine Dufour
Jessie Vetter
Alannah McCready
For Minnesota State:
Kristina Bunker-Amanda Stohr-Jodi Helminen
Maggie Fisher-Ashley Young-Christina Lee
Kala Buganski-Shera Vis-Lindsay Macy
Jenna Hewitt-Brittany Mackley-Noelle Needham
Sammy Miller-Kathleen Rosso
Andreanne Thibault-Ida Clark
Richelle St. Croix-Megan Jedinak
Britni Kehler
Katerina Geertsen
Jen Gorny
For those not familiar, Wisconsin's Sara Bauer is the big gun for the Badgers. She won the Patty Kazmaier Award last year as college hockey's top player, and is second in the country in scoring this season. Jinelle Zaugg and Bobbi-Jo Slusar are two other big names for the Badgers. For Minnesota State, junior Lindsay Macy and sophomore Maggie Fisher are the top scorers. The Mavericks also have a strong goalie in Brit Kehler.
1:57-There's an extremely vocal group of about 10 young girls behind the MSU net who are showing a great deal of enthusiasm.
Both teams take the ice. I'd guess there's probably about a 1000 or so people in the stands. It's certainly not the same as the men's game, but for a women's hockey game, the crowd support is pretty good.
Minnesota State will start their third line and second defensive pairing. The Badgers will start their top defensive pairing and second line.
1st period
20:00- The puck drops and we're under way.
MSU controls the face off, but UW recovers and comes back the other way with a 3-on-1 that Brit Kehler stops.
UW wins a face-off and comes in on Kehler on a breakaway, but Kehler makes another great save.
18:05-Meaghan Duggan had Kehler down and out in front of hte net but put a backhand off the crossbar. That's three defensive breakdowns already for MSU.
Wisconsin scores. After cycling the puck around the MSU zone, a quick pass from Sara Bauer allows a streaking Meaghan Mikkelson to deflect the puck past Kehler. Goal scored by Meaghan Mikkelson with an assist from Sara Bauer. Time of hte goal, 3:48. 1-0 Badgers
MSU takes the games first penalty as Sammy Miller takes a Wisconsin player into the MSU net. She's called for interference.
14:57-Meaghan Mikkelson takes a shot from the point that is stopped, and UW can't get a handle on the rebound before it's covered.
A big shot from Bobbi Jo Slusar is deflected out of play.
Goal Wisconsin. Sara Bauer passed it from the point ot Meghan Duggan at the goalline and she stuffed it past Kehler for the PP goal. Meghan Duggan with the goal from Sara Bauer and Alicia Matthews. Time of the goal is 6:15. 2-0 Wisconsin
11:08-A nice move by Jodi Helminen in the neutral zone allows her to skate in and get the Mavericks first shot of the game. Dufour is able to hang onto the puck to get the whistle.
After a rough start, the Mavericks are getting some pressure in the Wisconsin zone with Maggie Fisher's line, but only get one shot out of it.
8:01-Sara Bauer circles the zone and fires a low shot that Kehler stops.
6:09-A rush by Kristina Bunker of MSU leads to a nice slap shot that Dufour holds on to.
Goal Wisconsin. An excellent shift from Wisconsin's third line leads to a shot and a rebound that deflects over Kehler and into the net. Goal scored by Heidi Kletzian with an assist to Kayla Hagen at 16:17 of the first. 3-0 Wisconsin.
Sammy Miller takes another interference penalty and the Badgers are on the powerplay.
Sara Bauer almost picks up her third assist of the period twice. Once feeding a defenseman at the point for a one-timer and then finding Jinelle Zaugg for a one-timer in the slot.
Minnesota State manages to survive the penalty.
33.2- Wisconsin fires another shot in on Kehler that she covers.
0:00-That will do it for the first period. Wisconsin is leading 3-0 after the first period. Brit Kehler made 14 saves on 17 shots while Christine Dufour stopped all five shots that she faced.
1st period stats:
First off, they've added an assist for Meghan Duggan on Meaghan Mikkelson's goal.
Wisconsin attempted 23 shots inthe first period, had two blocked, 3 that missed the net, and one that hit the pipe. They had 6 shots on the powerplay.
Minnesota State attempted 9 shots, had two blocked and two that missed the net.
Minnesota State actually holds a 10-9 advantage in face-offs.
2nd Period
20:00- We're underway in the second period.
19:22-The second period starts like the first. Wisconsin controls the puck, and MSU is forced to ice it.
19:03- Wisconsin's favorite offensive play seems to be having Bauer circle around from behind the net and hit a streaking defenseman for a shot. That was how they scored the first goal, and they tried it again, but Kehler made the stop.
15:40- MSU's Kristina Bunker takes a cross-checking penalty in the neutral zone.
14:42-After a strong forecheck by the Mavericks after icing it, Meaghan Mikkelson takes a high-sticking penalty to negate the UW powerplay.
14:21: The Mavericks turn the puck over at their own blueline, which allows Jinelle Zaugg to come in on a semi-breakaway, but Shera Vis dives to break up the play. Vis slid into the net hard, and had to be helped off the ice.
Wisconsin goal. Meaghan Duggan gets her second of the game as Erica Lawler makes a nice pass out of the corner. It looked like Duggan fanned on the shot a little, but that allowed to the puck to stay on the ice and sneak under Kehler. Duggan from Lawler at 6:01. 4-0 Wisconsin.
12:18-MSU gets a little pressure, but Maggie Fisher is called for a hand pass, bring the puck out of the zone.
12:12- Off the face-off, Jodi Helminen broke into the UW zone and had to be hooked by Kyla Sanders. MSU gets their first full powerplay of the game.
MSU almost deflected a pass from behind hte net off Meaghan Mikkelson's skate and into the net. Shera Vis had a shot from the point that just missed. Another shot by Amanda Stohr is stopped despite MSU getting a lot of traffic in front of the net.
Wisconsin kills off the powerplay.
Helminen had a shot from the high slot deflect just wide. And now Wisconsin will go back on the powerplay as Lindsay Macy takes an interference penalty on the way back up the ice.
9:09-Mikkelson makes a great rush up the ice and a great move past an MSU defender, but Kehler just hangs on to the shot.
MSU is able to kill off the penalty despite Wisconsin generating a few shots on goal.
3:44- Wisconsin gets a three-on-one rush, but can't score.
Goal Wisconsin. But Sara Bauer picks the puck back up and skates into the slot where she fires a high wrister over Kehler's glove. 5-0 Wisconsin.
