Wisconsin left Mariucci with five points and no doubt about No. 1
The top-ranked Badgers took the shootout point Thursday, then beat Minnesota 6-0 on three power-play goals Saturday.
Wisconsin went to Mariucci for the Border Battle, took five of six points, and left with a 6-0 win that settles the argument about No. 1 for now. Minnesota had a six-game unbeaten run coming in. It didn't survive Saturday.
The Badgers were the No. 1 team in the USCHO poll going in, with 37 first-place votes. They're 7-0-1 now, 3-0-1 in the Big Ten, and nobody has beaten them yet.
How the weekend went
Thursday was a 1-1 tie, and Wisconsin won the shootout for the extra point. Two goals across regulation and overtime between two teams that know each other this well is about what you'd expect from the first night of a rivalry series.
Saturday was not close. Jack Phelan scored twice, Luke Osburn had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Botterill, Dylan Compton and Bruno Idzan all scored. Gavin Morrissey and JJ Wiebusch each had two assists, and Wisconsin outshot Minnesota 38-24 in front of 10,473.
The Gophers thought they had the first goal. Austin Burnevik scored in the first period, and it came off the board on a goaltender interference challenge. About three minutes later, Wisconsin scored on a rebound, and the night tipped.
The number
7-1. That's the Border Battle weekend score, by our count, over two games. Wisconsin scored three power-play goals on Saturday, two of them less than a minute apart in the second period.
Minnesota coach Brett Larson didn't dress it up. "Obviously, the discipline part of the game just killed us tonight," he said.
Kessler's read
This is what a No. 1 team does in a rival's barn. It doesn't need to be brilliant on Thursday. It needs to stay in it, steal the shootout point, and then punish you on Saturday when you start chasing.
Daniel Hauser made 24 saves for the shutout, and he was never the story, which is the best thing you can say about a goalie on a team like this. Melvin Strahl stopped 32 at the other end and took the first loss of his college career. He's 4-1-1, and he kept Saturday from getting worse than it was.
For Minnesota, No. 18 in the poll, the record is 3-4-3 and 1-1-2 in the league. The Gophers aren't a bad team. They're a team that took too many penalties against a top team that made it pay three times.
Rivalry file:
The Border Battle never needs a poll to matter. It mattered more this year because Wisconsin came in as the top team in the country and Minnesota came in unbeaten in six. One of those streaks is gone.
Kessler's call
Minnesota gets Alaska Anchorage at home on Nov. 13 and 14 and should get its legs back. Wisconsin stays No. 1 when the new poll lands, and I'll say it picks up first-place votes from the voters who were still holding out for Michigan.
