BUY TICKETS
MADISON, Wis. – The No. 17/16 Wisconsin men's hockey team plays its final non-conference series of the fall semester when the Alaska Nanooks come to the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24-25.
Friday's game starts at 7 p.m. and Saturday's begins at 6 p.m. Both contests stream on B1G+.
Here are six quick things to know before tuning in:
Rosters: Badgers || Nanooks
1 - HAUSER HOLDS DOWN THE FORT: Netminder Daniel Hauser has continued the hot start to his freshman year, making 21 and 23 saves, respectively, in the series against Minnesota State to total 44 saves on the weekend. He allowed just three three goals on the weekend, with only one coming during five-on-five play.
In the exhibition shootout on night one, Hauser made four stops in four rounds before making seven stops in seven rounds on night two. He earned his first career weekly honor for his efforts, earning Big Ten Second Star of the Week.
Hauser ranks fourth in the nation with a 1.20 goals-against average and fifth in the country with a .949 save percentage.
"Daniel's done a really good job at knocking down his dailies," Head Coach
Mike Hastings said. "I think he's really showing a calmness to his game, a work ethic every day, whether we're in the weight room or we're out on the rink. He's got a competitive piece to him that speaks more than he does."
2 - THE INCREDIBLE TULK: Freshman forward
Oliver Tulk has continued the stellar start to his rookie season, tallying his first NCAA goal midway through the third period of Thursday's game against Minnesota State to tie the game at one. He added an assist in Friday's game to tally two points on the weekend and bring his season total to five points in four games, enough to tie for first on the roster. He is also the lone skater on Wisconsin to collect at least one point in each of UW's four games.
Tulk shares 11th in the nation among freshmen with five points, while his 1.25 points-per-game are tied for sixth among rookies.
Tulk also had an impressive showing in the faceoff circle on Friday, winning all 15 of his faceoffs taken. Through four games, Tulk has a 66.7-percent faceoff win percentage (40-20), ranking second in the Big Ten among those with at least 10 faceoffs taken.
"That was a first for me, to see somebody go out and be perfect off the dot," Coach Hastings said. "What I think we're seeing with him is that he was prepared, and I think Calgary's got to take a lot of credit for making sure that he was prepared to step into the role he's stepped into for us. He's playing top three, top four minutes as a forward. He's on a power play, and he got elevated to the unit with Finley and Fitzgerald. I thought he fit in just fine."
3 - HOMESTAND: This series marks the midway point of a six-game homestand for the Badgers, with Minnesota State visiting the Kohl Center last week (Oct. 16-17) and Minnesota coming to town next weekend (Oct. 30/Nov .1) to start Big Ten Play.
A few promotions are running during the remainder of the homestand. On Saturday, Oct. 25, vs. Alaska, there will be a trophy walk on the concourse.
The following weekend, on Saturday, Nov. 1, vs. Minnesota, there will be an arena-wide Border Battle rally towel giveaway. The game is also a 'white out,' as fans are encouraged to wear light colored clothing to help us white out the Kohl Center.
View the full
promotions schedule here.
"It's unreal," junior defenseman
Joe Palodichuk said about playing at the Kohl Center. "I always get chills. You work all summer, you grind and you go through however many months of not playing, so you're just itching to get back in the Kohl Center and play in front of the fans. Especially this building, with how big it is and how many fans you can get, it's really special. I know all 26 of us, we're working during the week to get to the weekend – you want to play in the Kohl Center, you want to do well and produce for the fans. It's exciting, and I love it – I love playing here."
4 - LAST TIME OUT: To open Kohl Center play, the then-No. 20/19 Minnesota State Mavericks came to town on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 16-17. The Badgers skated to two ties, 1-1 on Thursday and 2-2 on Friday, before winning the exhibition shootout on both nights.
On Thursday, Minnesota State got on the board first, 12:59 into the second period. No one lit the lamp again until Tulk tied the game for Wisconsin, 7:17 into the third frame. The game remained tied at one goal apiece throughout regulation and overtime, officially making the final score a 1-1 tie. In the shootout, Hauser made four saves and freshman forward
Bruno Idžan found the back of the net in the fourth round to give the Badgers the exhibition shootout win.
On Friday, Minnesota State opened the scoring, 9:58 into the first period, after capitalizing on a five-on-three power play, about four minutes into a UW major penalty. The Mavericks made it a 2-0 game at 13:28 into the first with their second power-play goal of the night. Wisconsin came back in the second period, with junior forward
Quinn Finley and senior forward
Simon Tassy scoring at 43 seconds and 7:11 into the second frame, respectively, to tie the game at two. Each team killed off a major penalty in the third period to send the game into overtime for the second day in a row. Neither team scored in the extra time, and the final score officially went down as a 2-2 tie. In the exhibition shootout, Hauser made a perfect seven saves as freshman forward
Blake Montgomery scored the winner to help UW to victory in its second-straight shootout against the Mavericks.
5 - SCOUTING THE NANOOKS: The Nanooks have a 2-4-0 record through six games and they enter the weekend after splitting a series against Michigan Tech at home, losing game one, 3-1, and winning game two, 5-1.
Graduate student forward Michael Citara leads the team with four goals and six points. Senior goaltender Lassi Lehti has two wins in five starts, accumulating a .927 save percentage and a 2.45 goals-against average.
Wisconsin and Alaska meet for the first time since 2016 when the Badgers claimed 4-3 and 5-2 victories over the Nanooks at the Kohl Center on Jan. 29-30. UW holds a 9-1-0 edge in the series with a 6-0-0 advantage in games played in Madison. UW sits 2-0-0 against UA at the Kohl Center.
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will stream on B1G+. Audio play-by-play can be found on 1070 The Game as well as on the Badgers app and The Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.
