Jan. 28, 2011

Recap |  Final Stats

Post-Game Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota
Kohl Center - Madison, Wis.


Head coach Mark Johnson
On today's win:
"Obviously it was a good up and down game. I thought we had several good opportunities throughout the game to regain the lead. With Minnesota's goaltender playing the way she was playing, it was difficult to score, so overall it was a very good effort by our team. I'm pretty happy with it."

On what made it difficult to score a goal:
"We had 46 shots on goal, and I think we had 80 shots total. We were doing something right then. I've seen her (Noora Raty) for four or five years now with Finland, and I know she can play. She's a capable goaltender. So in order to score, you have to earn your goals. I thought on our power-play in the third period, we had plenty of opportunities. We hit the pipe a few times, but that's hockey. Sometimes the puck is going to bounce for you, and other nights the goaltender is going to play really well. We persevered and won the shootout.

On special teams play:
"We did a good job. We covered some things this week and reacted to what they were trying to do and did it in a positive way. It was nice to get a power-play goal. I thought that one was a shortened power-play and the fourth one we had, we had chances. If you are getting chances, that's what you are looking for to create some energy, but obviously the nice thing to do would be to score a goal. Even though we didn't score, we had opportunities so that's a good thing. Most nights you are going to score on them."


Senior forward Meghan Duggan
On tonight's win:
"We came in tonight knowing that Minnesota was going to be a strong team. They are on our tails in the league, and they have good players offensively. They transition well, and we had to focus on that and know who we are on the ice with and make sure that we are shutting them down."

On playing against Minnesota goaltender Noora Raty:
"She's obviously a strong goalie, and we face her time and time again. We are finally starting to figure out how to beat her. She's obviously made some great saves, and we outshot them by 20 or so shots, so we just have to use the saves that she made and put it into power for tomorrow and try to beat her."

On special teams:
"Special teams are obviously huge. I think any team that is going to capitalize on its special teams is a team that could come out on top. We worked on things this week, especially shutting down their power play, so I think we did well with that. For us to capitalize on our first power-play of the game was huge. It set the tone, and we went from there. Any game, special teams are going to be huge and hopefully we will be successful tomorrow."