MADISON, Wis. – The No. 19 Wisconsin men's hockey team continues its final three weekends of Big Ten play by welcoming Penn State to the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7-8.
Friday's game starts at 7 p.m., while Saturday's begins at 6 p.m. Both games stream on B1G+.
Here's six quick things to know before tuning in:
Rosters: Wisconsin || Penn State
Game Notes: Wisconsin
1 - PENN STATE STREAK: Wisconsin owns wins in seven consecutive games played against Penn State, including all four meetings last year and both games played in University Park earlier this season. The streak began on Feb. 25, 2023, when UW beat PSU, 2-1, on the road.
The seven-game win streak is the longest for the Badgers over the Nittany Lions since they first met in 2013, surpassing their previous record of five games won in a row.
The Badgers look to continue their successful run against Penn State while they battle for home ice for the upcoming Big Ten tournament. UW's 24 points are good for fifth place at the moment, one point behind fourth-place Michigan for the fourth and final home playoff position. Both teams have six Big Ten games remaining. UW also sits just four points behind third-place Ohio State, though OSU has two fewer games played.
2 - BADGER STATE OF MIND: Saturday's contest against Penn State is 'Badger State of Mind' themed. Join us in "BuckyVille" as we celebrate the best parts of summer this winter! There's no better place to experience the island lifestyle in Madison than BuckyVille. Beachy music will be played throughout the game, and the first 500 students in attendance will receive a BuckyVille visor.
Additionally, Adam Burish and Erik Johnson, winners of the 2024 Mel Ross Distinguished Service Award, will be honored with a pre-game ceremonial puck drop.
Including this weekend, Wisconsin only has four regular season home games left. Fans can buy tickets
here.
3 - PENALTY-KILL POWER: UW's penalty kill has been on fire lately, allowing just three power-play goals over the last 17 games (26-for-29 on the penalty kill).
It was perfect on the penalty kill over last weekend's series at Minnesota. Neither team had a power play on Friday, and Wisconsin killed off three penalties on Saturday.
The Badgers currently rank second in the Big Ten in penalty kill percentage with 80.3 percent of penalties killed. UW is also one of the least penalized teams in the nation as it's tied for 62nd out of 64 total NCAA men's hockey teams in penalty minutes per game with 6.75.
UW leads the conference in Big Ten action with a 77.1 percent penalty kill.
4 - LAST TIME OUT: The Badgers enter the series after suffering 5-2 and 4-1 losses at then-No. 4 Minnesota on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31-Feb. 1.
In game one, Wisconsin held a 2-0 lead after the first period, but it wasn't enough as it fell, 5-2. UW opened the scoring 3:03 into the first period on a goal from
Simon Tassy. The Badgers doubled their lead 12:49 into the first after
Ryland Mosley found the back of the net. Minnesota then gained offensive momentum, scoring twice in the second period at 12:49 and again at 18:57 to tie the game at two, before striking three times in the third, including an empty-net goal, to take a 5-2 win.
In the series finale, the Badgers fell, 4-1. The game stayed scoreless until Minnesota struck at 9:16 of the third period to make it a 1-0 game. The Gophers scored two more times at 11:21 and 14:19 to make it 3-0 in favor of Minnesota. Wisconsin kept fighting as
Ryan Botterill lit the lamp with 3:56 remaining in the contest to get the Badgers on the board. The Gophers then added an empty-net goal with 2:15 remaining to seal a 4-1 win.
5 - SCOUTING PENN STATE: The Nittany Lions currently have a 12-11-3 record, including a 3-10-3 record (14 points) in Big Ten play. They head into the weekend after splitting at No. 13 Michigan, winning 5-4 before dropping a 7-3 contest at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Sophomore forward Aiden Fink leads the roster with 19 goals and 37 points in 26 games played. Junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev has nine wins in 19 games played, accumulating a .909 save percentage and a 2.70 goals-allowed on average.
The last time the Badgers and Nittany Lions met was on Nov. 15-16, in University Park, Pennsylvania. UW won game one, 5-4, in overtime, and won game two, 6-3, after scoring four goals in the opening period.
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Friday's game starts at 7 p.m., while Saturday's begins at 6 p.m. Both games stream on B1G+. Audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA or on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.
