On the heels of an eight-game homestand, Wisconsin (6-15-7, 1-10-3-1 Big Ten) will travel to Ohio State (9-17-2, 4-8-2-1 Big Ten) this weekend for a Friday-Saturday showdown with the Buckeyes. 

In their most recent action, the Badgers dropped both games of a series with Michigan State, despite outshooting the Spartans in both games. In the series opener, Wisconsin overcame a two-goal deficit and scored early in the third to tie the game at three, but MSU scored with less than six minutes left to secure the win. UW fell 3-1 in the finale, as the Spartans scored twice in the final two minutes of the game after Wisconsin had tied the game seven minutes into the final period. 

Ohio State split it series with Penn State a weekend ago, losing 6-1 last Friday night before topping the Nittany Lions, 7-4, on Saturday night. 

Last Meeting: T, 4-4 -- Wisconsin twice overcame two-goal deficits, recovering from 2-0 and 4-2 holes for a 4-4 tie. Ryan Wagner, Adam Rockwood, Luke Kunin and Grant Besse scored the Badger goals back on Jan. 9 at the Kohl Center. Matt Jurusik made 25 saves for the tie. The Badgers went on to grab an extra point in the shootout as Ryan Wagner scored on the first attempt for the shootout's only goal. The game followed OSU's 2-0 shutout the previous night.  

Ohio State Series Notes: The teams meet for the 23rd and 24th times ... UW is 0-2-2 against OSU over the last four games, last defeating the Buckeyes on Feb. 14, 2015 in a 3-2 win at OSU last season ... Wisconsin defeated OSU in the championship game of the inaugural Big Ten Tournament in 2014 with a 5-4 come-from-behind overtime victory at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota ... UW is 4-5-2 against OSU since the creation of Big Ten hockey for the 2013–14 season ... OSU senior forward Tyler Lundey is a Middleton, Wisconsin native, who has six goals and three assists in the last seven games against UW ... OSU frosh forward John Wiitala is the son of former Badger Marty Wiitala, who was part of UW's 1983 NCAA championship team ... Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik was two-time team captain for the Badgers, including the 1990 NCAA championship team. Rohlik had 34 goals and 81 points in 166 games at UW ... first-year OSU associate head coach Mark Strobel was a Badger from 1991-95 and a two-time team captain ...  UW head coach Mike Eaves spent two years living in Columbus, Ohio, when his dad, Cecil, worked on his PhD at Ohio State ... Eaves was a paper boy in the area while there in fifth and sixth grade ... first-year UW assistant coach JB Bittner is a 2005 graduate of Ohio State and a two-time team captain for OSU ... Bittner served OSU as a video coach for two seasons (2008–09, 2010–11 and an assistant coach from 2009–10).

THIS WEEK IN MEN'S HOCKEY
• Wisconsin (6-15-7, 1-10-3-1 Big Ten) plays in its first road contests since Jan. 16 with a trip to Ohio State (9-17-2, 4-8-2-1 Big Ten) for a Friday-Saturday series at the Schottenstein Center. Friday's games starts at 5:30 p.m. CT, with Saturday's game a 6 p.m. start.

• Last weekend, the Badgers were tied with Michigan State late on Friday and Saturday, but fell in both contests, losing 4-3 and 3-1. MSU scored at 14:22 last Friday in the 4-3 win and at 18:24 on Saturday on the way to a 3-1 victory.
    The Badgers have led or been tied during the third period in 21 of their 28 games this season. The Badgers are 6-8-7 in those contests.

• The Badgers outshot Michigan State, 37-21, last Friday and 27-22 last Saturday, and have now outshot their opponent in three consecutive games and in five of their last six contests. UW has outshot its opponent 13 times this season and sit 4-5-4 in those contests.
    The last time UW outshot its opponents for three consecutive games was Jan. 10-25, 2014, when UW had a four-game run of outshooting its opponents. 

