For nearly 2½ periods Saturday night, the record crowd of 10,894 at 3M Arena at Mariucci saw the Gophers men's hockey team locked into a scoreless tie with Wisconsin. Battles along the boards, contested passes and big saves were common, and it appeared that the next goal not only would be a big one but just might be the only one.

Instead, a four-goal surge by Minnesota in the final 10:44 of the third period enabled the Gophers to not only display a gritty game but also show off their offensive power in a 4-1 victory for a series sweep of the Badgers.

"From start to finish, our guys were committed to their shifts," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. "… It's kind of fun to see our team be back to what we knew we could do."

The fourth-ranked Gophers improved to 21-6-3 overall and 12-4-2 in the Big Ten. They have 38 points in conference play, two behind first-place Michigan State.

Entering the weekend, the Gophers were 14-0 when they scored four or more goals but just 5-6-3 when not reaching that mark. So, 49 minutes of scoreless hockey against a team that enjoys locking down a game provided a test of Minnesota's mettle. Consider it passed, even with the deceiving three-goal margin.

"Earlier in the year, we'd get frustrated and kind of lose ourselves and lose our game and just start worrying about scoring," said junior forward Connor Kurth, who had two goals and an assist. "And I think now we're understanding that playoff hockey is going to be tight, and we've got to start playing that way."

With goalie Liam Souliere making 26 saves and helping his defensive corps with solid puck movement, the Gophers didn't blink, biding time for an offensive outburst. It came in the third period, right after a Minnesota power play expired, when Matthew Wood took a feed from Brody Lamb and snapped a shot from the slot past Badgers goalie Tommy Scarfone for a 1-0 lead as the crowd roared in approval.

It didn't take long for Kurth to make it 2-0. At 11:21, his shot from the left point beat Scarfone. "I was honestly trying to pass it to Woody," said Kurth, who added an empty-net goal with 2:15 left in the third. "I was going for a little pass of the pad because I saw him crashing the net. Sometimes, they go in like that."

Oliver Moore made it 3-0 at 14:19, sniping a shot from the left boards over Scarfone's right shoulder. "I saw the goalie was cheating a little bit over, and he left some room on the short side," said Moore, who also had two assists.

Wisconsin (11-14-3, 6-11-1) got an extra-attacker goal from Ryan Botterill at 16:04. Scarfone finished with 22 saves.

The series drew 21,641, the most ever for a two-game set at Mariucci, and both Motzko and his players praised the atmosphere.

"You could feel the energy and intensity in the building tonight, and last night, too," Moore said.

The Gophers are idle next week, and Motzko is eager for the stretch run.

"I hate January; I love February," he said. "There's something about it when the clock starts turning toward playoff time, and your game has to evolve with it. And let's hope that this is a great indication that's where our game's evolved."