Badgers 6 - gophers 0

Me'skwak Msuguk nyanitse'nge mbop wisawa wabkonoshkwe.....RedBadger make soup outta yellow rat -- HatchetJoe

We obviously have to play a whole lot better than we did tonight. Wisconsin played well tonight and they deserved to win the game. -- Don Lucia

They outworked us in the corners, they beat us to the net and we didn't do too many things well tonight. . . . They got pucks in deep and were real tough in the corners, got to the net and got a couple goals. They really worked us down low and kind of did the same thing Omaha did to us . . . -- Jay Barriball

Box: uwbadgers, collegehockey stats
Recaps:
- uwbadgers: Badgers shut out gophers 6-0
- gophersports: minnesota falls to Wisconsin
- Baggot (WSJ): Freshman are heard in rout of minnesota
- Augustoviz (StarTribune): Badgers' rout adds to bad week
- Brule (uscho): Badgers maul gophers
- CHN: Friday round-up
Photos: StarTribune
Game blog: Capobianco (uwbadgers), gophersports
Postgame: Lucia/Eaves post-game, quotes


I had to work 'til after 9pm, so I didn't get to see the game. Caught the last 10 minutes, as well as the post-game, on the radio and talked to Gandalf for a bit. Without having actually seen the game, I offer the following items that make me happy.

1. Badgers scored first - after last weekend, I remarked that it was nice to see the Badgers be able to come from behind but that it would be nice to see them not have to do so. So this definitely makes me happy.
   
2. Badgers held the lead - I also previously remarked that no one blows a 2 0r 3 goal lead better than the Badgers, but the Badgers held and continued to add to the lead. Nice!
3. 60 minutes, no alibis, no regrets - It sounds like the Badgers played hard the entire game, even after establishing a sizeable lead. Now we just need to extend that to 120 minutes, no alibis, no regrets.
4. Five even-strength goals - PP goals are great, and the Badgers' PP has been quite good so far this year. But as important as PP goals are, you can't always rely on them, and you have to be able to score even strength. Wangas is a sieve, but ya gotta be happy about 5 EV goals.
5. The D played well, and so did Goody - Badgers got a shutout behind the good play of the Badgers' D and Scott Gudmandson. Sure, minnesota sucks, but Gandalf tells me that Goody made some nice saves, and Cerniglia/Posick liked the play of the D and Goody.
6. Badgers continue to block shots - I can't remember how many shots they blocked, but it's good to see the Badgers continue to do this effectively.
7. Mike Mersch, 1st-star Zengerle, Tyler Barnes - What's not to like about these kids?
8. Jordy Murray, Derek Lee - Murray's going to be one of the Badgers' go-to guys this season, and it's also nice to see Lee step up.
9. He used to be a gopher, but now he's a Badger - I'm talking about Bill Butters, of course, and that's what he said during the post-game show. For a number of reasons, I'm starting to really like this guy.