If you're looking for the face of the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team right now, how about Jordy Murray?

The sophomore left winger has an intriguing mix of skill, instincts, grit and energy that allows him to blend neatly into any situation. He's not the least bit flashy, but he can impact a game in a variety of ways even though some might consider him undersized at 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds.

Murray played the role of opportunist Saturday night, scoring two goals and assisting on another as the Badgers hammered New Hampshire 6-1 before an announced crowd of 12,351 Halloween revelers at the Kohl Center.

Coupled with a 4-1 triumph Friday night, UW (3-2-1 overall) swept a regular-season series at home for the first time since December of 2008 and left a distinctive impression on Wildcats coach Dick Umile.

New Hampshire (2-4-1) is a perennial title contender in the Hockey East Association, but it was outshot 96-35 in the series while going 0-for-8 on the power play and generating a mere 11 shots from the quality scoring area over six periods.

"This is a good team right here, I'll tell you right now,'' Umile said of the Badgers. "They're real good.

"They've got it all. They've got speed. They move the puck extremely well. They're quick. In the defensive zone, the defensemen are very, very talented and they create a lot of offense.''

Senior right winger Ben Grotting, freshman defenseman John Ramage, junior center Sean Dolan and senior right winger Michael Davies added the other goals for UW, which also got 21 saves from junior goaltender Scott Gudmandson.

"We're not that bad,'' Umile noted. "Maybe we played bad this weekend, but they obviously took it to us. I give them the credit for making us look as bad as we did.''

The Badgers left that impression even though they got minimal production from their top line in the series. Senior left winger Andy Bohmbach was credited with a secondary assist this night, but senior center and tri-captain and junior right winger Patrick Johnson were shut out.

That brings us back to Murray, whose role changes with the moment at hand. He'll do the dirty work in the corners, make heads-up passes or finish. He'll hit and block shots. He'll do it all with an attitude and humility.

"Right now I'm playing with two really skilled linemates,'' he said, referring to Davies and sophomore center Derek Stepan, "and they made me look good tonight, that's for sure.''

Except neither one really factored into Murray's second two-goal outing of his career.

He broke a scoreless tie at 2 minutes, 54 seconds of the second when rerouted a power-play shot by junior defenseman and tri-captain Ryan McDonagh past Wildcats goaltender Brian Foster (30 saves).

Three minutes later, after Grotting picked up his first conversion of the season, Murray stepped in front of a zone-clearing pass by New Hampshire defenseman Damon Kipp, walked to the left circle and zinged a slap shot past Foster.

"He's an instinctive hockey player,'' UW coach Mike Eaves said of Murray. "He has quickness. He has skills. For a little guy, he's as tenacious as anybody.''

If Murray is the face of the Badgers, then junior center Sean Dolan might represent their soul.

UW is so deep and capable at forward that Dolan didn't dress for the series opener. He made the most of his start this night, though, energizing a fourth line that produced two goals - Grotting had the other - seven shots and was a combined plus-6.

"You have to come to the rink every day and work hard and know that the guys in the lineup are there for a reason,'' said Dolan, who took the place of junior winger Podge Turnbull. "If I'm not playing, I have trust in the other guys that are playing.''

Eaves said he came away from the sweep feeling better about certain line combinations, the makeup of his defensive pairings and the effective goaltending tandem of Gudmandson and junior Brett Bennett.

But he declined to read too much into Umile's gushing overview, especially since October has just given way to November.

"I don't know how this weekend was for Dick and his team, if they played below (the level) they had been playing,'' Eaves said. "We looked at them as being a very good team.

"It's great to hear those compliments. We've got a long way to go yet.''

Related

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