Scoring on the goal was Sara Bauer unassisted at 16:27.
0:00-Second period is over and the score is 5-0 in favor of Wisconsin.
Between period entertainment is the UW women's synchronized skating team. I don't know, nobody fell down so I guess it was good.
Ooh, an upcoming basketball game is going to have the Frisbee-catching dogs as halftime entertainment. Frisbee-catching dogs is the pinnacle of intermission entertainment.
Second period stats:
Wisconsin attempted 23 shots that period, with one being blocked and four missing the net. They had 18 shots on net and scored on two of them.
MSU attempted 14 shots, but had six blocked, and three missed the net. They had 5 shots on goal for the period, and all were stopped.
Game totals are now 35 SOG for Wisco and 10 SOG for MSU.
The Mavericks continue to stay close in terms of face-offs, trailing only 22-23. Ashley Young is 7-2 on the afternoon.
While there is a disparity in shots on goal, there's an even bigger disparity on where those shots are coming from. MSU only attempted two shots from lower than the bottom of the circles, while Wisconsin attempted 10 from close-in.
3rd period
The third period starts with Erica Lawler coming in on a breakaway off the face-off. She deked to her backhand and beat Kehler, but the shot went off the crossbar.
Shera Vis is called for hooking, putting Wisconsin on the powerplay.
Goal Wisconsin. Bobbi-Jo Slusar intercepted a pass at the blueline, walked in, and fired a high shot that was tipped by Sara Bauer and beat Kehler. Bauer from Slusar at 1:55. 6-0 Wisconsin.
MSU generates some pressure in the UW zone, forcing Emily Kranz to tackle an MSU player. MSU is on the powerplay.
MSU controls the puck in Wisconsin's end for the whole powerplay, and generate a couple shots, but the Badgers kill the penalty.
Goal Wisconsin. Phoebe Monteleone made a nice move one-on-one with a defender and cut to the slot where she fired a high wrist shot past Kehler. Monteleone unassisted. Time of the goal: 6:15. 7-0 Wisconsin.
10:18- MSU takes another penalty behind the play and the Badgers will go back on the powerplay.
Wisconsin gives some powerplay time to the their fourth line, and they work the puck around, but can't score. MSU kills the penalty.
7:32- MSU gets one of their best chances of the game when Shera Vis pokes a puck past the UW defender at the blueline and gets a 2-on-1, but her shot sails over the net.
5:29- Sara Bauer almost scores her 80th goal of the game when she cuts into the slot on a rush, but he shot is tipped out of play by the MSU defenseman.
Granted, I don't think Wisconsin is pushing the pedal to the floor right now with a 7 goal lead, but the Mavericks certainly have not quit. They're generating some nice opportunities, but haven't been able to get anything past Dufour.
Goal Wisconsin. Jinelle Zaugg uses her size to shield an MSU defender in the slot and fires the puck past Kehler. Zaugg scores at 19:02 8-0 Wisconsin.
The goal is under review. I guess the refs don't have anywhere to be later today. And it stands. 8-0 Wisconsin. Give Sara Bauer another assist, and an assist for Meghan Duggan.
0:00-And the game is over. Wisconsin wins convincingly by a score of 8-0.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Miscellaneous Notes and What Not
Much to my disappointment, I missed Coach Jutting after the game, so most of this stuff is Badgerific.
Obviously the mood was not particularly happy from the Wisconsin guys after the game.
Coach Eaves said the Badgers came out really slow in the first period. There's two schools of thought with this. One says that that accounts for the team being flat. The other is that they should have had fresh legs and been flying. Eaves tended to agree with the first, while captain Andrew Joudrey echoed the second. In any case, Wisconsin did not come out looking like this was "the most important game of the season," which the coaching staff stressed this week in practice.
Eaves was asked about Joudrey and he said nobody takes things harder than he does, which seemed true. Joudrey summed up the night best when he said "There's reasons, but there are no excuses."
Eaves really stressed that everybody was trying to do everybody else's job in the second period as opposed to just worrying about their own play.
As a whole, the message from the Badgers was that they didn't play a full 60 minutes, and they need to get better at always playing at their best. Said Jack Skille, "We're playing when we have to, not when we should.
Jack Skille drew Wisconsin's first two penalties, and probably should have drawn a third when he was called for coincidental minors with Chad Brownlee in the third.
I thought Marco Hunt called a very solid game tonight. A lot has been made about poor officiating this year, so I think it deserves note when someone does a nice job.
Eaves said the Badgers had a great week of practice in terms of scoring goals, but that it didn't translate onto the ice. He credited MSU's defense collapsing in front of Zacharias for a lot of that.
Mike Zacharias' 23 saves on 24 shots finally pushes his save percentage over the 90% mark. He's now at .902 on the season.
Jon Kalinski got another short-handed breakaway tonight, and wasn't able to convert. This time, he tried shooting the puck instead of his usual deke to the backhand, but wasn't able to convert.
Wisconsin held a 33-23 advantage in face-offs tonight. Ben Street had the best night at the circle with 9 wins and 4 losses. Travis Morin was 10 for 21 on face-offs. Trevor Bruess was 2 for 13 on face-offs.
Though the Mavericks got a goal from Steve Wagner, their defenseman generated very little offense. Other than Wagner's goal, Brian Kilburg was the only other MSU defenseman with a shot on goal in the game. Kilburg and R.J. Linder also missed the net with one shot each.
Obviously the mood was not particularly happy from the Wisconsin guys after the game.
Coach Eaves said the Badgers came out really slow in the first period. There's two schools of thought with this. One says that that accounts for the team being flat. The other is that they should have had fresh legs and been flying. Eaves tended to agree with the first, while captain Andrew Joudrey echoed the second. In any case, Wisconsin did not come out looking like this was "the most important game of the season," which the coaching staff stressed this week in practice.
Eaves was asked about Joudrey and he said nobody takes things harder than he does, which seemed true. Joudrey summed up the night best when he said "There's reasons, but there are no excuses."
Eaves really stressed that everybody was trying to do everybody else's job in the second period as opposed to just worrying about their own play.
As a whole, the message from the Badgers was that they didn't play a full 60 minutes, and they need to get better at always playing at their best. Said Jack Skille, "We're playing when we have to, not when we should.
Jack Skille drew Wisconsin's first two penalties, and probably should have drawn a third when he was called for coincidental minors with Chad Brownlee in the third.
I thought Marco Hunt called a very solid game tonight. A lot has been made about poor officiating this year, so I think it deserves note when someone does a nice job.
