Jan. 23, 2010

Recap |  Box Score

MADISON, Wis. --

Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves

On the keys of winning the game: “The intensity, the battle, the struggle, the strong will and strong work ethic, good goaltending. There is no better way to reward yourself at the end of the season by winning these types of games. It’s good to see our kids win tough games. It gives us confidence. We understand from the inside-out the types of things we need to do to win these games.”

On the second period: “In the second period we did some things that were risky, like turning the puck over in the middle of the ice. We had to battle back and stop doing those things to get the momentum back on our side and win the game. [Andy] Bohmbach and [Patrick] Johnson did a great job of just keeping the game fresh.  They played smart, and they made it difficult for Denver to get out of their zone and down to ours.”

On the bench: “We go through phases where we just melt down a little bit, and in the second period, we did that. It’s nice to see the kids on the bench taking charge, taking ownership, telling each other what they need to do and coaching each other. That’s a good sign of a team that’s growing.”

On goaltending: “One of the strengths of this team is that we have two great goaltenders. One of Brett [Bennett’s] strengths is his ability to play pucks. It gives us a different look back there by having Brett act like a third defensemen. He made a couple big saves right off the front and just showed his competitiveness.”

On special teams: “One of the things a power play can give you, even if you don’t score goals, is positive energy, and you can feed off of that. If you’re struggling with the puck or the other team has it, that can take away energy. Even though we didn’t score, we created positive energy, and the next line came out and built on that.”

On the team’s improvement: “If you take a look at last week and how we played on Saturday night, did we learn our lesson? I would say yes. Our kids came out and set the tone early. [Ryan] McDonagh had a big hit right away. We set the table as high as we’ve ever played early in the game, and it seemed to me we learned our lesson and carried through in a very highly competitive arena.

Michael Davies

On his confidence: “I’m just playing my strengths and winning those battles. Winning those battles gives you a lot of confidence. You have to win those races and that’s what coach preached to me.”

Craig Smith

On Denver: “They are a highly coveted team, they are number one in the nation and we’re up there too. Honestly, coming into a packed building like this and knowing the rivalry between the two teams, it was really fun. The environment brought the game to a higher level and we matched that.

Ben Street

On the level of the match: “It just kind of elevated everything, when you know the rankings are so high. There is a little bit more on the line with those rankings and with the Pairwise [rankings]. It all winds up coming together at the end of the year. It was definitely a more important weekend with the teams being ranked so high than if they were unranked.”