Preparing for a top-10 team is becoming second nature for the Wisconsin men’s hockey team.

After starting a challenging three-week stretch on the road at then-No. 8 Colorado College, the Badgers returned home last weekend for a thrilling series with then-No.1 Denver. And now UW is heading to Duluth to take on the 8th ranked Bulldogs.

Minnesota Duluth may have seven teams ahead of it in the latest USCHO.com rankings, but the Bulldogs hold the top spot in the competitive WCHA with a one-point lead over second-place Denver.

And despite this unrelenting stretch of highly ranked opponents, the Badgers, now up to No. 2 in the rankings, are relishing the opportunity to take on some of the nation’s best squads.

“We’re feeling great right now,” sophomore forward Jordy Murray said. “It has been a tough stretch against some great teams, but it’s been fun and we hope we can keep this up.”

The Badgers are soaring with confidence after taking three points from Denver at the Kohl Center, but this weekend’s series will take UW out of their comfort zone in Madison as they prepare for another difficult road environment.

“Road trips are always big. We’re playing in a loud venue and it’s going to be exciting in that smaller rink,” Murray said. “Duluth is a great team, they play similar hockey to us, and it’s definitely going to be a battle.”

As Murray mentioned, the Badgers will have to ready themselves for a smaller ice surface at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

UW has been practicing at the SHELL throughout the week to simulate the smaller rink and the players believe they are prepared to effectively play in a tighter space.

“It’s a little bit different, because we don’t have the same kind of room, but we’re ready,” junior forward Patrick Johnson said.

The smaller rink might limit the players’ space but it hasn’t limited the Bulldogs’ offensive production.

In fact, Duluth boasts the WCHA’s top three point men — Justin Fontaine and the Connolly brothers. Interestingly enough, after Denver’s Rhet Rakhshani, the next three conference point-leaders are all Badgers — Michael Davies, Brendan Smith and Derek Stepan.

Fontaine and Jack Connolly have each scored 16 goals on the season and when asked if UMD’s top scorers jump out on film as much as they do on the stat sheet, UW head coach Mike Eaves didn’t hesitate.

“Oh yeah. Clearly on the power play and five-on-five they show patience and poise with the puck, they compete for lose pucks and they are special forwards,” Eaves said. “When you play guys like that you have got to be good as a unit; you just can’t send one guy out there and expect to shadow them.”

The matchup between these two WCHA programs highlights two explosive offensive units, but Eaves isn’t ready to guarantee a high-scoring series in Duluth.

“With all these top scorers there is certainly the potential for a high scoring game, but we played a 0-0 game against them one time. You never know what’s going to happen, you truly don’t,” Eaves said.

Tri-captain Ryan McDonagh and the rest of the UW defenseman will look to limit Fontaine and Connolly’s scoring chances over the weekend.

The Badgers plan on getting physical with UMD’s skilled forwards, but according to McDonagh, every player in a Bulldog uniform will get similar treatment.

“I try and treat everyone the same, but obviously you’re aware when [Fontaine and Connolly] are out there on the ice,” McDonagh said. “They are going to be a little bit more creative, so you have to be ready for that. But we are going to be physical and play tough against whoever is out there.”

The Bulldogs are coming off a sweep at the hands of Bemidji State, and the Badgers are well aware of this weekend’s overall importance.

For UW, it’s just another critical weekend series in the stretch run of the WCHA season.

“This is a huge weekend, just like every weekend, pretty much,” McDonagh said. “Duluth is coming off a tough two games so they are going to be looking to play hard in front of their fans. We have to match that and try to play above it.”