When the Gophers and Wisconsin face off in a Border Battle men's hockey series on Friday and Saturday, the 3M Arena at Mariucci audiences will see two of the nation's youngest teams looking to mature quickly.
So far, Wisconsin has a slight edge in that department, and the Gophers will try to close the gap during the second of three consecutive home series.
Though the Badgers enter with a 6-6 record and sit in sixth place in the seven-team Big Ten, they've shown flashes of high-end play. Wisconsin swept two-time defending national champion Minnesota Duluth 6-2 and 3-1 in mid-October, and last weekend handed No. 4 Notre Dame its first loss of the season, 3-0 on Friday before falling 5-4 in overtime in the series finale.
The Gophers, meanwhile, enter with a 4-6-2 mark after absorbing 8-2 and 6-3 home losses to Big Ten leader Penn State last weekend, a low point in coach Bob Motzko's two seasons as head coach.
The difference between the two rivals?
"Their offense is ahead of ours," Motzko said. "Their young guys are scoring, and confidence comes with that."
Indeed. The Badgers feature seven freshmen, led by 2019 first-round NHL draft picks Cole Caufield and Alex Turcotte, a pair of stars from the U.S. national team development program. Wisconsin is averaging 3.67 goals per game, which ranks ninth nationally, and has a power play converting at 23.1%, which is 14th in the nation.
Caufield, selected No. 15 overall by Montreal, amassed records of 72 single-season goals and 126 career goals on the Ann Arbor-based development team. He's started fast with the Badgers, too, leading the team with nine goals and adding six assists. Joining Caufield with 15 points as Wisconsin's co-leader in scoring is Turcotte, selected No. 5 overall by Los Angeles. Turcotte had 27 goals and 35 assists in 37 games last season for the U.S. development team and has six goals and nine assists for the Badgers.