Eaves said the Badgers had a great week of practice in terms of scoring goals, but that it didn't translate onto the ice. He credited MSU's defense collapsing in front of Zacharias for a lot of that.
Mike Zacharias' 23 saves on 24 shots finally pushes his save percentage over the 90% mark. He's now at .902 on the season.
Jon Kalinski got another short-handed breakaway tonight, and wasn't able to convert. This time, he tried shooting the puck instead of his usual deke to the backhand, but wasn't able to convert.
Wisconsin held a 33-23 advantage in face-offs tonight. Ben Street had the best night at the circle with 9 wins and 4 losses. Travis Morin was 10 for 21 on face-offs. Trevor Bruess was 2 for 13 on face-offs.
Though the Mavericks got a goal from Steve Wagner, their defenseman generated very little offense. Other than Wagner's goal, Brian Kilburg was the only other MSU defenseman with a shot on goal in the game. Kilburg and R.J. Linder also missed the net with one shot each.
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota State Game Recap
Minnesota State defeated Wisconsin tonight at the Kohl Center by a score of 3-1. The Mavericks got second period goals from Geoff Irwin and Steve Wagner, and a third period goal from Kael Mouillierat. Wisconsin’s Ben Street cut into Minnesota State’s lead in the third period, but the Badgers could come no closer to evening the game.
The Mavericks are now 3-0-1 over their last four games and seem to be playing their best hockey of the season. The key for the Mavericks is that they are starting to succeed in the area that was most deficient at the beginning of the season: defense.
Despite being the 9th ranked defense in the WCHA, the Mavericks held Wisconsin to just the one goal, and generally left the Badgers feeling frustrated. Minnesota State goalie Mike Zacharias made 23 saves on the night, but also got a lot of help from his defense, which blocked 11 shots on the evening.
“They collapsed really close to the house,” said Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves after the game, referring to the scoring area in front of the net.
The Mavericks also continued their recent success on the powerplay. The Mavericks came into the series in last place in the WCHA on the penalty, but had killed 21 of their last 23 penalties. That success continued tonight as they held Wisconsin to 0 for 5 on the powerplay, with only 9 shots.
After an even first period where both teams looked a little rusty after not playing last weekend, the Mavericks controlled the second period and scored two goals.
Eaves credited the Mavericks by saying, “ They played their game(in the second period), and they got the lead,” though also said, “We compounded our own issues because everyone was trying to do everyone else’s job.”
The Badgers second period performance led a small, but noticeable contingent of Wisconsin fans to boo the team after the period ended.
Coach Eaves said he didn’t hear any boos, but said, “Maybe instead of saying what I did to them at the intermission, I should have booed them too. It was a fair assessment.
The Mavericks went up 3-0 at 1:54 of the first period when Minnesota State freshman Kael Mouillierat fired a slap shot from the point that beat Brian Elliott.
“That was a shot that Brian would like to have back. He stops that shot 99 times out of 100.”
After the Mavericks went up 3-0, the Badgers started playing better hockey, leading to Ben Street’s seventh goal of the season.
“We had a couple good shifts before we got that goal,” said Street.
But in the end, it was too little and too late for the Badgers.
“Once they scored that third goal, we got backed into a corner and started to play. We’ve got to get that going earlier.
The Badgers will try to get things going earlier tomorrow night when they face-off against with the Mavericks for the second game of this two-game series. Minnesota State’s win moved them into a four-way tie for 6th place in the league, along with Alaska-Anchorage, Michigan Tech, and Wisconsin, meaning tomorrow's game should have a big impact on the WCHA standings.
The Mavericks are now 3-0-1 over their last four games and seem to be playing their best hockey of the season. The key for the Mavericks is that they are starting to succeed in the area that was most deficient at the beginning of the season: defense.
Despite being the 9th ranked defense in the WCHA, the Mavericks held Wisconsin to just the one goal, and generally left the Badgers feeling frustrated. Minnesota State goalie Mike Zacharias made 23 saves on the night, but also got a lot of help from his defense, which blocked 11 shots on the evening.
“They collapsed really close to the house,” said Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves after the game, referring to the scoring area in front of the net.
The Mavericks also continued their recent success on the powerplay. The Mavericks came into the series in last place in the WCHA on the penalty, but had killed 21 of their last 23 penalties. That success continued tonight as they held Wisconsin to 0 for 5 on the powerplay, with only 9 shots.
After an even first period where both teams looked a little rusty after not playing last weekend, the Mavericks controlled the second period and scored two goals.
Eaves credited the Mavericks by saying, “ They played their game(in the second period), and they got the lead,” though also said, “We compounded our own issues because everyone was trying to do everyone else’s job.”
The Badgers second period performance led a small, but noticeable contingent of Wisconsin fans to boo the team after the period ended.
Coach Eaves said he didn’t hear any boos, but said, “Maybe instead of saying what I did to them at the intermission, I should have booed them too. It was a fair assessment.
The Mavericks went up 3-0 at 1:54 of the first period when Minnesota State freshman Kael Mouillierat fired a slap shot from the point that beat Brian Elliott.
“That was a shot that Brian would like to have back. He stops that shot 99 times out of 100.”
After the Mavericks went up 3-0, the Badgers started playing better hockey, leading to Ben Street’s seventh goal of the season.
“We had a couple good shifts before we got that goal,” said Street.
But in the end, it was too little and too late for the Badgers.
“Once they scored that third goal, we got backed into a corner and started to play. We’ve got to get that going earlier.
The Badgers will try to get things going earlier tomorrow night when they face-off against with the Mavericks for the second game of this two-game series. Minnesota State’s win moved them into a four-way tie for 6th place in the league, along with Alaska-Anchorage, Michigan Tech, and Wisconsin, meaning tomorrow's game should have a big impact on the WCHA standings.
Wisconsin vs. MSU-- Friday
Here's the live update of tonight's game between Minnesota State and Wisconsin. Keep hitting refresh for the most recent updates.
We're about 15 minutes from puck drop.
6:54-- In case anyone was wondering, the pre-game meal at the Kohl Center was definitely as good as advertised. There was a plate of crackers and various spreads, make-you-own Caesar salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, fried chicken, fried fish, and really good bars for dessert.
6:57- The crowd here at the KC is pretty decent. It's about half-filled, which isn't terrible for 10 minutes before a 7:00 pm Friday face-off. Brian Elliott's dad drove down from Canada and is in attendance. I saw a couple Minnesota State fans that made the trip, but I was too busy scrambling to get everything set up to really look.
