WISCONSIN LOOKS TO KEEP MOMENTUM
Wisconsin (13-8-1, 6-2-0-0 Big Ten) looks to add to its three-game winning streak with its Friday-Saturday series at Michigan State (5-15-2, 1-6-1 Big Ten). Both games at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Michigan, begin at 6 p.m. CT.

The hockey games air live on Fox Sports Wisconsin Plus.

Wisconsin enters the weekend off a sweep over No. 8 Ohio State on the road and at neutral site Madison Square Garden. Michigan State has last weekend off, but posted a win and tie (shootout loss) in a home-and-home series with Michigan on Jan. 20 and 21. The victory came at Michigan.

SERIES NOTES
The teams meet for the 105th and 106th times.

The Badgers are 1-3-0 against MSU in East Lansing over the last two seasons.

UW has a 17-27-1 record in East Lansing all-time. 

WISCONSIN-MICHIGAN STATE CONNECTIONS
UW freshmen JD Greenway and Trent Frederic played in the USNTDP with Michigan State freshman Patrick Khodorenko.

UW junior Ryan Wagner played in the USNTDP with MSU's Dylan Pavelek and Ed Minney.

MSU sophomore Mason Appleton, a Winnipeg draft choice, hails from Green Bay. 

LAST MEETINGS
Wisconsin 5, Michigan State 1
Jan. 6, 2017

Wisconsin secured its first win of 2017 with a 5-1 victory over Michigan State at the Kohl Center.

The Badgers quickly put a 2-0 lead on the board, as junior forward Jason Ford picked up his third goal of the season.

Exactly four minutes later, junior forward Cameron Hughes split the Spartan defense and sent a rocket in under Minney's pad to secure the 2-0 lead.

MSU would respond with a goal of their own from Villiam Haag to make it 2-1 but three unanswered goals by UW from Will Johnson, Seamus Malone and Jake Linhart secured the 5-1 victory for the Badgers.

Wisconsin outshot Michigan State 36-26 in the game with freshman goalie Jack Berry collecting 25 saves in the win.

Wisconsin 5, Michigan State 1 
Jan. 7, 2017

The Badgers defeated Michigan State 5-1 behind a pair of second-period tallies from sophomore captain Luke Kunin, giving Wisconsin their 200th win at the Kohl Center.

Seamus Malone started the scoring just 33 seconds into the game, beating Ed Minney over his shoulder. 

MSU tied the game at 1-1 just three minutes later but the Badgers would respond with four goals of their own in the second and third period to open up the game.

With Wisconsin outshooting the Spartans 35-24, sophomore netminder Matt Jurusik collected 23 saves in his first game back after an injury kept him out of play since November.  

BEHIND THE BENCH
WISCONSIN BADGERS
Head Coach: Tony Granato
Record at WIS: 13-8-1 (1st Year)
Overall: 13-8-1 (1st Year)

MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS
Head Coach: Tom Anastos
Record at MSU: 71-98-20 (5th Year)
Overall: 71-98-20 (5th Year)

KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER
Wisconsin is tied for first place in the Big Ten standings with a 6-2-0 conference record and 18 points.

The last time UW was in first place in conference standings was Oct. 28, 2011, when it was part of a seven-way tie for first place in the WCHA. The Badgers had a 2-2-0 league mark and four points in four games played.

The last time Wisconsin began the month of February in first place was during the 2005–06 season, when the Badgers began the month in a three-way tie for first in the WCHA with Denver and Minnesota. UW went up two points in the standings after a split at Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 3-4, 2006, but fell out of first for good the next weekend when it played non-conference action. 

UW's 18 Big Ten points are more than the team had in each of the last two seasons.

Wisconsin owns victories over three league leaders this season with wins over Big Ten-leader Minnesota, Hockey East-leader Boston College and ECAC-leader St. Lawrence.

The Badgers 3-2 overtime victory over Ohio State last Saturday marked its first overtime win since March 22, 2014, when it defeated Ohio State, 5-4, to win the inaugural Big Ten Tournament. UW went 0-2-14 between overtime victories.

Wisconsin went 5-1-0 in January for its most victories in a month since going 5-2-0 in March of 2014. 

UW boasts a three-game winning streak for the first time this season and the first time since Oct. 30-Nov. 6, 2015, when UW took two games from Arizona State, then a game from No. 1 North Dakota.

UW's sweep over No. 8 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, and then New York, marked its first sweep over a top-10 foe away from the Kohl Center since Feb. 6 and 7, 2009 at No. 9 Minnesota (3-2 and 5-4 wins). It was the first sweep away from Kohl over a ranked foe since March 1 and 2, 2013 at No. 13 Omaha (4-3 and 6-2 wins).

At least one point for UW at Michigan State would give the UW its first Big Ten season series win since UW won season series from MSU, Penn State and Michigan during 2013–14.

