This week in Badger men's hockey
January 13, 2016 | Men's Hockey
Badgers visit No. 15 Penn State with Friday's game on BTN, Saturday's on ESPNU
Wisconsin (4-8-6, 1-3-2-1 Big Ten) takes its lone road trip in January with a visit to No. 15 Penn State (13-4-3, 3-1-0 Big Ten) for a Friday and Saturday series at 5:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. CT, respectively.
A 4-4 overtime tie with Ohio State was capped off with a 1-0 victory in the shootout to give the Badgers two points in the Big Ten standings on Saturday. UW dropped the series opener, falling 2-0 to the Buckeyes on Friday.
Penn State split at home against Minnesota, winning a 3-2 overtime game last Friday, before dropping a 7-1 tilt last Saturday.
| Games 19-20 | Wisconsin (4-8-6, 1-3-2-1 Big Ten) vs. No. 15 Penn State (13-4-3, 3-1-0-0) | |
| Dates/Times | Fri., Jan. 15, 5:30 p.m. CT Sat., Jan. 16, 5 p.m. CT |
| Locations | University Park, Pa. Pegula Ice Arena (5,782) |
| Television | Friday: BTN Saturday: ESPNU |
| Video Stream | Friday: BTN2Go Saturday: ESPN3 |
| Radio | Friday: WIBA-AM 1310 Saturday: WTSO-AM 1070 (Badger Radio Network) |
| Live Audio | BadgerSportsNetwork.com |
| Live Blog | UWBadgers.com |
| Live Stats | Friday | Saturday |
| Social Media | @BadgerMHockey | Facebook  |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets (Home Games) |
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Last Meeting: L, 4-1 -- Adam Rockwood scored, on assists by Grant Besse and Kevin Schulze to make it a 2-1 game in the second period, but Penn State added a pair of third-period goals for the 4-1 victory on Feb. 7, 2015 at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pennsylvania. Joel Rumpel stopped 39 shots in the loss as UW was outshot 43-28 for the game. The game followed a 5-2 PSU victory the night before. Cameron Hughes had both games in the Feb. 6 game, which gave UW a 2-1 lead in the first period. PSU responded with two goals in the second period and two more in the third period for the win. Shots were 37-37 in the game.
Series Notes: The teams meet for the 12th and 13th times ... Penn State owns a four-game winning streak in the series after UW won six of the first seven games of the series ... UW head coach Mike Eaves has connections to Pennsylvania, having spent two stints as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers (1989–90 & 1993–94), two seasons as head coach of the AHL's Hershey Bears (1991–93) and three seasons as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–2000) ... four Badger letterwinners have hailed from Pennsylvania, most notably goaltenders Mike Richter and Shane Connelly ... PSU forward Tony Scheid is the son of the Jim Scheid, who played at Wisconsin from 1977-81. Jim passed away last August ... Wisconsin's last conference sweep was at Penn State, coming March 7-8, 2014, with a 4-2 victory and 3-2 overtime win.
THIS WEEK IN MEN'S HOCKEY
• Freshman Luke Kunin posted four points in the 4-4 tie on Saturday with a goal and three assists. The four-point effort marked the first for a Badger since Mark Zengerle and Nic Kerdiles both posted a goal and three assists on March 7, 2014 in a 4-2 victory at Penn State. It also marked the first four-point game for a Wisconsin freshman since Kyle Turris did so in consecutive contests against Robert Morris on Oct. 19-20, 2007.
• Kunin leads the Badgers with seven goals and ranks second on the team with 15 points.
• The last Badger freshman to lead a team in goals was Dany Heatley in 1999–2000. Heatley scored 28 times that year.
• The Badgers are in the midst of a stretch of 12 games during which they play 10 at at the Kohl Center. This weekend is the lone road series between Jan. 1 and Feb. 20. UW sits 2-2-4 at home this season.
• Junior forward Grant Besse ended a seven-game goal-scoring drought with his fifth goal of the season last Saturday. The goal served as the game-tying goal in UW's 4-4 tie. UW earned the extra point in the shootout against Ohio State.
• Besse led the Badgers in goals and points last season, tallying 11 goals and 22 points in 32 games played.
• Sophomore defenseman Tim Davison (De Pere, Wisconsin) had his five-game point-scoring streak stopped last Friday when UW was blanked by Ohio State. Sophomore forwards Ryan Wagner, Cameron Hughes and Adam Rockwood each had four-game point-scoring streaks stopped in the contest.
