MADISON, Wis. — The Badgers close out the 2018 portion of the season this weekend when they play host to Michigan State for a pair of conference tilts at the Kohl Center. The series comes on the heels of a thrilling weekend where the Badgers earned a draw against No. 6 Penn State, before making a spectacular comeback to defeat the Nittany Lions, 8-5, in the series finale.
Both games against Michigan State are set to begin at 7 p.m. CT (
Tickets).
Here are six notes to know ahead of this week's battle against the Spartans.
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KEY IS THE KEY: Freshman defenseman
K'Andre Miller tallied a whopping five points in last weekend's series against the Nittany Lions, including a game-winning goal and three assists in Saturday's contest to earn his first career four-point game. The effort also marked the first four-point performance by a UW skater since Oct. 16, 2016. His point total tied for the conference points lead and ranked second nationally in scoring last weekend. Miller now paces UW scoring with 15 points from three goals and 12 assists. His point totals also lead Big Ten freshmen and rank third among all conference blue-liners.
Thanks to his offensive effort over the weekend, Miller was named the Big Ten First Star of the Week by the conference, his first career honor and the latest Badger to be named the First Star since goaltender
Kyle Hayton earned the nod on Oct. 17, 2017.
DRIVE FOR PLUS-FIVE: In addition to tallying two goals and an assists last Saturday against Penn State, senior
Will Johnson was game-high plus-5, making him the third player this season to post a plus-5 rating. Johnson joins sophomore defensemen
Wyatt Kalynuk and
Tyler Inamoto in registering the rating, who were both plus-5 on Oct. 13 against Boston College. Prior to this year, UW's last plus-5 performance was by Kyle Klubertanz on Jan. 12, 2008, in a 7-2 victory at Denver.
SEASONED BADGERS: After getting off to a slow start this season, Wisconsin's seven-man upperclassmen corps came to life, tallying five goals in last Saturday's 8-5 victory over the Nittany Lions. Prior to the game, UW's upperclassmen had combined for just nine goals over the first 15 games of the season. Senior alternate captain
Seamus Malone leads all UW juniors and seniors with three goals and 12 points this year.
UNBEATEN AND IT FEELS SO GOOD: Wisconsin is unbeaten in its last four games (1-0-3), the second-longest unbeaten streak during the
Tony Granato coaching era. UW won five consecutive games from Jan. 21-Feb. 4, 2017, to set the standard. The current streak is the sixth-longest active streak in the nation.
Wisconsin posted its third consecutive tie last Friday, marking the second time in program history that the Badgers played three straight ties. The only other time that happened took place Jan. 4-11, 2003, when the Badgers skated to three consecutive deadlocks. Â Wisconsin is tied for third in Big Ten standings with Michigan with 10 points in eight games. Ohio State leads the league with 16 points. The remaining four teams have played two fewer league games.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS: The Spartans enter the series against the Badgers after a spectacular weekend of their own, defeating then-No. 14 and series favorite Michigan, 4-3, before skating to a tie and claiming the extra point in a shootout to earn five of six conference points.
Michigan State's top line is its most valuable asset, with the trio of juniors Taro Hirose and Patrick Khodorenko and sophomore Mitchell Lewandowski accounting for 77 percent of MSU's goals and nearly half of the Spartans' total points. Freshman goaltender Drew DeRidder and junior John Lethemon have split time in the net for the Spartans thus far, but DeRidder's sensational performance last weekend may be enough to earn him the start against the Badgers.
UW enters its series against Michigan State with a 53-54-3 series mark. With a victory on Friday, the Badgers would get to .500 against the Spartans for just the third time in school history. The last time the two teams met, the Badgers and the Spartans split a series last January with MSU taking game one in a 2-0 decision and UW earning a 5-2 result in the finale. Senior forwards
Seamus Malone and
Will Johnson have put up big numbers against the Spartans, combining for nine goals and 21 points in 12 games against MSU.
WE'VE GOT THE WARM AND FUZZIES: Wisconsin will hold its second-annual Teddy Bear Toss, presented by BMO Harris Bank, on Saturday. Fans are encouraged to bring bagged stuff animals to throw onto the ice after the final horn, which will be donated to Toys with Tots. Bagging stations will be located at each gate entrance of the Kohl Center. Stuffed animal bears and Bucky Badgers will be available for purchase at Bucky's Locker Room prior to the start of the game.