Despite not getting a power-play chance on Thursday, UW won the special-teams battle, killing all three Ohio State chances and scoring a short-handed goal, by Kunin. Both UW's power play and penalty kill rank eighth in the country.  

Junior forward Ryan Wagner, moved up to play with Kunin and Frederic for Thursday, scored his first goal in seven games, notching an empty-net goal to seal a 3-1 win over Ohio State.

Sophomore forward Luke Kunin extended his scoring streak to seven games with a short-handed goal and an assist last Thursday, equaling his career best. UW's leading scorer with 15 goals and 24 points in 21 games, Kunin had his streak snapped Saturday. He had eight goals and 12 points during his seven-game streak.

Two other Badgers flirted with career-long scoring streaks, with junior forward and Cameron Hughes posting three goals and seven points in his current career-long six-game points streak, while frosh forward Trent Frederic had two goals and six assists in a five-game streak that ended Saturday.

UW scored first on Thursday at OSU and Saturday in New York, and improved to 10-1-1 when scoring first this season. The Badgers also led at the first intermission in both games and improved to 6-0-0 in games when leading after one period. Up in both games after two periods, UW improved to 12-0-0 this season when leading after two.

The first period has been the weakest this season for UW. It had been outscored 28-16 in the first frame before outscoring OSU 2-0 on Thursday and 1-0 on Saturday.

The Thursday game marked the first time since Nov. 18 that UW held its opponent scoreless in the first period, a span of 11 games.

Wisconsin was outshot for just the fourth time this season on Thursday at Ohio State, trailing the Buckeyes 27-25 for the game. However, it marked the first time this season UW won a game when getting outshot (1-3-0).

The 25 shots were a season low for UW and snapped a streak of 16 consecutive games for the team with at least 30 shots on goal. The Badgers have at least 30 shots in 18 of 21 games this season.

UW had no power-play chances in Thursday's game, marking the first time since Dec. 14, 2013 that UW went without a man advantage. Like Thursday, UW won that game too, defeating Colorado College, 4-3. That was 114 games ago.

Despite not getting a power-play chance on Thursday, UW won the special-teams battle, killing all three Ohio State chances and scoring a short-handed goal, by Kunin. 

Junior forward Ryan Wagner, moved up to play with Kunin and Frederic for Thursday, scored his first goal in seven games, notching an empty-net goal to seal a 3-1 win over Ohio State.

Senior forward Aidan Cavallini, who went the first 64 games of his career without a goal, now has two in his last seven contests after he scored last Saturday at Madison Square Garden. He now has two goals in 70 career games.

Sophomore forward Matthew Freytag had one goal in his first 14 games this season, but posted goals in both games last weekend against Ohio State. He notched his first career-game winning tally last Thursday at Ohio State, before adding UW's second goal on Saturday. He led the Badgers in shots for both games, firing four on Thursday and five on Saturday. Freytag had eight goals and nine points in 31 games played last year.

GOALIE ROTATION
Since sophomore goaltender Matt Jurusik returned to the UW lineup for the weekend of Jan. 6-7 after missing seven games with an injury, the Badgers have played the last three weekends with a goalie rotation. Frosh Jack Berry has played on Friday and Jurusik on Saturday.

During that time Jurusik has gone 3-0-0 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in 182 minutes, 17 seconds of action. He has allowed six goals in the three appearances.

Berry is 2-1-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average and .935 save percentage in 181:43 of game action in three appearances. 

TOP-10 SPECIAL TEAMS
UW ranks 10th in the country with the man advantage at 21.8 percent (27-for-124).

The Badgers have scored 27 of their 79 goals while on the power play.

Wisconsin's penalty kill ranks seventh in the nation at 86.7 percent (91-for-105).

UW is the only school in the country to boasts top-10 programs in both power play and penalty Kill. 

Michigan State's power play ranks 43rd in the country (15.5 percent on 17=for-110), while its penalty kill sits 59th out of 60 teams at 72.3 percent (73-for-101).

OHIO STATE REVIEW
Wisconsin scored a pair of goals in the first nine minutes and made that stand the rest of the way in a 3-1 victory over Ohio State on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio.
Sophomore Luke Kunin scored a short-handed goal 3:24 into the game, then sophomore Matthew Freytag tallied at 8:46 for the eventual game-winning score. Junior forward Ryan Wagner added an empty-net goal to seal the contest.

Freshman goaltender Jack Berry stopped 26 of 27 shots to earn the win and improve to 6-4-1 on the season. 

The Badgers won the special teams battle, killing all three Ohio State power plays, while also scoring a short-handed goal. UW did not get a power-play chance in the game. 

On Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Badgers took a late first-period lead on an Aidan Cavallini goal no a 2-on-1 rush, then added a cushion with Matthew Freytag's second goal of the weekend at 14:57 of the third period.

