Notre Dame came into this weekend having won 15 consecutive games and holding an undefeated 12-0-0 record in Big Ten Conference play. The Fighting Irish are playing with a purpose and are winning games impressively. Friday night’s game would be no exception.

The Irish jumped out to a 2-0 lead relatively early in the first period. A Trent Frederic penalty shot goal allowed the Badgers to get back into the game. Notre Dame would add another before the end of the period to extend their lead to two once again. Tarek Barek cut the deficit back to one, but the Notre Dame offense would prove to be too much to handle as they scored on an empty-net to complete the 4-2 victory.

Sunday afternoon, however, would be an entirely different story. The second game of the weekend series was played at the United Center in Chicago, home to the Chicago Blackhawks. Unlike Friday night in South Bend, Wisconsin was dominant all over the ice.

Freshman Wyatt Kalynuk opened the scoring late in the first with a stellar end to end rush to put the Badgers up 1-0, and they did not look back.

In the second, Trent Frederic scored on a short-handed breakaway to extend the lead to two. And a few minutes later on the power-play, Seamus Malone rifled a one-timer into the top corner to increase the lead once again.

Linus Weissbach and Sean Dhoghee would both score in the final minute to seal a 5-0 victory over the number one team in the nation.

Jack Berry was spectacular in net, saving all 40 shots he faced en route to a shutout.

While Sunday was a nice win for the 18th ranked Badgers, their schedule does not get much easier. Next week the 12th ranked Penn State Nittany Lions come to Madison for a weekend series.

Wisconsin will then match up with 20th ranked Michigan, 13th ranked Minnesota, and 6th ranked Ohio State to finish up the regular season.

 

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