• Freshman forward Seamus Malone collected a goal and an assist last weekend to eclipse the 20-point plateau for the year. That gives UW four 20-point scorers, including two freshmen with at least 20 points.
    The combination of Luke Kunin (23 points) and Malone (21 points) gives UW two freshman with at least 20 points in a season for the first time since 2009–10 when Craig Smith (8-25=33) and Justin Schultz (6-16=22) both eclipsed the mark.
    Malone leads the Badgers with 10 power-play points (1-9=10), which is good for a share of sixth among all Big Ten skaters.

• UW's penalty kill went 5-for-6 over the weekend, has killed 10 of its last 11 penalties, and is 18 for its last 20 since allowing three goals to Minnesota on six power plays on Jan. 23. The Badger penalty kill is at 84.9 percent (90-for-106), which ranks 14th in the nation.

• The Badger power play went 1-for-8 last weekend and now stands 18-for-98 (18.4 percent) on the season, which ranks 25th in the country. 
    Wisconsin's 98 power-play chances make them one of just three schools not in the Ivy League to have under 100 power-play opportunities this year. Only Michigan Tech (94), American International (89) and Rensselear (94) have had fewer chances among teams not in the Ivy League.

• Freshman forward Luke Kunin (Chesterfield, Missouri) opened last weekend against Michigan State with a goal just 45 seconds into the game last Friday. Kunin now has eight goals in first or last minute of a period to lead the country. Six others are tied for second with five goals in the first or last minute of a period. Kunin has five goals in the first minute of a period and three in the final minute. 
    Kunin leads the Badgers with 13 goals and ranks second on the team with 23 points. He shares the team lead with two game-tying tallies and two first goals, while his four power-play goals ranks second on the squad. His 13 goals share eighth among all Big Ten skaters.
    Kunin is the first Wisconsin freshman to reach double figures in goals since Nic Kerdiles tallied 11 goals in 32 games as a rookie in 2011–12. Kunin has 12 goals through 25 contests. He also shares second on the team with 21 points.
    Kunin is the eighth Badger freshman in the Eaves' Era (2002-present) to reach double figures in goals. The others? Kyle Turris had 11 goals as a rookie in 2007–08, Michael Davies scored 11 times during the 2006–07 season, Jack Skille (13) and Ben Street (10) reached double figures as freshmen in 2005–06, Joe Pavelski struck 16 times as a rookie in 2004–05, Robbie Earl tallied 14 times in 2003–04 and Ryan MacMurchy scored 10 goals in 2002–03.
    Kunin is also the 17th UW frosh to score at least 20 points in a season and the first since Nic Kerdiles had 33 points on 11 goals and 22 assists in 2012–13. 
    The last Badger freshman to lead a team in goals was Dany Heatley in 1999–2000. Heatley scored 28 times that year. The last UW rookie to lead the team in points for a season was Turris, when he had 35 points in 36 games.

• The Badgers have 17 of their 72 goals in the first or last minute of a period this year, including Luke Kunin's goal 45 seconds into the game last Friday against Michigan State. Kunin's goal marked the fifth consecutive goal UW scored in the first or last minute of a period when including the previous game on Feb. 13 against Michigan when all four UW tallies came in the first or last minute of a period.

• Freshman forward Will Johnson scored his first career power-play goal last Friday, scoring his fifth marker of the season for his sixth point. The goal marked his second in five games.

• Sophomore forward Ryan Wagner (Park Ridge, Illinois) had his career-long, point-scoring streak snapped at five games after not getting on the scoresheet last weekend. He had four goals and six points during the five-game span. 
     Wagner has 21 points on the season, which  shares third on the Badgers.
    Wagner had just two goals and five points as a freshman in 35 games played. 
    Wagner's five power-play goals share third in the Big Ten, one off co-leaders Tyler Motte of Mcihigan and Nick Schikley of Ohio State.

• Wisconsin's top forward line of freshman Luke Kunin (1 goal, 1 assist), sophomore Cameron Hughes (1 goal, 1 assist) and junior Grant Besse (2 assists) combined for six points last Friday against Michigan State and had 13 points in two games before going pointless last Saturday against MSU.