• Freshman forward Matthew Freytag also had a three-game goal-scoring streak stopped in the shutout.
• The second period continues to be UW's strength with regards to scoring goals. The Badgers have tallied 30 goals in the second period this season. Thirty of the team's 48 goals this year have come in the second period (62.5 percent).
• The Badgers scored two of four goals in the second periods against Ohio State last weekend.
• The Badgers have led or been tied during the third period in 14 of their 18 games this season, including last Friday against Ohio State (Dec. 11-12). The Badgers are 4-5-5 in those contests.
• UW has two freshmen among the top nine in the Big Ten in scoring. Luke Kunin ranks fourth with 15 points on seven goals and eight assists, while Seamus Malone shares ninth with 13 points.
• Sophomore forward Ryan Wagner took the first shootout attempt of his career last Saturday, scoring in the first round to account for the lone shootout goal in the game against Ohio State.
• Wagner also scored his sixth goal of the season in the game. He now ranks second on the Badgers with his six goals and third on the team with 14 points. Wagner had just two goals and three assists his entire freshman season.
• Sophomore Adam Rockwood scored for the second time this season and for the first time since Oct. 17 at Boston University. He went eight games played between goals as Rockwood has missed five games since BU due to injury. Last Friday's game was his first action since Nov. 21 against Denver. He missed four consecutive games before the OSU series.
• UW posted its sixth tie of the season on Jan. 9 against Ohio State, more than halfway to the school record of eight ties set during the 2003–04 campaign.
• The Badgers have tied 11 consecutive overtime games and are unbeaten in their last 12 overtime contests, going 1-0-11 over a span that dates back to March 22, 2014 and the Badgers' 5-4 overtime victory over Ohio State in the championship game of the 2014 Big Ten Tournament.
• The Badgers twice overcame two-goal deficits before earning the extra point in the post-overtime shootout on Saturday against Ohio State. It marked the third time this season Wisconsin has climbed out of multi-goal holes to avoid defeat.
• The others were Northern Michigan on Oct. 10 (3-0 deficit in third; 3-3 tie) and Michigan on Dec. 5 (trailed 2-0 in first; 6-6 tie).
• The Badgers have scored six goals in the final minute of a period this season, five of which have factored in either a victory or a tie:
-- Junior right winger Grant Besse had one in the third period vs. Northern Michigan on Oct. 9 that provided a 2-2 draw (19:18).
-- Sophomore defenseman Tim Davison had one in the third session vs. Ferris State on Oct. 23 that resulted in a 5-5 tie (19:40).
-- Kunin had one in the second period vs. Michigan State on Dec. 12 that gave way to a 3-0 win (19:02).
-- Kunin had another in the second session vs. Ohio State on Saturday night (19:48). That came a period prior to one by sophomore center Ryan Wagner (19:35).
• UW's special teams has been among its strengths this season. UW went 8-for-9 on the penalty kill last weekend against Ohio State and leads the Big Ten with an 88.1 percent penalty kill (59-for-67).
• Nationally, UW's penalty kill ranks sixth in the country.
• The Badger power play shares 17th in the country at 20.0 percent (13-for-65). UW is scoreless on the power play over its last four games, however (0-for-10).
• Freshman goaltender Matt Jurusik (La Grange, Illinois) has taken the reigns with 15 consecutive starts between the pipes for the Badgers. The rookie is 4-7-5 with a 3.10 goals-against average, .898 save percentage and one shutout in 17 appearances this season.
• Wisconsin is celebrating a pair of NCAA championship anniversaries this season, including the weekend of Nov. 20-21, when the 1980–81 team was back for the 35th anniversary of their title.
• The 2005–06 Badgers return to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the school's sixth NCAA title the weekend of Jan. 30 during the NHL All-Star break. The UW women's team will also be celebrating their 2006 NCAA title that same weekend.
• The Badgers are 2-2-4 through six home contests.
• Wisconsin sits nine victories away from reaching 200 on the Kohl Center ice, not counting exhibition contests. Since the building opened in 1998, UW has reached at least 11 victories at the Kohl Center in 10 of 17 seasons.
• Wisconsin has averaged slightly more than 11 wins per season at the Kohl Center, including five seasons of 14-plus victories. UW's best single season record in the KC came in 2013-14 with a mark of 17-2-1.
