TICKETS
MADISON, Wis. – To open Big Ten tournament play, the No. 5 Wisconsin men's hockey team hosts Ohio State for a best-of-three quarterfinal round series on Friday through Sunday, March 8-10. Puck drop for Friday's game is at 7 p.m., while Saturday's game will start at 6 p.m. and, if needed, Sunday's contest will begin at 5 p.m. All games stream on B1G+.
Here's six quick things to know before tuning in:
Rosters: Badgers || Buckeyes
1 - HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE: This series marks the first men's hockey playoff game held at the Kohl Center since 2013 when the Badgers hosted a WCHA tournament quarterfinal round series.
Tickets for the first two games of the series can be purchased online, in person or over the phone. Online tickets can be found here.
Tickets are $15 for the public and $5 for students (limit of two per student). Playoff tickets are included with the student season ticket pass.
If a third game is necessary, tickets will go on-sale at the conclusion of the game on Saturday, March 9, in-person or online.
If the Badgers advance, tickets for the semifinals will go on-sale on Monday, March, 11.
2 - GETTING BETTER: The Badgers finished the regular season with 25 victories for the first time since the 1999-00 Badgers reached the mark. The 25 wins for UW are 12 more than they finished with last season, the second-largest of any team in the country to this point. Only top-ranked Boston College's 13-game improvement is better.
UW's 16 Big Ten victories are also 10 more than it had last season, also the second-best improvement behind Boston College's +11 conference wins so far. BC still has one conference contest remaining.
3 - BIG TEN TOURNAMENT HISTORY: This marks the 10th anniversary of the Big Ten tournament, which the Badgers won during its inaugural year in 2014, beating Ohio State in the title game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. UW also reached the 2021 Big Ten Tournament title game.
Most recently in 2023, the seventh-seeded Badgers were swept at second-seeded Michigan in the quarterfinals. Senior forward
Mathieu De St. Phalle notched a hat trick in UW's game one 6-5 overtime loss before adding two more goals in the second game when Michigan finished off the Badgers.
Overall, Wisconsin is 6-14-0 in Big Ten postseason play. The last time the Badgers faced Ohio State in the postseason was March 6-7, 2020, as seventh-seeded UW was swept by second-seeded OSU in Columbus, Ohio.
4 - ENDING ON A HIGH NOTE: The Badgers head into the postseason after splitting a series against No. 6 Michigan State at the Kohl Center on March 1-2.
Wisconsin fell in game one, 5-2, as Michigan State secured the Big Ten regular season title. The Badgers took an early lead less than a minute into the game, but Michigan State tallied two in the first to make it 2-1 heading into the second. UW tied it up on a power-play goal in the middle frame, but MSU netted the go-ahead tally with seven minutes remaining in the contest and tacked on two empty-net goals for the win.
UW battled back in the series finale, defeating MSU 4-1. Wisconsin got on the board first less than two minutes into the game when
Sawyer Scholl found the back of the net. Senior
Carson Bantle extended the Badgers' lead on the power play, but Michigan State lit the lamp with a power-play goal of its own to make it a 2-1 game. Bantle and Scholl each added a goal in the second and third periods, respectively, to help the Badgers close out the regular season on a high note.
5 - BUCKEYES SEASON RECAP: This weekend's series marks the third series that Wisconsin and Ohio State will face each other in this season. The Badgers own a 2-2 record against the Buckeyes in 2023-24, with each team sweeping the other in its own barn.
The first time these teams met was on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1-2, as the then-No. 6 The Badgers swept the Buckeyes at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers won game one, 3-0. Freshman defenseman
Zach Schulz and sophomore forwards
Christian Fitzgerald and
Cruz Lucius each tallied a goal as senior goaltender
Kyle McClellan stopped 29 shots to blank the Buckeyes.
Wisconsin took the second game of the series by a final score of 6-1. The Badgers scored in five different ways – power-play goals from senior forward
David Silye and sophomore forward
Simon Tassy, a short-handed tally by graduate student forward
Owen Lindmark, a penalty-shot goal from freshman forward
Quinn Finley, a tally from
Cruz Lucius during four-on-four play and an even-strength goal from sophomore forward
Jack Horbach.
The Buckeyes swept the Badgers in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16-17.
The first game remained scoreless until Wisconsin lit the lamp five minutes, 40 seconds into the third period. Ohio State made it a 1-1 game before the Badgers quickly took back the lead. The Buckeyes stayed resilient, forcing overtime with a late third-period, extra-attacker goal and took home the victory after tallying the game-winner with 22 seconds left in extra time.
In game two, Ohio State opened up a 2-0 lead after the first period against the Badgers. Wisconsin's
David Silye scored a power-play goal midway through the second to cut the lead in half, but OSU quickly took back its two-goal advantage, and the game ended with a final score of 3-1.
Ohio State State finished the regular season with a 12-18-4 record, including a 3-18-2 ledger in Big Ten conference play. The Buckeyes head into the postseason after being swept at home by Penn State on March 1-2, losing game one, 5-2, and game two, 2-1.
Sophomore forward Stephen Halliday leads the roster with 10 goals and 33 points. Junior goaltender Logan Terness has won nine of 24 starts this season, accumulating a .896 save percentage and an average of 3.33 goals allowed per game.
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Friday's game starts at 7 p.m while Saturday's game is at 6 p.m. and, if needed, Sunday's contest will begin at 5 p.m. All 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.
