Postseason action begins for the No. 3 Badgers this weekend at home, as Wisconsin welcomes Minnesota State to LaBahn Arena for a first round WCHA playoff series. The best-of-three series begins Friday at 7 p.m. and continues Saturday at 4 p.m. If a third game is necessary, it would be at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

The Badgers enter this weekend with a 30-3-1 record, marking the sixth time in UW history that the team has won 30 or more games in a season.

UW enters the weekend leading the country in scoring defense with a goals-against average of 0.76. UW has shutout its opponents in 18 of its 34 games this year and have allowed only 26 goals on the year.

The Badgers lead the NCAA in penalty killing with a .940 clip. UW has killed 94 of its 100 penalties, and has scored seven short-handed goals in 34 games.

The Cardinal and White also ranks fourth in the country scoring offense averaging 3.82 goals per contest.

Player Notes
Annie Pankowski leads the team with 20 goals and 32 assists for 52 points this season. Pankowski ranks eighth in the nation for points per game, averaging 1.53 points per contest. After scoring three points against MSU on Sunday, Pankowski became the first Badger to record 50 points in a season since Brianna Decker in 2012-13.

Sophomore Emily Clark has notched 20 goals and 18 assists this season, averaging 1.19 points per game. She's tallied six game-winning goals this season, tied for fourth in the NCAA. Clark has 15 points in her last 11 games for UW.

Junior Sarah Nurse ranks seventh in the country for goals per game, averaging 0.73 goals per contest. Her 22 goals lead all Badgers, as well as ranking third all-WCHA. The Hamilton, Ontario, native also ranks third nationally in shot-handed goals with three.

Ann-Renée Desbiens leads the nation in save percentage (.956) and goals-against average (0.82). She also holds the country's lead in shutouts with 16, the most in program history and ranks second in NCAA history. Desbiens is the only goalie in NCAA history to record back-to-back seasons of 12 or more shutouts. Desbiens also has 33 career shutouts, which ranks second in program history and third in NCAA history

Junior Jenny Ryan ranks seventh in the country's defensemen in points per game, averaging 0.87 points per contest. Ryan's 29 points this season are a career high, coming from six goals and 23 assists. She also has tallied three game-winning goals this season.

Senior Courtney Burke is third in the country in points among defensemen, averaging 0.91 points per contest. Her 104 career points are the third-most in program history among defensemen. Burke is tied for 19th in program history with 104 career points following a five-point effort against Minnesota State on Feb. 14.

?Parking Information
Due to WIAA State Wrestling, parking for Friday and Saturday's games will be limited. Parking will be sold in the lots around the Kohl Center for $8 cash only on a first-come, first-served basis. 

View this weekend's parking map here. 

Number of the week
82 - Wisconsin has outscored its opponents by 82 goal this season at LaBahn Arena, totaling 94 goals while opponents have only been able to register 12 goals. The Badgers have a 61-10-3 record at their barn and are riding a 22-game winning streak dating back to last season.

The Series vs. Minnesota State
The Badgers lead the all-time series against Minnesota State 70-2-3. The Badgers also lead the series in Madison 38-2-1.

This season, the Badgers have taken all four games, winning 6-0 and 7-0 on Oct. 30-31, then sweeping MSU 4-0 and 8-1 on Feb. 13-14.

This weekend marks the third time that UW and MSU have met in the opening round of the WCHA playoffs. UW has a 4-1-0 record in the WCHA posteason against Minnesota State.

Last time vs. Minnesota State: Wisconsin 8, Minnesota State 1 (Feb. 14, 2016)
For the fifth time in program history, the No. 2 Wisconsin women's hockey team claimed the WCHA regular season title, as the Badgers earned the 2015-16 crown by defeating Minnesota State, 8-1, Sunday in front of a sellout crowd at LaBahn Arena.

En route to its first WCHA regular season title since the 2011-12 season, Wisconsin barraged Minnesota State with six goals in the final frame to secure the sweep. Even more special, the title-clinching victory came on the same day Wisconsin honored its eight seniors.

Senior captain Courtney Burke made history with the game's first goal, as the defenseman became the third UW blueliner to reach 100 points in her career. The Albany, New York, native also added four assists in the win for a career-high five points in the contest.

Sophomore Emily Clark tallied two goals and an assist, while linemate Annie Pankowski recorded a goal and two assists in the victory. Pankowski now has 50 points this season, becoming the first UW player since Brianna Decker during the 2012-13 to reach 50 points in a season.

Sydney McKibbon, Sarah Nurse, Erika Sowchuk and Baylee Wellhausen tallied one goal each.

Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 10 shots to earn her NCAA-leading 28th win of the year. Desbiens continues to lead the nation in save percentage (.966), goals-against average (0.61), and shutouts (16). Wisconsin also leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 0.56 goals per contest.

Katie Johnson scored Minnesota State's lone goal shortly into the second period, as the Mavs had a power play opportunity with Lauren Williams in the penalty box to knot the game at one.

However, Clark responded with a power-play goal towards the end of the period to give UW a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of action. 

In the third frame, Wisconsin opened the floodgates, taking a four-goal lead before the halfway point of the stanza. Pankowski, Clark, and Nurse each put the puck past Brianna Quade in a one minute, 28 second span of time to give UW the 5-1 lead.

The Badgers outshot the Mavericks 31-2 in the final period, setting a new program record for shots in a period. Wisconsin shot a total of 57 shots on net through the game, marking the eighth time this season the team has taken 50 or more shots in a contest.

McKibbon then added her third goal of the weekend, marking the 10th time in her career that she has scored against Minnesota State. Wellhausen and Sowchuk added finishing goals to seal the 8-1 victory.

The Badgers' six goals in the final period tied for the fourth-most in program history in a single period and marked the first time since the 2011-12 season UW scored six or more goals in a single frame.

