#1 Wisconsin Hockey vs. #3 Duluth: High-Flying Offense vs. Brick Wall Goaltender
By Kedrick Stumbris,
5 hours ago
After two weeks of dismantling its opponents, the Wisconsin women's hockey team prepares for a pair of top-three matchups. This weekend, the Badgers welcome Minnesota-Duluth to Madison before UW travels the following weekend for a series with the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Duluth Bulldogs (3-1, 2-0 WCHA) began their season with an opening weekend sweep of the reigning national champion and then No. 1 Ohio State. Although UMD stumbled its next time out, splitting a two-game series with Colgate in Hamilton, New York, it has maintained its position as a top-five team in the country. The Bulldogs held steady this week at No. 3 in the USCHO poll and No. 4 in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live poll.
Badger Hockey Returns Home for Sold-Out Conference Opener
Wisconsin's Kirsten Simms handles the puck during the first period of the Badgers' NCAA women's hockey national semifinal against Colgate at Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire on Friday March, 22, 2024.
Wisconsin begins WCHA conference play, seeking its first regular-season title in four seasons. The Badgers won the WCHA Final Faceoff tournament last season but have not brought the Julianne Bye Cup, awarded to the WCHA regular-season champion, back to Madison since 2021.
UW's current regular season title drought matches its longest in program history. It is a stark contrast from 2016 to 2021, during which the Badgers won the league in five of six seasons.
Wisconsin was voted the favorite to win the conference in the preseason coaches poll and boasts forward Kirsten Simms, the WCHA Preseason Player of the Year. The junior is one of many playmakers on an offense that leads that country with 8.5 goals per game. This weekend, however, Simms and company face its toughest test yet in Bulldogs goaltender Ève Gascon.
Wisconsin Women's Hockey Seeks "Quality Opportunities" to Score Against Ève Gascon
Gascon was the lone goaltender named to the preseason All-WCHA team. The sophomore posted an impressive 1.63 goals against average in her rookie season while splitting time in the net with Hailey MacLeod. With MacLeod's transfer to Ohio State this offseason, Gascon became the undisputed starting goaltender in Duluth.
When Wisconsin women’s hockey head coach Mark Johnson was asked about preparing his team for such an impressive netminder and a potentially lower-scoring game, “getting quality opportunities” to score was the first point emphasized by the winningest coach in the history of NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey.
According to Johnson, his team’s focus must be “creating those opportunities, and then some might go in, some might not go in.”
Badgers Hockey Special Teams: Perfect Penalty Kill, Inconsistent Power Play
Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson walks the red carpet before the Wisconsin-Ohio State NCAA women's hockey national championship game at Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire, on Sunday March, 24, 2024.
Johnson's second point of emphasis was the Badgers’ special teams units. “Is our penalty kill going to be up to standard? Is our power play going to capitalize when we need to?” he asked rhetorically.
Wisconsin is still searching for answers to those questions. Albeit in a limited 15 opportunities, UW's power play has been touch-and-go at times so early in the season. It has converted four of those opportunities with the skater advantage to goals, slightly below the 30% clip it did so at a season ago.
However, Johnson's squad has been perfect on the penalty kill this season. The Badgers have held opponents scoreless through eight power plays, and Wisconsin women's hockey winger Laila Edwards even has a shorthanded goal. So, in a certain sense, UW has been more than perfect on the PK thus far.
Where to Watch Wisconsin Women's Hockey vs. Duluth Bulldogs
On Tuesday, Simms noted that in WCHA play, "games are going to be a battle no matter who we're playing." Add in the early-season stakes of a top-three matchup at home, and it's no wonder the nation's reigning scoring champ said, "we're fired up for it and we're ready to go have that tougher game now."
The Wisconsin Badgers host the Duluth Bulldogs this weekend for a two-game series at LaBahn Arena. Both games are sold out, but you can watch them on B1G+ or listen on iHeart Radio and 1070 AM The Game - Madison. Puck drop on Saturday and Sunday is scheduled for 2:00 PM Central.
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