MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin men's hockey team will face No. 10 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio for its final regular-season series of the year this Friday and Saturday. Here are six quick things you need to know before puck drop (
Full Game Notes).
1. STAR-STUDDED ROSTER: Two Badger players were named as Big Ten Stars of the week after their performances against Arizona State this past weekend. Sophomore
Roman Ahcan was named the Big Ten's First Star of the Week and the NCAA First Star of the Week. Ahcan netted his first career hat trick Friday night against the Sun Devils, as well as dishing out two assists to total the first five-point game in UW history since Mark Zengerle in 2011. Ahcan added his second game-winning goal to his resume Saturday against Arizona State.
Alex Turcotte was the other Badger named a Big Ten Star of the Week. Coming in at the No. 3 star, Turcotte had his first breakout weekend since returning from a mid-season injury with two goals and three assists. He assisted on three of Ahcan's goals and Ahcan assisted on one of Turcotte's as well. This is Turcotte's second weekly honor this season after earning the second star of the week in November.
2. SCORERS GALORE: Over the past weekend against Arizona State, 16 Badgers scored points for Wisconsin en route to sweeping the Sun Devils. A total of 36 points were scored through the entire weekend, 13 goals and 23 assists. To go along with Ahcan's six-point weekend and Turcotte's five points, sophomores
Ty Emberson and
Jack Gorniak each tallied three points on the weekend as part of the high-powered Badger offense.
3. PLAYOFFS UP IN THE AIR: Wisconsin knows it will be on the road for the best-of-three first round of the Big Ten tournament next week, but where it will be is unknown. The Badgers can still play at any opponent except Michigan State to open the postseason. The seventh-place Badgers will travel to whatever team takes second place. Currently first-place Penn State holds a four-point lead over Minnesota and Ohio State, and a six-point edge over Notre Dame.
4. LAST TIME OUT: Ohio State was the first team the Badgers saw in the new year earlier this season. Ranked No. 8 at the time, the Buckeyes traveled to Madison on a six-game win streak against the Badgers. Wisconsin dropped the first game, but won the second, 5-2, for a weekend split. That marked the first time UW eclipsed two goals during the losing streak to OSU. Leading players for Wisconsin included
Roman Ahcan with three goals in the series and
Cole Caufield with a goal and an assist.
5. SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES: Ohio State comes off a weekend where it swept the Michigan State Spartans and carries momentum into this weekend. The Buckeyes are fighting for a Big Ten regular-season championship, but the Badgers are fighting to keep momentum of their own going into the postseason.
Buckeye goaltender Tommy Nappier will pose the biggest challenge for Wisconsin. He a 2.05 goals-against average and .930 save percentage, and has not let through more than three goals in the last six games for the Buckeyes. From an offensive side for Ohio State, Quinn Preston is coming off of a three-point weekend for the Buckeyes. He sits fourth overall in team scoring.
Senior Tanner Laczynski (8g, 21) leads Ohio State with 29 points, while Preston paces OSU with 13 goals.
6. HOW TO WATCH: Both games will broadcast on Big Ten Network with radio play-by-play available on 1310 WIBA. Puck drop for the last regular-season weekend is 5 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday.