Last Time Out: Wisconsin 3, Minnesota 4 (OT) (Feb. 20, 2016)
After rallying from two goals down, the No. 2 Wisconsin women's hockey team fell in overtime, 4-3, to No. 3 Minnesota in the Badgers' regular season finale on Saturday at Ridder Arena. 

Despite outshooting the Gophers 34-27, the Badgers (30-3-1, 24-3-1-1 WCHA) were unable to stop Minnesota (29-3-1, 24-3-1-0 WCHA) in overtime. 

Erika Sowchuk, Sarah Nurse and Annie Pankowski each lit the lamp for Wisconsin as Pankowski ended the game with a team-high two points. The sophomore now has 95 career points and is five points away from becoming the 20th in program history to tally 100 career points. 

After giving up goals to Minnesota's Sarah Potomak and Kate Schipper in the first five minutes of the game, Sowchuk scored her 11th of the season, sneaking the puck past Minnesota netminder Amanda Leveille with seven minutes left in the first to make it a 2-1 game.

The Gophers extended their lead to 3-1, scoring at the 13:19 mark of the second as Minnesota's Cara Piazza scored on a scrum.

Just three minutes later, Nurse scored on a breakaway, her 21st of the year, off a feed from senior Katy Harding to make it a 3-2 contest after two periods of play. 

Early in the third, the Badgers were assessed a penalty shot after Minnesota defenseman Milica McMillen covered the puck in the crease momentarily before throwing it out of the crease.

Pankowski scored her 20th of the season on the penalty shot, marking UW's first penalty shot conversion since Karley Sylvester successfully lit the lamp against Ohio State on Nov. 16, 2012. 

UW outshot Minnesota 13-4 in the final frame, but couldn't tally a second goal in the period. 

In overtime, the Badgers dominated play early, but Minnesota's Kelly Pannek scored with 54 seconds remaining on a rush to end the game. 

Goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 23 shots in the defeat. 

With their 24 league wins, the Badgers matched a program record for the most WCHA victories in a single season. Wisconsin ended the season with 74 points, one more than Minnesota.

Koch recognized as AHCA Assistant Coach of the Year
Wisconsin women's hockey associate head coach Dan Koch was named the American Hockey Coaches Association Women's Hockey Assistant Coach of the Year, as announced by the group on Thursday.

A Madison native, Koch is in his fifth season as the Badgers' associate head coach after serving eight years as an assistant coach, amassing a 367-81-35 (.796) record behind the bench. Koch has assisted the Badgers to seven NCAA Frozen Fours and saw the team win three of their four national titles.

Koch oversees the stingy UW defense, which has ranked among the top-three teams nationally for scoring defense in 11 of his 12 seasons with the Badgers. That includes the 2006-07 squad that set the NCAA record with a 0.88 goals-against average. His defensemen have led the NCAA in scoring defense in three different seasons.

This season, Koch helped the Badgers set the NCAA men's and women's shutout record, tallying nine-consecutive shutouts that spanned over 624 minutes between Oct. 3 and Nov. 14. The Badgers have recorded shutouts in 12 of their 22 games this season and have a goals-against average of 0.64 to pace the country.

Koch also plays a part in the team's penalty kill, which has led the NCAA four of his 12 seasons. Last year, the UW penalty kill set the NCAA record with a .958 clip.

Koch will be recognized on April 29 during the 2016 AHCA Convention in Naples, Florida. Read more here.

Badgers sign seven for 2016-17 season
The Wisconsin women's hockey program and head coach Mark Johnson announced the signing of seven student-athletes for the 2016-17 season on Tuesday.

Joining the Badgers next fall are goaltenders Alyson Baldwin (Richmond, Texas) and Nicole Cece (Oakville, Ontario), forwards Alexis Mauermann (Janesville, Wisconsin), Presley Norby (Shorewood, Minnesota) and Abby Roque (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan) and defensemen Maddie Rowe (River Falls, Wisconsin) and MeKenzie Steffen (Centerville, Minnesota).

"It's a big class," Johnson said. "It's probably one or two players bigger than what we normally have, but with eight seniors graduating we need to fill positions and bring kids in who are capable of playing next year and helping the team. In saying that, you look at the group and whether in net, on the blue line or up front, there's a lot of exciting players and kids who have experienced good things at their respective club and high school teams but also at the national and international level."

Between the seven players, five have represented their respective countries at international events, including Norby, who played earlier this month for the United States National Team at the 2015 Four Nations Cup, helping Team USA win gold.

Learn more about the class here.

Note of the Week
Sophomore Annie Pankowski registered two points last weekend against Minnesota, bringing her career total to 95 points. The Laguna Hills, California native is five points from becoming the 20th player in program history to reach the 100 career-point benchmark. 

The Quest for 400
Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson enters this weekend with a 390-74-35 record in his 13 years on the UW bench. His 390 wins are the third-most in NCAA Division I women's hockey history.

Johnson is only 10 wins away from becoming the third NCAA Division I women's hockey coach ever to win 400 games.

The other three coaches to reach 350 wins at the NCAA Division I level are Katey Stone (Harvard), Michael Sisti (Mercyhurst) and Shannon Miller (Minnesota Duluth).

Johnson passed former UMD bench boss Shannon Miller for third on the NCAA list on Sunday with the team's 3-1 win over North Dakota.

Home, Sweet Home
At LaBahn Arena, the Badgers are tough to beat, as UW is 61-10-3 (.844) at the new barn. The Badgers have outscored their opponents 269-72 at LaBahn Arena, and have posted 31 shutouts.

In 18 home games this year, the Badgers have outscored their opposition 75-9 at LaBahn Arena. 10 of those 18 games have had sellout crowds, a program record.