Top-ranked Wisconsin closes out its six-game homestand with a series against Minnesota State this weekend.
Friday's contest at LaBahn Arena starts at 7 p.m., while Saturday's finale will begin at 3 p.m.
About the Badgers
The Badgers boast the nation's top-ranked offense and defense so far this season. UW is averaging 3.96 goals per game and has allowed only 24 goals in its 25 games this year for an average of 0.96 goals per game.
Wisconsin is coming off a sweep of North Dakota, as the Badgers earned a 3-2 win on Saturday before edging the Fighting Hawks, 2-1, on Sunday.
Senior Ann-Renee Desbiens leads NCAA goaltenders in goals-against average with a 0.75 clip, winning percentage with a mark of .925, save percentage with a .957 clip and shutouts with 10. The La Malbaie, Quebec native holds the NCAA record with 48 career shutouts.Â
Junior Annie Pankowski has at least one point in each game during UW's eight-game winning streak with 17 points during the span. Pankowski ranks ninth in the country in scoring, averaging 1.43 points per game.
Senior captain Sydney McKibbon proved to be the hero in Sunday's 2-1 win over UND, scoring both goals for UW. The senior is one point away from reaching 100 in her collegiate career.
Senior Sarah Nurse ranks fifth in the NCAA with 16 goals scored this season. The senior alternate captain ranks second on the Badgers with 26 points and 10th in school history in career goals with 67.
The Badgers have one of the most balanced offenses in the NCAA this year, as 18 different Badgers have combined to score 99 goals this year. UW's scoring offense leads the NCAA in scoring offense, averaging 3.96 goals per game.
UW also enjoys the NCAA's top scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 0.96 goals per game.  Last year the Badgers broke the NCAA record for scoring defense, holding  opponents to an average of 0.72 goals per game.Â
With its win on Jan. 14, UW won its 20th game of the season, marking the seventh-straight year UW has won at least 20 games in a season.Â
Number of the Week
+35 – During Wisconsin's eight-game winning streak, the Badgers have outscored their opponents 41-6 for a goal differential of 35.
About Minnesota State
The Mavericks currently sit in eighth place in the WCHA standings with a 3-15-2 record in league games and a 6-18-3 overall ledger.
Minnesota State's visit to Madison will be the latter half of a back-to-back road sting for the Mavericks. Last weekend, MSU was defeated by St. Cloud State, 2-1, before losing in a shootout the following day to closeout the series.
Sophomore Emily Antony and junior Lindsey Coleman are tied for a team-best 13 points to lead the Mavericks offense. Antony's tallied six goals and seven assists, while Coleman has five goals and eight assists on the season.
Brianna Quade backstops Minnesota State, as the senior goaltender has started 18 of 20 games this season for an overall record of 3-13-2 and a .906 save percentage.
Filled the Bowl
The top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team broke its own NCAA women's hockey single-game attendance record on Saturday as the Badgers defeated St. Cloud State in their "Fill the Bowl" game at the Kohl Center. A record-setting crowd of 15,359 fans cheered on UW as it shut out the Huskies, 2-0.
Powering up
The Badgers power play has been stellar as of late as UW has at least one power-play goal in each of its last five games.
Since December, UW's power play ranks fourth nationally with a 26.9 clip.Â
Four Badgers shine at U-18 Worlds
A quartet of future Badgers have led their respective national teams to the gold-medal game of the 2017 U-18 Women's World Championship in Zlin, Czech Republic.
Brette Pettet and Sophie Shirley led Canada to a championship matchup against Delaney Drake and Natalie Buchbinder of Team USA. Drake tallied the first goal of the tilt early in the second period, as the U.S. topped Canada, 3-1.
Nurse and Clark lead Canada to silver at Nations Cup
Junior Emily Clark and senior Sarah Nurse missed last week's game against Lindenwood as they helped Canada earn silver at the Nations Cup in Germany and Switzerland.
Nurse was tied for second on the Canadian roster with four points, while Clark dished out three assists during the week-long tournament.
Canada went undefeated in group play and advanced to the gold medal game where they lost to Finland, 1-0.Â
The tournament consisted of national teams from Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland.
Eight to join the Badgers next fall
The Wisconsin women's hockey program and head coach Mark Johnson announced the signing of eight student-athletes for the 2017-18 season.
Joining the Badgers next fall are forwards Delaney Drake (Traverse, Mich.), Kyleigh Hanzlik (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis), Brette Pettet (Kentville, Nova Scotia), Maddie Posick (Madison, Wis.), Caitlin Schneider (Glenview, Ill.) and Sophie Shirley (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and defensemen Grace Bowlby (Edina, Minn.) and Natalie Buchbinder (Fairport, N.Y.). Â
"If you look at the class as a whole, they're all good students and have a lot of skill," Johnson said. "This is good because we're going to need them to step in and play since we're going to lose five seniors and we could lose a couple other kids to centralization. So they're all going to have to come in and make a contribution next year, but I think they're well-equipped to do that because we're real excited with what they all bring to us and to watch them grow and develop.
"A lot of them know each other and know some of the younger players on our team right now, so the transition from going to their respective high schools to college is going to be easier because they know people here. It will be fun to work with because next year's team is going to be a lot of sophomores and freshmen. But it's an opportunity to grow together as the following year when we bring a couple of kids back, and our younger players are older, it'll be a pretty good team."
Learn more here.
Playoff Time at LaBahn
For the 12th-straight year, Wisconsin will host a first round series in the WCHA playoffs thanks to a top-four finish in the league. Tickets for the best-of-three series that runs Feb. 24-26 will go on sale on Feb. 1.Â
Hitting the Mark:
Wisconsin head coach
Mark Johnson became the first coach in WCHA history to record 400 career wins in the Badgers sweep of Clarkson. Johnson is only the third coach in NCAA Division I women's hockey history to collect 400 career triumphs.
