January was a lifetime ago, and is now just a distant memory for the national championship-bound Wisconsin Badgers. The season was on thin ice following a six-game skid to Michigan State, Penn State, and Minnesota, but the Badgers bounced back with a new sense of purpose to make their first Frozen Four and title game appearance since 2010.
North Dakota brought plenty of size and skill into the Frozen Four matchup on Thursday, but Wisconsin jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period and never
looked back, thanks largely to the play of freshman Daniel Hauser in goal.
Senior Simon Tassy and sophomore Ryan Botterill scored 27 seconds apart just past the midway point of the first period, and that’s all Wisconsin would need. Hauser put together far and away his best game in a Badger uniform, making 20 saves and keeping a clean sheet until North Dakota scored in the game’s last minute with the extra attacker.
Hauser was phenomenal with the glove, making a ton of high-traffic saves and limiting North Dakota’s rebound opportunities. No save loomed larger than Hauser snaring the puck out of the air with a North Dakota skater falling into his lap, a highly difficult save that preserved the two-goal lead as the Fighting Hawks were in desperation mode. He deserved the shutout, but something tells me he’s okay with the consolation prize being a berth in the national championship game.
Just as important as Hauser’s play in net was the performance of the Wisconsin penalty kill. North Dakota entered the game with the third-ranked scoring offense and the seventh-best power play in college hockey. The Badger kill held them scoreless on five power play opportunities, including 1:56 of five-on-three in the second period after back-to-back questionable calls against freshman Luke Osburn and junior Joe Palodichuk.
North Dakota went on their final power play of the game midway through the third period after senior Jack Horbach was whistled for boarding, though the officials ignored a blatant takedown on freshman Vasily Zelenov just seconds prior. The officials issued a make-up call by sending North Dakota’s Jack Kernan to the box thirty seconds into their advantage for slashing after the whistle, another questionable call that seemed like a correction for the Zelenov play.
Wisconsin skated with a tenacity that we’ve seldom seen this season, but it was the key to negating the physical advantage of North Dakota. They were aggressive in the defensive zone and relentless on the forecheck, and the pursuit to get back into defensive plays made it hard to get clean looks. That tenacity was exemplified by freshman Oliver Tulk rushing back on a North Dakota breakaway to end the second period, fully laying out to get a stick lift on Ollie Josephson and avoid taking a penalty before Hauser was able to safely clear the puck.
Wisconsin is rolling into Saturday with all the confidence in the world after knocking off the second and third seeds in back-to-back games. They will meet either top-seeded Michigan or the hottest program in the last decade, Denver. We’ll know the opponent late Thursday night, but either way, we are in for a historic matchup between historical powerhouses.
The Badgers are now one win away from matching the women’s team and bringing both Division I hockey championships back to Madison, a feat only accomplished once before in college hockey when Wisconsin did it back in 2006. The boys are playing with house money, a great feeling when you’re already in Las Vegas. At this point, why not just go win the whole darn thing?
Win or lose, Coach Hastings has restored the roar in Madison and put the Badgers back on the map by bringing them to the precipice of the program’s seventh national championship. Saturday is going to be fun, so sit back and enjoy the ride. Wisconsin hockey is back.