6:59- Wisconsin's fans clap along to "Welcome Sandman" as the Badgers come out. It's like being in St. Cloud.
7:01- Apparently Mike Za-kerry-iss is starting in goal for Minnesota State.
7:03- The arena isn't entirely full(and I can't really see the third level), but it is very loud. Wisconsin's fans seem excellent.
1st period
20:00- The puck drops and we're under way.
19:04- First whistle in play. MSU wins the face-off and gets the puck in deep, but UW breaks it out and dumps the puck in. After throwing a weak pass out in front, Zacharias covers.
18:06Zach Harrison takes the games first shot. It's an easy stop for Elliott. A missed neutral zone pass by Wisconsin leads to icing.
17:58- Matt Olinger takes the games first penalty when he takes a Maverick down in teh corner. The call is interferenc.e
MSU struggles to get the puck in the zone to start the powerplay, and finally go off sides, with 1:24 remaining in the powerplay.
MSU gets their powerplay set up, but can't get anything out of it and Wisconsin clears.
Travis Morin hits the pipe after a nice pass from behind the net by Mouillierat. A big break for Wisconsin, and the Badgers manage to kill the penalty off.
15:27- Geoff Irwin takes a slapper from the point and Elliott easily stops it. They just showed on the scoreboard that UW swept Michigan in men's and women's basketball, to the pleasure of the crowd.
A weird dump-in from the point almost catches Zacharias off guard, but the puck goes just wide. Wisconsin's cycle produces a nice shot from the slot that also goes just wide. UW controlled the play against MSU's fourth line there.
Somebody showed up(late, typical Gopher fan) in the student section wearing a Minnesota shirt, and was greeted with an "Asshole" chant.
13:36-Kael Mouillierat drags a Wisconsin player down from behind in the Wisconsin zone and gets called for the penalty.
Jon Kalinski gets another shorthanded breakaway and can't score. This time he tried to shoot it, and Elliott got a piece to knock it away.
11:42- MSU skates the puck to the other end and the net gets knocked off. 6 seconds left in the penalty and the Mavericks should kill it off.
11:01-MSU's third line controls play in the Wisconsin end and gets a shot off their cycle, which Elliott gloves.
10:04-Matt Ford hauls down an MSU player in the MSU zone to pick up a holding penalty. The play was very similiar to the previous penalty call.
Travis Morin takes a shot from the point that Elliott saves, then a rebound kicks off the UW defender and Elliott stopped the rebound.
UW cleared the puck and it got caught on the back of the net, which Zahcarias covered.
It took until midway through the first for the first "Gopher rejects" chant.
MSU's second unit struggles to get the puck into the zone. Nick Canzanello lets a puck go through his legs, which leads to him getting "Sieved" by the students.
Wisco kills off the penalty.
7:35-Wisconsin intercepted a pass in the neutral zone while MSU was changing and had a 3-on-2, but the right winger went offside, forcing a whistle.
6:56-Matt Tyree wrists a shot from the blueline that Elliott easily stops. He has 7 saves now, while the Badgers don't have a shot on goal yet.
6:31-Brian Kilburg hooks Jack Skille in the corner and gets called for the penalty.
6:25-Wisconsin gets a great chance as they win the face-off, and fire a shot from the point that Mike Davies deflects, but Zacharias reaches behind him to grab it.
Wisconsin gets their first shot on goal on a shot from the point. Zacharias controls the rebound and MSU clears.
Mike Zacharias makes a great save on Ross Carlson in front. Davies made a great pass from the corner to Carlson in the slot, and Zahcarias was avble to hold on.
4:46-MSU clears teh zone once, then Blake Geoffrion dumps it in and Zacharias covers the puck.
Wisconsin wins the draw and shoots just wide. MSU kills off the penalty.
3:17-After getting stuck in their own end for about a minute, UW is forced to ice the puck.
2:54-A sloppy breakout pass by Jon Kalinski leads to a turnover and a shot by Andrew Joudrey, but Zach gloves it easily.
2:19-UW dumps the puck into the corner, which catches the cameraman off-guard, forcing him to flinch as the puck hit the glass. The UW students were amused.
1:56-Ben Grotting gets tripped by Steve Wagner on a rush up the ice and UW gets their third powerplay.
0:00-MSU surives the period. UW controlled the puck in the zone the entire time, but couldn't get anything through to Zacharias.
Overall, I'd say it was a pretty even first period, with possibly a slight edge going to Minnesota State. They had two quality chances, with Morin's goalpost and Kalinski's breakaway, while UW just had the one quality chance where Carlson got the puck near the bottom of the circle.
The between-period puck shooting contest was a new level of sad. It was a race to see who could score four pucks from various areas of the ice. It culminated in the two contestants trying, and miserably failing to score from center ice. After about 8 tries, black shirt guy finally put us out of our misery by scoring.
The touchless faucets at the KC bathroom apparently don't like me. It was like that one episode of the Simpsons where Bart sells his soul, and then the automatic door at the Kwik-E-Mart wouldn't open for him. I tried all three faucets and none would run for me, but nobody else had a problem. I had to sneak in after somebody else before the faucets realized whose hands were being washed.
First period stats:
MSU attemped 13 shots, had 3 blocked by the defense, one that missed the net and one that hit the pipe for 8 shots on goal, with one coming in the powerplay.
Wisconsin attempted 11 shots, with two blocked by the defense and 5 five missing the net for four shots on goal. 3 of their 4 shots on goal came on the powerplay.
2nd period
Interesting note: Nobody attempted a shot from wider than the face-off dots in the first period.
20:00-The two teams are back on the ice and we're almost ready to get started.
Wisconsin wins the draw and gets a quick chance off the draw. Jake Dowell fired a shot in and Andrew Joudrey got a great look at the rebound, but Zacharias had the angle cut down. MSU kills off the last four seconds of their penalty and are back to full strength.
19:07-Elliott makes a glove save on a short to the shortside by Travis Morin and holds onto the puck.
UW turns a three on two into a possible 2-on-1 but Canzanello makes a nice play to slide across and block any potential pass. MSU puts the puck deep in UW territory, and the Badgers are tired so they ice it and looks for a change.
Goal Minnesota State. MSU forces a turnover behind the UW goal and Geoff Irwin fires a backhand into the top shelf. Time of hte goal is 3:47 of the second period. Irwin from Trevor Bruess. 1-0 Minnesota State
UW comes back with a rush the other way, but can't get much out of it and Zacharias covers.