• Junior forward Grant Besse (Plymouth, Minnesota) leads the Badgers with 19 assists and 26 points in 28 games, setting career highs in both categories. Besse collected 11 assists and 22 points last season for his previous bests.
    Besse's 26 points have him tied for 10th in Big Ten scoring in all games, while his 19 assists rank fifth among Big Ten skaters.

• Sophomore forward Cameron Hughes went pointless last Saturday against Michigan State, but has three multi-point games in the last five contests with two goals and four assists during the stretch. He boasts a career-high four goals and 18 points. Hughes had three goals and 13 points in 34 games as a rookie. 
    Hughes has gone more than one game without a point just once since opening the season without a point in his first four contests.

• Wisconsin is 6-6-4 when freshman forward Jarod Zirbel (Green Bay, Wisconsin) is in the lineup. The rookie has a goal and four points in 14 games played.

• With seven goals, sophomore defenseman Jake Linhart (Brookfield, Wisconsin) is within striking distance of double figures in goals. Should he reach the mark, he would become the first UW rear guard to reach at least 10 goals since Justin Schultz tallied 16 times during the 2011–12 season. 
    The most goals for a Badger defenseman since Schultz is eight by both Jake McCabe (2013–14) and John Ramage (2012–13).
    Since 2000, only Schultz (18 in 2010–11 and 16 in 2011–12), Jake Gardiner (10 in 2010–11), Brendan Smith (15 in 2009–10) and Tom Gilbert (12 in 2005–06) have scored at least 10 goals from the blue line. 
    Linhart is tied for third among Big Ten rear guards with seven goals, just one off the pace, and ranks eighth among Big Ten defensemen with 15 points.

• Fan voting is underway online for the WHA-TV Jim Santulli 7th-Man Award. Named for the producer who helped start Badger hockey broadcasts on Wisconsin Public Television in the 1970's, the Jim Santulli 7th Man Award is presented to the winner in April. This is the 36th year the trophy will be awarded.
    Voting is live at http://go.wisc.edu/santulli7thman

• UW posted its seventh tie of the season on Feb. 13 against Michigan, one shy of the school record of eight ties set during the 2003–04 campaign.
    The Badgers had tied 11 consecutive overtime games and were unbeaten in 12 consecutive overtime contests before losing a 4-3 overtime contest on Jan. 15 at Penn State. The Badgers went 1-0-11 over a span that dates back to March 22, 2014 and the Badgers' 5-4 overtime victory over Ohio State in the championship game of the 2014 Big Ten Tournament.

• The Badgers have overcome multi-goal holes to avoid defeat on three occasions this season.
    The most recent came Jan. 9 against Ohio State when UW overcame a 4-2 deficit for a 4-4 tie. 
    The others were Northern Michigan on Oct. 10 (3-0 deficit in third; 3-3 tie) and Michigan on Dec. 5 (trailed 2-0 in first; 6-6 tie).

• The Badgers have scored nine goals in the final minute of a period this season.
    Three of the last-minute goals were scored with UW skating with an extra attacker and resulted in ties.
    Junior right winger Grant Besse had one in the third period vs. Northern Michigan on Oct. 9 that provided a 2-2 draw (19:18).
    Sophomore defenseman Tim Davison had one in the third session vs. Ferris State on Oct. 23 that resulted in a 5-5 tie (19:40).
    Freshman left winger Luke Kunin had one in the third period vs. No. 6 Michigan on Feb. 13 that gave UW 4-4 tie (19:33).

• UW has two freshmen among the top 10 in the Big Ten in scoring. Luke Kunin is tied for fourth with 23 points on 13 goals and 10 assists, while Seamus Malone shares eighth with 21 points (4 goals, 17 assists).

• Wisconsin celebrated a pair of NCAA championship anniversaries this season, including the weekend of Nov. 20-21, when the 1980–81 team was back for the 35th anniversary of their title. 
    The 2005–06 NCAA title was celebrated on the 10th anniversary of the school's sixth NCAA title Jan. 30 during the NHL All-Star break. The UW women's team was also celebrating their 2006 NCAA title that same weekend.

