Minnesota won't be at full strength for its WCHA series with the Badgers at the Kohl Center Friday and Saturday night, so it's possible some members of the UW men's hockey team will view the matchup through complacent eyes.

The Gophers are days removed from losing freshman defenseman Nick Leddy to a broken jaw -- he's expected to be sidelined for six weeks -- and senior right winger Jay Barriball to a season-ending knee injury.

UW coach Mike Eaves was asked if his players might look at those developments as reason to let up psychologically.

"Some of them may think like that,'' he said. "Part of our job as coaches is to raise ... the level of awareness of the fact that a wounded animal is very dangerous.

"When you lose a player like that, they're at a level where they'll be even more on an edge. They're looking for someone to step up. Somebody's getting an opportunity.

"Our hope is that the guys have been around athletics long enough to know that if you're thinking like that, you're falling into a false trap.''

A quick clarification: The injury to Barriball left junior left winger Mike Hoeffel as the only upperclassman who's had a multi-goal season for the Gophers. Sophomore center Jordan Schroeder had 13 in his freshman year.

I failed to include the upperclassman reference to the item that appeared in The State Journal today. My apologies.

Who are the top scorers for the Badgers vs. Minnesota? Here's a rundown:

C Ben Street 3-2-5

W Patrick Johnson 2-3-5

W Michael Davies 1-4-5

W Podge Turnbull 3-1-4

C Derek Stepan 1-3-4

C Blake Geoffrion 1-3-4

W John Mitchell 3-0-3

D Ryan McDonagh 1-2-3

It should be noted that Johnson and Turnbull are healthy scratches for the series opener.

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