13:47-MSU gets a line change while UW is stuck out on the ice, giving MSU an advantage leading to an R.J. Linder shot from the point that misses. the net. UW gets the puck out and gets a change though.
UW cycles the puck in their zone nicely which allows Josh Engel to take a shot from the point, but it is blocked before ever getting through to Zacharias.
MSU gets bottled up in their own zone and their top line is gassed. It leads to a qualty shot from the point that Zach stops. MSU gets the puck out, but can't get the change. UW makes a pass from behind the net that misses everyone and goes down the ice allowing MSU to dodge a big bullet.
10:38-Davis Drewiske drops an MSU player in front of the net and is called interference. This is MSU's third powerplay of the game.
Kurtis Kisio fires a high wrist shot that Elliott stops off the faceoff then Travis Morin tries a wrapaournd that is stuffed. Kalinski makes a great stickhandling move to get through one defender but runs out of space in front of Elliott.
Goal MSU. Steve Wagner has his first shot from the point blocked, but gathers the rebound and fires another shot past Elliott. Time of the goal is 10:46. Wagner from Berge and Kisio. 2-0 MSU leads.
5:29-That was a long stretch of play without anything significant happening. It ended with MSU icing the puck.
Wisconsin gets a little pressure, but again, doesn't get anything through to Zacharias. R.J. Linder gets called for interference. UW gets their fourth powerplay of the game.
UW had a tic-tac passing play that got broken up by an MSU defender right before they hit toe. UW zings a shot from the point just wide. Again, two decent chances and zero shots on goal. Another shot from the point that Zacharias doesn't see until the last second, but he bats it away.
UW gets another great chance at the side of the net, but Zach cut off the angle and took away anything to shoot at.
MSU survives another penalty kill.
2:18 left in the period, by the way.
1:00- Travis Morin catches UW on a change and fires a slapper that Elliott just manages to kick away. Ross Carlson makes a nice play to get the puck out of the zone, but Steve Wagner does a nice job of making sure he can't break out on a 2-on-1. MSU is content to dump the puck back in and let time run out on the period.
Between period entertainment is little kid hockey. But instead of playing a real game, they're shooting pucks to raise money for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. That's nice. "Hey kid, you better hit the net or some kid won't have a father-figure in his life." One of the kids clanked the post pretty solidly. The Next Phil Kessel drained two shots from center ice to raise an extra $200. Nice work, kid. The kid on the other side missed his two shots from center, and had to have his third shot tipped in. It's ok, kid. At least there's hope for you as a blogger some day.
2nd period stats:
Wisconsin attempted 22 shots, but had 6 blocked and 8 that missed the net for a period total of 8. They had five shots on the powerplay
Minnesota State attempted 15 shots, had three blocked, and one that missed the net for 11 shots on Elliott. Two of their shots were goals.
That makes the two period totals 19 shots for MSU and 12 for the Badgers.
So far the key stat of the game in my mind is that Wisconsin has attempted 33 shots, but only have 12 shots on net. They're generating offense but not getting any type of return on it.
Hearing the student section sing the Budweiser Song and the Alma Mater is pretty impressive. I'm used to see Michigan, where everybody really only knows one word to the song 'Varsity'. The UW students deserve a lot of credit for being as into this game as they are considering UW hasn't given them much to cheer about yet. Again, I'm very impressed.
TV indicates that Wisconsin has a fairly sizeable advantage in face-offs, which I would agree with.
3rd period
20:00- Puck drop and we're under way with the third.
Saying a two goal lead is the most dangerous lead is the dumbest cliche in hockey, but if UW can score here, they'd really have all the momentum going their way.
Goal MSU. Kael Mouillierat beats Brian Elliott with a long slap shot. Elliott must have just got handcuffed by the puck. Definitely not a good goal. Time of the goal was 1:54. Mouillierat from Brownlee. 3-0 MSU.
There's a weird energy in the building whenever MSU scores. I think the combination of Elliott being such a great goalie and MSU not being expected to do much means that whenever the puck does go in, everybody just kind of goes "What? Did that just really happen?"
17:01-Geoff Irwin takes a tripping penalty right after the face-off. UW gets a chance to get on the board.
That third goal really took some life out of the less hardcore students in the arena.
UW couldn't get anything setup on the first half of the poewrplay. Then they get it set up in teh second half an dthrow a shot on goal that almost gets through, but Zacharias makes a huge save.
Then there is a scrum in front and Chad Brownlee drops Jack Skille. Both players get roughing penalties. Skille was more deserving of a dive though. He didn't get pushed that hard by Brownlee after looking at the replay.
14:34-MSU kills off another penalty.
North Dakota is leading Minnesota and that draws a big cheer, though North Dakota winning really hurts both teams playing tonight in terms of the standings.
Geoff Irwin pokes the puck past a defenseman and fires a big slapshot, but Elliott stops it easily.
Goal UW. Ben Street bangs home a rebound past Mike Zacharias to get UW on the board. Time of the goal 7:52. Street from Tom Gorowsky and Aaron Bendrick. 3-1 MSU.
Jon Kalinski gets slammed back first into the boards very hard and is injured. It does not look good. Jake Dowell caught him as he was shooting and he slammed really hard into the boards.
As a note on that Wisconsin goal, that whole play started when Ben Street came into the zone and just threw a shot on net from the side boards. That created a rebound, which led to another rebound that Street banged in. I think Wisconsin would be more successful if they were less picky about their shots and went for more ugly goals like that.
Kalinski is helped off the ice, and though he is in a lot of pain, is staying on the bench and not going ot hte lockerroom which is a good sign.
11:30-A longshot from the blueline almost gets past Zacharias but he keeps it out. UW is really starting ot press now. It could be a long 11:30 for MSU to try and hold on.
10:28- Mouillierat tries to beat Elliott with the same shot he scored on earlier, but this time it doesn't work. MSU get the puck out of the zone, but UW breaks out on a 3-on-2 and they fire a high wrister from the blueline that Zacharias easily gloves. There's a little pushing in front of hte net but nothing comes of it.
9:48-UW works the puck out in front but Zacharias is quick to pounce on it. Nice work by Ross Carlson in the corner.
Great save by Zacharias on a one-timer on a UW player in the slot. He just got his right pad on it even though it was labeled for the corner. And then Linder made a huge shot block in front of the net. MSU is just barely hanging on here. Joe Piskula fans a one-timer that allows MSU to clear and change.
