BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Five takeaways on the Wisconsin men's hockey team following its Big Ten Conference series with Ohio State:
One: A unique arrangement — splitting the series between Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and Madison Square Garden in New York City — produced a rare, uplifting experience for UW. Its 3-1 and 3-2 (overtime) wins over the eighth-ranked Buckeyes marked the first time in nine seasons that it swept a top-10 opponent on the road. It happened three times in 2005-06 on the way to an NCAA championship, but only four since. The last occurrence was Feb. 6 and 7, 2009 at No. 9 Minnesota (3-2, 5-4).
Two: One of the enduring questions about the Badgers this season pertains to their ability to defend. They yielded four or more goals eight times in the first 16 games and were averaging 4.2 goals allowed heading into the holiday break. But the new year has signaled that a major turnabout might be underway. Wisconsin has given up 12 goals in the six games played in 2017 (2.0 average) and are 5-1 in that stretch. Four of those games came against clubs currently sporting offenses ranked in the top five nationally (Ohio State, 4.0, second; Minnesota, 3.71, fifth).
Three: You could argue that the most vital development for Wisconsin (13-8-1 overall, 6-2 in the Big Ten) this season has been the emergence of freshman goaltender Jack Berry as competition for sophomore incumbent Matt Jurusik. Since Jurusik came back from a knee injury to start the second half, UW coach Tony Granato has employed a rotation — Berry opens the series Jurusik closes it out — with notable results. Berry is 2-1 with a 2.00 goals against average and .935 save ratio. Jurusik is 3-0 with a 2.00 goals against and .931 save percentage. Overall, Berry is 6-4-1 with a 2.46 goals against and .901 save ratio, while Jurusik shows 7-4, 3.44 and .879.
Four: UW sophomore captain Luke Kunin started the season at center, but was moved to wing after 10 games in part because Granato believes he can score more from that spot. So far, so good. In the 11 games Kunin has played since the change — nine outings on right wing, two on the left — he has nine of his team-best 15 goals and has converted at least once in every series. He has multi-point efforts in six of those matches.
Five: What do the two best weekends of the season for UW have in common? They involved trips to New York and resulted in two sweeps. The Badgers derived a lot of much-needed confidence from a late October swing that saw them win in Canton over St. Lawrence 5-2 and in Potsdam over Clarkson 5-4. The victory over Ohio State at Madison Square Garden moved Wisconsin into a tie for first place in the Big Ten and marked its second league road sweep since the Big Ten debuted in 2013-14.