• Senior defenseman Eddie Wittchow (Burnsville, Minn.) skated in his 100th career game for the Badgers on Nov. 6 to become just the second current Badger to reach the milestone. He now has played in 109 games. Only fellow senior defenseman Kevin Schulze (White Bear Lake, Minn.), who has played in 131 games, has played in more.
• Two other Badgers could play in their 100th career games this season as junior forwards Jedd Soleway (87 GP) and Grant Besse (86 GP) are within striking distance.
• UW faces one of the tougher schedules in the nation this season, with an especially grueling stretch to start the campaign. The Badgers played six of their first 12 games against teams ranked in the top five of the preaseason USCHO.com poll, with at least one game against four of the top five teams.
• Of its 34 total games, Wisconsin will play 14 against teams ranked in the top 13 of the USCHO.com preseason poll. Only three of UW's series this year are against a team not receiving votes in the preseason poll.
• The Badgers began the season with 28 skaters on the roster. That is the largest roster at UW since the 2009–10 team also boasted 28 members. Three of the 28 skaters on the roster that year did not see action.
• Sophomore forward Cameron Hughes became just the second Badger drafted by the Boston Bruins when he went in the sixth round, 165th overall, in the 2015 NHL Draft this past June. Hughes, along with fellow sophomore forward Adam Rockwood, enter the season tied for the second-leading scorer spot from last season after each posted three goals and 13 points in their freshman season's last year. Both spent most of the season at center.
• Senior defenseman Kevin Schulze led the nation in 2014–15 with an average of 2.66 blocks per game, 0.11 shots-per-game better than Bemidji State defenseman Sam Windle (2.55). Schulze's 93 blocks were four shy of Windle's national lead.
• As a team, UW ranked 10th in the country with an average of 14.83 blocks per game.
• This season, Schulze ranks 15th in the country with a 2.17 blocks-per-game average, turning aside 39 shots in 18 contests. Teammate Eddie Wittchow is tied for sixth with 2.50 blocks per game.
• Wisconsin will serve as host school for the 2016 NCAA Frozen Four set for April 7-9 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
• The Badgers last played host to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2006 when it was held at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The Badgers won the championship that season, defeating Boston College, 2-1, in the title game.
• Head coach Mike Eaves is behind the bench for his 14th season at Wisconsin. The Badgers own one NCAA title (2006), two Frozen Four appearances (2006, 2010), seven NCAA tournament appearances and two conference tournament titles (2013, 2014) during Eaves' tenure.
• Eaves has seen 28 of his former Badgers go on to play in the NHL, as well as over 60 of his former players go on to play some sort of professional hockey (NHL, AHL, ECHL, overseas). Fifty NHL drafted skaters have played at Wisconsin under Eaves.
• Wisconsin hockey boasts five new staff members including associate head coach Luke Strand, assistant coach JB Bittner, director of hockey operations John Hamre, video coordinator Emily Engel and primary care Dr. Andrew Watson.
• For the new coaches, associate head coach Luke Strand came to UW from a year as general manager and coach of the first-year Madison Capitols of the USHL. He played college hockey for UW-Eau Claire. New assistant coach JB Bittner, who played his college hockey at Ohio State, arrived in Madison from a two-year assistant coaching stint for the USHL's Tri-City Storm in Kearney, Nebraska.
2014–15 vs. 2015–16
• Wisconsin has matched its win total from last year's 35-game season through the first 18 games. UW is 4-8-6 this year.
• Wisconsin scored 15 power-play goals last season (15-for-129 in 35 games) and already has 13 power-play tallies this year (13-for-65 in 18 games).
• Wisconsin scored 59 total goals last season in 35 games. The Badgers have 48 goals in 18 games this season.
• Four Badgers scored at least five goals last season (Besse - 11, Soleway - 7, LaBate - 6, Zulinick - 5), while UW already have five with at least five goals this season (Kunin - 7, Wagner - 6, Davison - 5, Freytag - 5, Besse - 5).
• Wisconsin's defensemen finished with 11 total goals last year, and have 10 so far this year (Davison - 5, Linhart - 4, Schulze - 1).
• Wisconsin has had 27 total multi-point games this season, with 12 total players registering at least one multi-point outing through 18 games. The 27 multi-point games this year already surpasses the 22 multi-point outputs from the 2014-15 season in 35 games.
UP NEXT
• Wisconsin and Minnesota meet at the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22-23, with Friday's game at 8 p.m. and Saturday a 7 p.m. start.