Kalinski is back out on the ice for MSU. MSU misses a chance to clear the puck and UW gets a great chance on a scramble in front that Zacharias keeps in front of him. MSU clears and dumps again. Zacharias finally covers up a lose puck and gets a whistle. Irwin and Drewiske exchange a few words.
6:11 to play.
UW gets another chance of a quick pass and shot that just misses. The last couple minutes have looked like a UW powerplay. Street's goal did a lot to change the momentum of this game. MSU ices it again.
5:08 to play in regulation.
Another MSU icing call. 3:37 to play. I'm sure the time is going much faster for Badger fans than MSU fans.
Kyle Klubertanz takes a shot that misses way wide. MSU's first line kills about 45 seconds in the Badger end. One minute to play.
Zacharias covers with 47.2 seconds left. It looks like we'll have a Badger timeout. The Badger faithful are reaching for their coats.
Elliott is out of the net before the faceoff. Morin wins the draw and Kalinski knocks it out to center. A shot gets through to Zacharias after being tipped, but he kicks it out. Joudrey misses a pass at the blueline to clear the zone and the game is over.
MSU wins game 1 of the series by a score of 3-1
I'm off to the locker rooms. There should be post game stuff later tonight.
We're about 15 minutes from puck drop.
6:54-- In case anyone was wondering, the pre-game meal at the Kohl Center was definitely as good as advertised. There was a plate of crackers and various spreads, make-you-own Caesar salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, fried chicken, fried fish, and really good bars for dessert.
6:57- The crowd here at the KC is pretty decent. It's about half-filled, which isn't terrible for 10 minutes before a 7:00 pm Friday face-off. Brian Elliott's dad drove down from Canada and is in attendance. I saw a couple Minnesota State fans that made the trip, but I was too busy scrambling to get everything set up to really look.
6:59- Wisconsin's fans clap along to "Welcome Sandman" as the Badgers come out. It's like being in St. Cloud.
7:01- Apparently Mike Za-kerry-iss is starting in goal for Minnesota State.
7:03- The arena isn't entirely full(and I can't really see the third level), but it is very loud. Wisconsin's fans seem excellent.
1st period
20:00- The puck drops and we're under way.
19:04- First whistle in play. MSU wins the face-off and gets the puck in deep, but UW breaks it out and dumps the puck in. After throwing a weak pass out in front, Zacharias covers.
18:06Zach Harrison takes the games first shot. It's an easy stop for Elliott. A missed neutral zone pass by Wisconsin leads to icing.
17:58- Matt Olinger takes the games first penalty when he takes a Maverick down in teh corner. The call is interferenc.e
MSU struggles to get the puck in the zone to start the powerplay, and finally go off sides, with 1:24 remaining in the powerplay.
MSU gets their powerplay set up, but can't get anything out of it and Wisconsin clears.
Travis Morin hits the pipe after a nice pass from behind the net by Mouillierat. A big break for Wisconsin, and the Badgers manage to kill the penalty off.
15:27- Geoff Irwin takes a slapper from the point and Elliott easily stops it. They just showed on the scoreboard that UW swept Michigan in men's and women's basketball, to the pleasure of the crowd.
A weird dump-in from the point almost catches Zacharias off guard, but the puck goes just wide. Wisconsin's cycle produces a nice shot from the slot that also goes just wide. UW controlled the play against MSU's fourth line there.
Somebody showed up(late, typical Gopher fan) in the student section wearing a Minnesota shirt, and was greeted with an "Asshole" chant.
13:36-Kael Mouillierat drags a Wisconsin player down from behind in the Wisconsin zone and gets called for the penalty.
Jon Kalinski gets another shorthanded breakaway and can't score. This time he tried to shoot it, and Elliott got a piece to knock it away.
11:42- MSU skates the puck to the other end and the net gets knocked off. 6 seconds left in the penalty and the Mavericks should kill it off.
11:01-MSU's third line controls play in the Wisconsin end and gets a shot off their cycle, which Elliott gloves.
10:04-Matt Ford hauls down an MSU player in the MSU zone to pick up a holding penalty. The play was very similiar to the previous penalty call.
Travis Morin takes a shot from the point that Elliott saves, then a rebound kicks off the UW defender and Elliott stopped the rebound.
UW cleared the puck and it got caught on the back of the net, which Zahcarias covered.
It took until midway through the first for the first "Gopher rejects" chant.
MSU's second unit struggles to get the puck into the zone. Nick Canzanello lets a puck go through his legs, which leads to him getting "Sieved" by the students.
Wisco kills off the penalty.
7:35-Wisconsin intercepted a pass in the neutral zone while MSU was changing and had a 3-on-2, but the right winger went offside, forcing a whistle.
6:56-Matt Tyree wrists a shot from the blueline that Elliott easily stops. He has 7 saves now, while the Badgers don't have a shot on goal yet.
6:31-Brian Kilburg hooks Jack Skille in the corner and gets called for the penalty.
6:25-Wisconsin gets a great chance as they win the face-off, and fire a shot from the point that Mike Davies deflects, but Zacharias reaches behind him to grab it.
Wisconsin gets their first shot on goal on a shot from the point. Zacharias controls the rebound and MSU clears.
Mike Zacharias makes a great save on Ross Carlson in front. Davies made a great pass from the corner to Carlson in the slot, and Zahcarias was avble to hold on.
4:46-MSU clears teh zone once, then Blake Geoffrion dumps it in and Zacharias covers the puck.
Wisconsin wins the draw and shoots just wide. MSU kills off the penalty.
3:17-After getting stuck in their own end for about a minute, UW is forced to ice the puck.
2:54-A sloppy breakout pass by Jon Kalinski leads to a turnover and a shot by Andrew Joudrey, but Zach gloves it easily.
2:19-UW dumps the puck into the corner, which catches the cameraman off-guard, forcing him to flinch as the puck hit the glass. The UW students were amused.
1:56-Ben Grotting gets tripped by Steve Wagner on a rush up the ice and UW gets their third powerplay.
0:00-MSU surives the period. UW controlled the puck in the zone the entire time, but couldn't get anything through to Zacharias.
Overall, I'd say it was a pretty even first period, with possibly a slight edge going to Minnesota State. They had two quality chances, with Morin's goalpost and Kalinski's breakaway, while UW just had the one quality chance where Carlson got the puck near the bottom of the circle.
The between-period puck shooting contest was a new level of sad. It was a race to see who could score four pucks from various areas of the ice. It culminated in the two contestants trying, and miserably failing to score from center ice. After about 8 tries, black shirt guy finally put us out of our misery by scoring.
