MADISON, WIS. – For its first Big Ten series of the season, the No. 16 Wisconsin Badgers welcome the Ohio State Buckeyes for a series at the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 18-19.
Friday's game starts at 7 p.m. and Saturday's game starts at 6 p.m. Both games stream on B1G+.
Here's six quick things to know before tuning in:
Rosters: Badgers || Buckeyes
1 - WEEKEND RECAP: The Badgers enter the weekend after splitting their season-opening series against the Lindenwood Lions, losing game one, 4-2, and winning game two, 3-2, in overtime.
In game one, Lindenwood opened the scoring midway through the first period on the power play before Wisconsin responded with a power-play goal of its own to tie it. The Lions scored two more goals, one late in the first and early in the second, to make it 3-1. The Badgers tried to spark a comeback in the third period after Ryland Mosley scored to make it 3-2, but the Lions added a final goal with 3:23 remaining to emerge victorious, 4-2.
In game two, Lindenwood scored one goal in the first period and one in the second to hold a 2-0 lead until the final minute of the second period.
Quinn Finley scored a power-play goal with 34 seconds remaining in the second frame to cut the Lions' lead in half. Finley then tallied his second goal of the evening 14:29 into the third period to send the game to overtime.
Daniel Laatsch notched the game-winning goal with 18 seconds left in the extra time to give the Badgers their first win of the season.
2 - THREE IS A MAGIC NUMBER: Two Badger skaters –
Quinn Finley and
Gavin Morrissey – each recorded three points in UW's series against Lindenwood.
Freshman forward Morrissey scored his first-career NCAA goal in his collegiate debut on Oct. 11, tallying a power-play goal in the first period. He added an assist on graduate student forward
Ryland Mosley's goal later in game one and another helper on senior defenseman
Daniel Laatsch's overtime game-winner in game two to total three points on the weekend.
Sophomore forward Finley's three points all came during the series final. Finley scored two goals, including one on the power play, and assisted Laatsch's overtime goal to record his third-career multi-goal game and fourth-career multi-point game.
3 - DRESSING FOR REVENGE: Wisconsin met Ohio State in its final 10 games during the 2023-24 season and the Buckeyes made it tough on the Badgers, winning twice in Columbus, Ohio, then knocking second-seeded UW out of the Big Ten tournament with a two-games-to-one series win in the quarterfinals at the Kohl Center.
This series marks the first Big Ten men's hockey games of the season between any schools. The Badgers were chosen to finish fourth place in the Big Ten in the preseason coaches poll, and Ohio State was chosen to finish seventh.
4 - GAME PROMOS & TICKETS: The Badgers will be running promotions at each game of their series against Ohio State.
On Friday, there will be a student shirt giveaway. The first 700 students in attendance will receive a free "Crease Creatures Crawl" t-shirt. Students are encouraged to bring the shirt to all six conference series at the Kohl Center to be entered for the chance to win prizes at the end of the season.
On Saturday, fans will be able to participate in a trophy walk. Take a walk through Wisconsin men's hockey history. Trophies from throughout the years will be displayed on the concourse.
Secure your
tickets here.
The third level is open for Saturday's contest.
5 - SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES: Ohio State enters the weekend after earning a win and a tie in its season-opening series at home against American International. The Buckeyes tied game one, 3-3, and won game two, 5-2.
Junior defenseman Damien Carfagna (1g, 3a) and graduate student defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata (4a) lead the roster with four points in two games played. Sophomore goaltender Kristoffer Eberly has one win in one start, accumulating a 2.01 goals-against on average and a .929 save percentage.
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday. The games will be available to stream live on B1G+ while audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA as well as on the Badgers app and The Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.
