MADISON, Wis. – For its final road series of the regular season, the No. 6 Wisconsin men's hockey team heads to University Park, Pennsylvania, for a Big Ten series against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 23-24. Friday's game begins at 6 p.m. CT, with Saturday a 5 p.m. start. Both stream on B1G+.
Here's six quick things to know before tuning in:
Rosters: Badgers || Nittany Lions
1 - RACE FOR THE BIG TEN: With four conference games remaining in the regular season, the Badgers need one point to clinch second place in the Big Ten.
UW currently sits four points behind Michigan State in first place. Both teams have four games remaining and will meet at the Kohl Center for the final series of the regular season on Friday and Saturday, March 1-2.Â
Despite finishing seventh in the Big Ten last year and being picked to finish fifth in preseason coaches poll this year, the Badgers have already locked in a top-three conference spot.Â
With its sweep of Notre Dame on Feb. 2-3, Wisconsin clinched clinched a top-four Big Ten finish, meaning that the Badgers will have home ice advantage for at least one conference playoff game. This marks the first time since 2013 that a conference playoff game will be held at the Kohl Center.
2 - RICHTER AWARD SEMIFINALIST: After being on the 32-man watch list announced in January, senior goaltender Kyle McClellan has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2024 Mike Richter Award. The award is given out annually to college hockey's goaltender of the year.
McClellan sits among the nation's leaders in all major goaltending statistical categories, tying for second with 20 victories, fifth with a 1.96 goals-against average, third with a .929 save percentage and first with six shutouts. His six shutouts rank second on UW's single-season list.Â
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3 - PENN STATE ROUND TWO: This weekend's series marks the second time that Wisconsin and Penn State will meet this season. On Friday and Saturday, Dec. 8-9, the then-No. 6 Badgers swept Penn State at the Kohl Center.Â
Wisconsin won game one, 6-3. Senior forward
Carson Bantle recorded a hat trick as freshmen forwards
William Whitelaw and
Quinn Finley tallied two goals and one goal, respectively, in the victory.
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UW took game two, 4-1. Penn State got on the board first one minute into the contest, but the Badgers scored four unanswered goals from senior defenseman
Anthony Kehrer and sophomore forwards
Christian Fitzgerald,
Charlie Stramel and
Jack Horbach to secure the comeback win.
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4 - CALL DAVID SILYE AL: Pucks, power plays and Paul Simon — what do these have in common?
David Silye.
As the team's official DJ, the senior forward and alternate captain is the mastermind behind the Badgers' "You Can Call Me Al" locker room win song.Â
Click
here to read more about how Silye uses music to build relationships with his teammates.
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5 - SCOUTING PENN STATE: Penn State currently boasts a 13-14-3 record, including a 5-12-3 ledger in Big Ten conference play. The Nittany Lions head into the weekend after splitting a series at home against Michigan on Feb. 16-17, losing game one, 5-3, and winning game two, 4-2.
Freshman forward Aiden Fink currently leads the roster with 15 goals and 33 points. Senior goaltender Liam Souliere has won 10 of 21 starts this season, accumulating a .871 save percentage and an average of 3.44 goals allowed per game.
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Friday's game begins at 6 p.m and Saturday's game starts at 5 p.m. Both games stream on B1G+. Audio play-by-play airs on the Badgers Radio network, including 1310 WIBA in the Madison area and 97.3 The Game in Milwaukee. It also airs on the Badgers app and The Varsity Network app. Follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