The touchless faucets at the KC bathroom apparently don't like me. It was like that one episode of the Simpsons where Bart sells his soul, and then the automatic door at the Kwik-E-Mart wouldn't open for him. I tried all three faucets and none would run for me, but nobody else had a problem. I had to sneak in after somebody else before the faucets realized whose hands were being washed.
First period stats:
MSU attemped 13 shots, had 3 blocked by the defense, one that missed the net and one that hit the pipe for 8 shots on goal, with one coming in the powerplay.
Wisconsin attempted 11 shots, with two blocked by the defense and 5 five missing the net for four shots on goal. 3 of their 4 shots on goal came on the powerplay.
2nd period
Interesting note: Nobody attempted a shot from wider than the face-off dots in the first period.
20:00-The two teams are back on the ice and we're almost ready to get started.
Wisconsin wins the draw and gets a quick chance off the draw. Jake Dowell fired a shot in and Andrew Joudrey got a great look at the rebound, but Zacharias had the angle cut down. MSU kills off the last four seconds of their penalty and are back to full strength.
19:07-Elliott makes a glove save on a short to the shortside by Travis Morin and holds onto the puck.
UW turns a three on two into a possible 2-on-1 but Canzanello makes a nice play to slide across and block any potential pass. MSU puts the puck deep in UW territory, and the Badgers are tired so they ice it and looks for a change.
Goal Minnesota State. MSU forces a turnover behind the UW goal and Geoff Irwin fires a backhand into the top shelf. Time of hte goal is 3:47 of the second period. Irwin from Trevor Bruess. 1-0 Minnesota State
UW comes back with a rush the other way, but can't get much out of it and Zacharias covers.
13:47-MSU gets a line change while UW is stuck out on the ice, giving MSU an advantage leading to an R.J. Linder shot from the point that misses. the net. UW gets the puck out and gets a change though.
UW cycles the puck in their zone nicely which allows Josh Engel to take a shot from the point, but it is blocked before ever getting through to Zacharias.
MSU gets bottled up in their own zone and their top line is gassed. It leads to a qualty shot from the point that Zach stops. MSU gets the puck out, but can't get the change. UW makes a pass from behind the net that misses everyone and goes down the ice allowing MSU to dodge a big bullet.
10:38-Davis Drewiske drops an MSU player in front of the net and is called interference. This is MSU's third powerplay of the game.
Kurtis Kisio fires a high wrist shot that Elliott stops off the faceoff then Travis Morin tries a wrapaournd that is stuffed. Kalinski makes a great stickhandling move to get through one defender but runs out of space in front of Elliott.
Goal MSU. Steve Wagner has his first shot from the point blocked, but gathers the rebound and fires another shot past Elliott. Time of the goal is 10:46. Wagner from Berge and Kisio. 2-0 MSU leads.
5:29-That was a long stretch of play without anything significant happening. It ended with MSU icing the puck.
Wisconsin gets a little pressure, but again, doesn't get anything through to Zacharias. R.J. Linder gets called for interference. UW gets their fourth powerplay of the game.
UW had a tic-tac passing play that got broken up by an MSU defender right before they hit toe. UW zings a shot from the point just wide. Again, two decent chances and zero shots on goal. Another shot from the point that Zacharias doesn't see until the last second, but he bats it away.
UW gets another great chance at the side of the net, but Zach cut off the angle and took away anything to shoot at.
MSU survives another penalty kill.
2:18 left in the period, by the way.
1:00- Travis Morin catches UW on a change and fires a slapper that Elliott just manages to kick away. Ross Carlson makes a nice play to get the puck out of the zone, but Steve Wagner does a nice job of making sure he can't break out on a 2-on-1. MSU is content to dump the puck back in and let time run out on the period.
Between period entertainment is little kid hockey. But instead of playing a real game, they're shooting pucks to raise money for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. That's nice. "Hey kid, you better hit the net or some kid won't have a father-figure in his life." One of the kids clanked the post pretty solidly. The Next Phil Kessel drained two shots from center ice to raise an extra $200. Nice work, kid. The kid on the other side missed his two shots from center, and had to have his third shot tipped in. It's ok, kid. At least there's hope for you as a blogger some day.
2nd period stats:
Wisconsin attempted 22 shots, but had 6 blocked and 8 that missed the net for a period total of 8. They had five shots on the powerplay
Minnesota State attempted 15 shots, had three blocked, and one that missed the net for 11 shots on Elliott. Two of their shots were goals.
That makes the two period totals 19 shots for MSU and 12 for the Badgers.
So far the key stat of the game in my mind is that Wisconsin has attempted 33 shots, but only have 12 shots on net. They're generating offense but not getting any type of return on it.
Hearing the student section sing the Budweiser Song and the Alma Mater is pretty impressive. I'm used to see Michigan, where everybody really only knows one word to the song 'Varsity'. The UW students deserve a lot of credit for being as into this game as they are considering UW hasn't given them much to cheer about yet. Again, I'm very impressed.
TV indicates that Wisconsin has a fairly sizeable advantage in face-offs, which I would agree with.
3rd period
20:00- Puck drop and we're under way with the third.
Saying a two goal lead is the most dangerous lead is the dumbest cliche in hockey, but if UW can score here, they'd really have all the momentum going their way.
Goal MSU. Kael Mouillierat beats Brian Elliott with a long slap shot. Elliott must have just got handcuffed by the puck. Definitely not a good goal. Time of the goal was 1:54. Mouillierat from Brownlee. 3-0 MSU.
There's a weird energy in the building whenever MSU scores. I think the combination of Elliott being such a great goalie and MSU not being expected to do much means that whenever the puck does go in, everybody just kind of goes "What? Did that just really happen?"
17:01-Geoff Irwin takes a tripping penalty right after the face-off. UW gets a chance to get on the board.
That third goal really took some life out of the less hardcore students in the arena.
UW couldn't get anything setup on the first half of the poewrplay. Then they get it set up in teh second half an dthrow a shot on goal that almost gets through, but Zacharias makes a huge save.
Then there is a scrum in front and Chad Brownlee drops Jack Skille. Both players get roughing penalties. Skille was more deserving of a dive though. He didn't get pushed that hard by Brownlee after looking at the replay.
14:34-MSU kills off another penalty.
North Dakota is leading Minnesota and that draws a big cheer, though North Dakota winning really hurts both teams playing tonight in terms of the standings.
Geoff Irwin pokes the puck past a defenseman and fires a big slapshot, but Elliott stops it easily.
