Wisconsin hockey: Badgers goalie named B1G first star of the week

The No. 17 Wisconsin men’s hockey team (3-1-0) had an awesome weekend. They swept defending national champion No. 3 Minnesota Duluth (1-3-0), winning 6-2 on Friday night and 3-1 on Saturday night. The Badgers are now ranked No. 6 in the country, moving up a whopping 11 spots in the most recent USCHO.com poll.

While the Badgers offense was clicking, averaging 4.5 goals per game on the weekend, the biggest reason for the sweep was who was between the pipes in cardinal and white.

Daniel Lebedeff, a sophomore from Helsinki, Finland, earned the first star of the week in the B1G. Over the weekend he had a .950 save percentage and 1.51 goals-against average against Minnesota Duluth.

He recorded 26 saves in the 6-2 win against the Bulldogs on Friday and stopped a season-high 31 shots in a 3-1 victory on Saturday. This was Lebedeff’s first weekly award of his career and the second for Wisconsin on the young season. Freshman goal scoring sensation Cole Caufield was second star last week.

Sophomore forward Sammy Walker (Minnestoa) was named second star after scoring twice in a weekend sweep over Niagara and junior forward Jack Becker (Michigan) was awarded the third star by scoring three times in the Wolverines’ weekend sweep over Lake Superior State.

The Badgers have another big home series coming up this weekend, facing off against No. 13 Clarkson on Friday and Saturday nights. Both games are on BTN+ and the Friday game is on Fox Sports Wisconsin.