GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Prior to Friday night's rivalry renewal with old WCHA foe Wisconsin, North Dakota honored a rugged, two-way standout from Saskatchewan. Once the game started, however, center-stage was taken over by another rugged, two-way standout from Saskatchewan.

Former team captain Jim Archibald (1981-85), a national champion, cult hero and the program's all-time penalty minutes leader, was recognized during the pre-game introductions as UND launched it's new "One More Shift" ceremony. The Craik, Saskatchewan, native took a few laps around the ice and joined the current team on the blueline for the national anthem.

But once the pomp and circumstance gave way to the game, Moose Jaw's Rhett Gardner was the story.

The senior centered scored a hat trick and was a plus-4 in carrying the Fighting Hawks to their third straight win, a 5-0 drubbing of the Badgers in front of 11,266.

Gardner said he and his teammates fed off of the energy supplied by Archibald's presence.

"We were joking that his fist bumps were pretty hard," said Gardner. "I was standing beside him on the blueline and I jokingly said, 'You think you can go for a shift?' and he was chomping at the bit to get out there."

With all due respect to Archibald, who racked up 144 points and a school-record 540 penalty minutes at North Dakota, he wouldn't have been needed on this night.

Gardner scored a goal in each period for his first hat trick since he was a teenager, freshman defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker scored his first career goal, junior defender Colton Poolman tallied his third goal in two games, and freshman goaltender Adam Scheel registered his first career shutout.

It all added up to UND's most decisive win over the Badgers in 15 years and the Fighting Hawks' third straight win over a nationally-ranked opponent after starting the year 0-2-1.

"The first part of the season, something was missing," said UND head coach Brad Berry. "We've done a better job through practices and in games of playing a 60-minute games. I think there's some chemistry going with some lines and D combinations and, obviously, Adam having a strong game in goal again."

Scheel was stellar from start to finish. He also got some help from his teammates and a little bit of luck, particularly after Gardner opened the scoring 3:29 into the game. On the Badgers' next shift, junior defenseman Andrew Peski blocked what appeared to be a sure goal in the neck area. As he lay hurt on the ice (he later returned to the game after a brief absence), Scheel stopped the rebound, and Tarek Baker hit the post on UW's third crack at it and the puck slid all the way out the other side of the goal crease.

That sequence would prove to be the closest call for the Hawks. After surviving with the lead intact, UND pushed the lead to 2-0 late in the period when Bernard-Docker walked a Badger defender high in the slot and buried his first collegiate goal.

"It was super-cool, especially doing it at home," said the Ottawa Senators' first-rounder.

The Gardner added his second of the game just 29 seconds into the second period, and Poolman banked a point shot off a Wisconsin defenseman midway through the frame to make it 3-0.

Gardner completed the scoring, and his hat trick, with a rocket of a one-timer in the slot midway through the period. That goal, as well as two others, was set up by sophomore Collin Adams in what was the first 3-point game of his career.

"It felt good," said Gardner of his first three goals of the year. "You don't score early on, you start thinking you're not going to score all year. I didn't expect to get three, I just wanted one to break out of it."

As he so often does, Gardner affected the game in multiple areas. He had four shots on goal, blocked a pair of shots, went 15-8 in the faceoff circle, and anchored a UND penalty kill that was a perfect 4-for-4.

"He came in his freshman year and was a big impact in our national championship year," Berry said of his assistant captain. "He's the lifeblood of our program in the fact that he plays all situations. I thought he had an outstanding game in all attributes tonight."

At the other end, Scheel stopped 24 shots, including all 12 he saw in the third period, for the milestone shutout.

"It's good to get it under my belt, but I think it just goes to how well our team played as a whole, offensively and defensively," said Scheel.

Gardner noted that his team discovered a lot about itself in last Saturday's win over Minnesota in Las Vegas.

"Vegas just kind of proved that if we play that way, we'll win a lot of hockey games," said Gardner.

He continued: "We talked all week about how we can talk about how we played there, but we've got to go do it. I thought tonight, for the most part, we played a very similar game and it worked out for us."

The Hawks and Badgers conclude their series Saturday night at 7:07 p.m.

Notes: Wisconsin outshot UND 24-23 … Both teams were scoreless on the power play, UW going 0-4 and UND going 0-3 … Gardner, Adams and Scheel were voted the game's three stars by the print media … Gardner's hat trick was UND's first since Shane Gersich on Nov. 18, 2016 at St. Cloud State … The win marked the first time UND defeated Wisconsin by 5-plus goals since March 8, 2003 in Madison (5-0). The last time UND beat the Badgers by five or more in Grand Forks was a 6-1 win on Dec. 11, 1998.