Goal UW. Ben Street bangs home a rebound past Mike Zacharias to get UW on the board. Time of the goal 7:52. Street from Tom Gorowsky and Aaron Bendrick. 3-1 MSU.
Jon Kalinski gets slammed back first into the boards very hard and is injured. It does not look good. Jake Dowell caught him as he was shooting and he slammed really hard into the boards.
As a note on that Wisconsin goal, that whole play started when Ben Street came into the zone and just threw a shot on net from the side boards. That created a rebound, which led to another rebound that Street banged in. I think Wisconsin would be more successful if they were less picky about their shots and went for more ugly goals like that.
Kalinski is helped off the ice, and though he is in a lot of pain, is staying on the bench and not going ot hte lockerroom which is a good sign.
11:30-A longshot from the blueline almost gets past Zacharias but he keeps it out. UW is really starting ot press now. It could be a long 11:30 for MSU to try and hold on.
10:28- Mouillierat tries to beat Elliott with the same shot he scored on earlier, but this time it doesn't work. MSU get the puck out of the zone, but UW breaks out on a 3-on-2 and they fire a high wrister from the blueline that Zacharias easily gloves. There's a little pushing in front of hte net but nothing comes of it.
9:48-UW works the puck out in front but Zacharias is quick to pounce on it. Nice work by Ross Carlson in the corner.
Great save by Zacharias on a one-timer on a UW player in the slot. He just got his right pad on it even though it was labeled for the corner. And then Linder made a huge shot block in front of the net. MSU is just barely hanging on here. Joe Piskula fans a one-timer that allows MSU to clear and change.
Kalinski is back out on the ice for MSU. MSU misses a chance to clear the puck and UW gets a great chance on a scramble in front that Zacharias keeps in front of him. MSU clears and dumps again. Zacharias finally covers up a lose puck and gets a whistle. Irwin and Drewiske exchange a few words.
6:11 to play.
UW gets another chance of a quick pass and shot that just misses. The last couple minutes have looked like a UW powerplay. Street's goal did a lot to change the momentum of this game. MSU ices it again.
5:08 to play in regulation.
Another MSU icing call. 3:37 to play. I'm sure the time is going much faster for Badger fans than MSU fans.
Kyle Klubertanz takes a shot that misses way wide. MSU's first line kills about 45 seconds in the Badger end. One minute to play.
Zacharias covers with 47.2 seconds left. It looks like we'll have a Badger timeout. The Badger faithful are reaching for their coats.
Elliott is out of the net before the faceoff. Morin wins the draw and Kalinski knocks it out to center. A shot gets through to Zacharias after being tipped, but he kicks it out. Joudrey misses a pass at the blueline to clear the zone and the game is over.
MSU wins game 1 of the series by a score of 3-1
I'm off to the locker rooms. There should be post game stuff later tonight.
Line Charts
Tonight’s Lines
For Wisconsin:
Jake Dowell-Andrew Joudrey-Ross Carlson
Jack Skille-Ben Street-Mike Davies
Matt Ford-Blake Geoffrion-Ben Grotting
Tom Gorowsky-Aaron Bendrickson-Andy Brandt
Kyle Klubertanz-Jeff Likens
Davis Drewiske-Josh Engel
Joe Piskula-Matt Olinger
Brian Elliott
Shane Connelly
For Minnesota State
Jon Kalinski-Travis Morin-Mick Berge
Joel Hanson-Zach Harrison-Kael Mouillierat
Geoff Irwin-Trevor Bruess-Jerad Stewart
Matt Tyree-Kurtis Kisio-Jason Wiley
Steve Wagner-Brian Kilburg
R.J. Linder-Blake Friesen
Nick Canzanello-Chad Brownlee
Mike Zacharias
Chris Clark
Notes:
No major surprises from either team. Jamie McBain is out due to illness, but skated during pregame warm-ups and should play tomorrow.
Matt Tyree stays in the lineup on the fourth line. Kevin Huck and Lucas Fransen were the two extra players that traveled with Minnesota State.
A sweep this weekend would give Badger coach Mike Eaves 100 career victories.
Wisconsin’s average attendance is better than 7 NHL teams.
MSU’s penalty kill is 29 of 31 over the last six games(93.1%)
For Wisconsin:
Jake Dowell-Andrew Joudrey-Ross Carlson
Jack Skille-Ben Street-Mike Davies
Matt Ford-Blake Geoffrion-Ben Grotting
Tom Gorowsky-Aaron Bendrickson-Andy Brandt
Kyle Klubertanz-Jeff Likens
Davis Drewiske-Josh Engel
Joe Piskula-Matt Olinger
Brian Elliott
Shane Connelly
For Minnesota State
Jon Kalinski-Travis Morin-Mick Berge
Joel Hanson-Zach Harrison-Kael Mouillierat
Geoff Irwin-Trevor Bruess-Jerad Stewart
Matt Tyree-Kurtis Kisio-Jason Wiley
Steve Wagner-Brian Kilburg
R.J. Linder-Blake Friesen
Nick Canzanello-Chad Brownlee
Mike Zacharias
Chris Clark
Notes:
No major surprises from either team. Jamie McBain is out due to illness, but skated during pregame warm-ups and should play tomorrow.
Matt Tyree stays in the lineup on the fourth line. Kevin Huck and Lucas Fransen were the two extra players that traveled with Minnesota State.
A sweep this weekend would give Badger coach Mike Eaves 100 career victories.
Wisconsin’s average attendance is better than 7 NHL teams.
MSU’s penalty kill is 29 of 31 over the last six games(93.1%)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota State Previews
College Hockey News' Tale of the Tape on this series.
Mike Eaves dubs these "the biggest games of the season".
Wisconsin spent last weekend emphasizing the importance of the final weeks of the season.
Minnesota State's game notes.
The Capital Times' Todd Milewski posts UW's lines from practice on Tuesday, and then mentions changes made on Wednesday.
Minnesota State's women's hockey team comes into Madison on a roll, after winning their last 7 games, including a historic sweep over Minnesota last weekend.
Wisconsin will likely have their top three scorers on the first line this weekend.
Mike Eaves dubs these "the biggest games of the season".
Wisconsin spent last weekend emphasizing the importance of the final weeks of the season.
Minnesota State's game notes.
The Capital Times' Todd Milewski posts UW's lines from practice on Tuesday, and then mentions changes made on Wednesday.
Minnesota State's women's hockey team comes into Madison on a roll, after winning their last 7 games, including a historic sweep over Minnesota last weekend.
Wisconsin will likely have their top three scorers on the first line this weekend.
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