Hilary Knight was perched on a stationary bike at a recent Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey practice when a trivia question was sent whizzing in her direction.

Knight had just opened the season with seven goals in a non-conference series sweep of Quinnipiac — including a UW-record five in one game — so she was asked if she knew the last hockey player in school history to score five in one game.

Yes, she knew the answer.

No, she isn't inclined to sit down and compare notes on that accomplishment with UW women's coach Mark Johnson.

"Oh, no," Knight said with a laugh.

Johnson was a freshman center for the Badgers when, on Jan. 27, 1978, he scored five against Michigan Tech. That equaled the men's school record set by Bert DeHate (1967) and Mike Meeker (1977).

Knight, a sophomore winger from Hanover, N.H., proceeded to downplay her achievement.

"I was just in front of the net and my linemates are really gracious," she said.

Perhaps, but when you look at what Knight has done for the top-ranked Badgers (8-0) heading into their Western Collegiate Hockey Association series with second-ranked Minnesota (5-1) at the Kohl Center, she's either very lucky or very good.

Knight has scored at least one goal in every game and leads the nation in points per game (2.67), goals per game (2.00), power-play goals (five) and winning goals (three).

Playing in six of the first eight games for UW, Knight has 12 goals and 16 points. Her work on the power play helps explain why the Badgers have converted a whopping 44.8 percent of their man-advantage opportunities.

Knight came to UW touted as an elite power forward whose all-around game might be good enough to earn her a spot on Team USA for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She had 20 goals and 38 points as a freshman, but after a year of high-grade strength and conditioning she threatens to blow those numbers out of the water.

"This year's a lot more fun because you can keep up and you're doing things you couldn't do last year just because you have more speed and strength," said Knight, who is  5-foot-11 and 170 pounds. "I think it all comes down to confidence, to have the strength and know that you're going to go in the corner and it's your puck and you're not going to get beat one-on-one."

Johnson said what distinguishes Knight — a one-time downhill ski buff who fell in love with hockey when her family moved from California to Illinois as a youth — is her work ethic.

"She brings it every day in practice," he said. "She brings it in every game. You know what you're going to get when you play against here."

There is little, if anything, subtle about Knight's game. Asked to identify the toughest player on the Badgers, senior center and co-captain Erika Lawler and junior winger and co-captain Meghan Duggan said it was Knight.

"When the puck's in the corner and she wants it, she gets it," Duggan said.

Conventional wisdom suggests everything will be harder to come by Friday and Sunday against the Gophers, who sent a message two weeks ago when they swept defending WCHA and NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth on the road.

"They're a great team this year," Knight said.