MADISON, Wis. – After last Saturday’s 9-2 loss to border-rival Minnesota, one of the worst defeats in program history, Wisconsin forward Ryan Wagner said the mood in the locker room was a combination of disappointment, embarrassment and anger.
Not only that, the negative traits permeated the first few days of practice this past week
“We know we were a better team than that,” said Wagner. “Sunday and Monday were very down days, and Coach [Mike Eaves] on the ice grabbed us and said, ‘Your attitude and effort have to be a lot better.’ From then on, we put the weekend in the past and were looking forward to tonight’s game.”
With Wisconsin’s final nonconference series coming at a good time, Wagner was the key figure in helping the Badgers officially wash away last weekend and finally enjoy a victory in 2016, scoring a pair of goals to lead them to a 4-3 victory over Alaska at the Kohl Center.
Corbin McGuire and Jarod Zirbel also added goals for Wisconsin (5-12-6), which ended a six game winless streak by registering its first victory since Dec. 12.
“We all put it a very good effort,” said Wagner.
After not having an answer for Minnesota’s scoring barrage last weekend, getting humbly outscored 13-2 during the weekend, Eaves made the executive decision to bury Saturday’s tape.
“It was just a bad day,” said Eaves. “I didn’t look at the game at all.”
Instead, Eaves showed video clips of NHL players doing the same on-ice traits he is trying to enforce with a team that includes a combined 22 freshmen and sophomores.
“We were programming their computer to see things done the right way,” said Eaves. “It didn’t make much sense to watch something that was so bad.”
The decision apparently worked against the Nanooks (7-14-5), especially when adversity started knocking on the door.
Having a chance to double their 1-0 lead on the game’s first power play in the second period, the Badgers instead allowed a shorthanded tally off the stick of senior captain Tyler Morley, who scored his 13th of the season on a snipe from the left circle.
Instead of moping, UW was opportunistic on its next shift and took the lead right back when Wagner redirected Jake Linhart’s power-play shot from between the circles to regain the lead 18 seconds later.
After the Nanooks tried to follow the same philosophy later in the period, answering Zirbel’s first collegiate goal 25 seconds later with Nolan Huysmans’ tally to trim the lead back to 3-2, Wagner again hopped into action with his second goal at 16:02 to give his team another late-period lift.
“He was the leader of a team that won an AAA midget national championship and he was a goal scorer,” Eaves said of Wagner. “As a senior in high school, he was invited to the national development program, which is a great honor. He’s been able to be on the power play and score some goals, which creates that positive feeling and confidence.”
Morley added his second goal just 3:40 into the final period, but Alaska managed just five shots in the period, including no high-percentage shots in the final 1:43 while playing with at least a man advantage.
“When you don’t give up a lot of chances in the third period, it’s obviously a good thing, especially when you are holding on to a lead,” said Wisconsin assistant captain Grant Besse. “I think a lot of guys played really well in the D-zone.”
One of those players was McGuire, who is a forward by trade, but was moved to defense for the first time in his career with freshman Patrick Sexton hurt and veteran Eddie Witchow serving the first of a three-game suspension. Eaves said the move came because of McGuire’s skating skill and ability to get back to pucks quicker, a move that paid off when he scored with 47 seconds left before the first intermission.
“When you score in the first period, it always helps, and to score first helps as well,” said Besse. “For Corbin to score, not only because it was the first goal that it gave us a lift, but because it was his first game on defense, we were all pretty jacked up for him. The combination of those two things helped a lot.”
After a sobering weekend where he allowed 12 of the 13 goals, Wisconsin freshman goalie Matt Jurusik rebounded to stop 20 of the 23 shots he faced.
“We forget he’s a freshman; he’s been thrust into a starting role as a freshman, and he’s been pretty good for us,” said Eaves. “We got some good medicine tonight. We got a win. Matty was back in the saddle, so we can move forward from here with a little bit lighter jump in our step.”