• Senior defenseman Eddie Wittchow (Burnsville, Minn.) skated in his 100th career game for the Badgers on Nov. 6 to become just the second current Badger to reach the milestone. He now has played in 116 games. Only fellow senior defenseman Kevin Schulze (White Bear Lake, Minn.), who has played in 141 games, has played in more.
    Two other Badgers could play in their 100th career games this season as junior forwards Jedd Soleway (96 GP) and Grant Besse (96 GP) are within striking distance.

• UW faces one of the tougher schedules in the nation this season, with an especially grueling stretch to start the campaign. The Badgers played six of their first 12 games against teams ranked in the top five of the preseason USCHO.com poll, with at least one game against four of the top five teams. 
    Of its 34 total games, Wisconsin will play 14 against teams ranked in the top 13 of the USCHO.com preseason poll. Only three of UW's series this year are against a team not receiving votes in the preseason poll. 

• Senior defenseman Kevin Schulze led the nation in 2014–15 with an average of 2.66 blocks per game, 0.11 shots-per-game better than Bemidji State defenseman Sam Windle (2.55). Schulze's 93 blocks were four shy of Windle's national lead.
    As a team, UW ranked 10th in the country with an average of 14.83 blocks per game.
    This season, teammate Eddie Wittchow ranks sixth in the nation with an average of 2.52 blocks per game. Wittchow shares 17th in the nation with 63 blocks in 25 games.
    Schulze still ranks among the nation's best in the category, blocking an average of 2.21 shots per game to share 13th in the country. He has blocked 62 shots this year in 28 contests. 

• Wisconsin will serve as host school for the 2016 NCAA Frozen Four set for April 7-9 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
    The Badgers last played host to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2006 when it was held at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The Badgers won the championship that season, defeating Boston College, 2-1, in the title game.

• Five Badgers were captains of their teams before arriving on campus including Kevin Schulze (Hill-Murray), Cullen Hurley (Academy of Holy Angels) and Jarod Zirbel (Notre Dame Academy), who each captained their high school teams, as well as Luke Kunin who served as a captain of the U.S. Under-18 Team and Patrick Sexton (Penticton) in the BCHL. Hurley also co-captained the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the USHL. Eddie Wittchow (co-captain) and Grant Besse (assistant captain) will earn their stripes this season as captains of the Badgers.

• Wisconsin boasts 13 skaters who have championships on their resumes. Three Badgers (Besse, Davison, Zirbel) own high school state titles, two (Rockwood, Sexton) own BCHL titles, Hughes won an AJHL championship, Malone won a USHL crown, McGuire won an EJHL championship and Keryluk owns an USPHL win. In addition, Kunin won a under-18 world title and Jurusik won the NAHL regular-season crown. Others include Wittchow's USHL western conference victory and Soleway's BCHL division triumph.

• Head coach Mike Eaves is behind the bench for his 14th season at Wisconsin. The Badgers own one NCAA title (2006), two Frozen Four appearances (2006, 2010), seven NCAA tournament appearances and two conference tournament titles (2013, 2014) during Eaves' tenure. 
    Eaves has seen 28 of his former Badgers go on to play in the NHL, as well as over 60 of his former players go on to play some sort of professional hockey (NHL, AHL, ECHL, overseas). Fifty NHL drafted skaters have played at Wisconsin under Eaves.

• Wisconsin hockey boasts five new staff members including associate head coach Luke Strand, assistant coach JB Bittner, director of hockey operations John Hamre, video coordinator Emily Engel and primary care Dr. Andrew Watson.

• For the new coaches, associate head coach Luke Strand came to UW from a year as general manager and coach of the first-year Madison Capitols of the USHL. He played college hockey for UW-Eau Claire. New assistant coach JB Bittner, who played his college hockey at Ohio State, arrived in Madison from a two-year assistant coaching stint for the USHL's Tri-City Storm in Kearney, Nebraska.

UP NEXT
• The Badgers will play their final home series of the regular season next weekend when they host Penn State at the Kohl Center for a Friday-Saturday series. Both tilts are at 7 p.m., with Friday's contest airing on ASN.