Freytag's goal came after UW failed to capitalize on a five-minute major power play that included two minutes of five-on-three power-play time.

Ohio State got a late power play and pulled its goaltender to score an extra-attacker goal at 18:20 of the third period by Dakota Joshua. Then with its goalie pulled, OSU scored again at 19:44, with Josh Healey's point shot finding the net to send the game to overtime.

UW missed the net on two long-distance shot attempts on the empty net.

Junior forward Cameron Hughes then scored his first career overtime goal at 2:58 of the extra frame to give UW a 3-2 lead.

Sophomore goaltender Matt Jurusik made 27 saves in the win. 

CAPTAINS
Sophomore forward Luke Kunin was named team captain, the second sophomore captain in school history. Mike Eaves was a sophomore captain for the 1975–76 season. 

Joining sophomore forward Luke Kunin as alternate captains are senior forward Grant Besse and junior forward Cameron Hughes. Besse served as alternate captain last season, while Hughes filled in at that capacity for a handful of games last year.

NEW COACHING STAFF
Tony Granato returns to Wisconsin after 13 years as a head and assistant coach in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. That followed a 13-year NHL playing career that included stops with the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. 

Don Granato arrives in Madison after nearly five seasons as head coach with the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP) helping develop the nation's best young hockey players. He also spent one season as an assistant coach with the NHL's St. Louis Blues, in addition to over 10 years as a head coach in junior and minor-league hockey. 

Osiecki returns to Madison, where he previously spent six seasons (2004–10) as an assistant coach. While at UW, he helped the Badgers win the 2006 NCAA Championship, as well as a runner-up spot in the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four. Since his time at UW, Osiecki spent time as the head coach at Ohio State, as well as an assistant coach with the AHL's Rockford Ice Hogs, the minor league affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. 

All three coaches went to school and played hockey for Wisconsin.

SCORING IN BUNCHES
Wisconsin shares the Big Ten in conference games with a scoring average of 4.00 goals per game. 

Overall, the Badgers are fourth in the league at 3.59 goals per game, but that also ranks sixth nationally as four of the top schools in the country in offense are from the Big Ten.
1. Penn State - 4.41
2. Ohio State - 4.00
5. Minnesota - 3.71
6. Wisconsin - 3.59 

Wisconsin leads the league in Big Ten play, allowing 2.50 goals-against per game.

RIGHT SAID FRED
Freshman forward Trent Frederic in six of his last eight since returning from an injury that forced him to miss six games. He has points in 11 of his 16 games played this season.

Frederic leads Big Ten freshman with eight points in eight games played (3 goals, 5 assists). His 1.00 points-per-game mark shares the league lead with Ohio State's Tanner Laczynski.

The Badgers are 11-5-0 with Frederic in the lineup and 2-3-1 without him.

Chosen 29th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 2016 NHL Draft, Frederic has seven goals and 18 points in just 16 games this season, making him one of three Badgers averaging a point per game.

The Badgers average 3.88 goals per game with Frederic in the lineup (62 goals in 16 games), and 2.83 goals per game without him (17 goals in six games).

Frederic shares the team lead with two game-winning markers and five power-play tallies. He is also one of three Badgers with a  short-handed score.

JOHNSON CONTROLS
Sophomore Will Johnson, who scored goals in the first two games of the season, but then went on an eight-game point drought, now has points in eight of his last 12 games after posting a his second two-point contest in three games last Saturday.

Johnson has five goals and 11 points in the last 12 games, which has him tied for third on the team with seven goals on the season. 

Johnson had his third multi-point game of the season last Saturday, getting credit for two assists in the game against OSU. 

He has seven goals and 13 points in 22 games this year, both of which surpass his freshmen year totals accumulated in 34 games.

CAPTAIN KUNIN
Sophomore captain Luke Kunin now leads the Badgers in scoring after tallying his first short-handed goal of the season, as well as an assist, in last Thursday's game at Ohio State. Kunin, the team leader with 15 goals, now leads with 24 points.

Kunin also shares the team lead with five power-play goals and two game-winning goals. 

In Big Ten play, Kunin paces the Badgers with six goals and 10 points in seven games played, good for fourth among all Big Ten skaters.

Kunin is averaging 0.62 goals per game for his career with 34 goals in 54 games played. That is the highest average in the country for skaters in at least their sophomore seasons. Only BU frosh Clayton Keller (0.67 in 18 GP) and DU frosh Henrik Borgstrom (0.64 in 22 GP) have better averages.

Luke Kunin ended the 2015–16 season with points in a career-best seven straight games, tallying six goals and nine points during the streak. He had points in the first two games of this season with a goal and an assist, before going pointless against BC. That gave Kunin a nine-game point streak dating back to last year. He had seven goals and 11 points in that stretch.  

Luke Kunin finished the 2015–16 season as the Badgers leading goal scorer with 19 goals, the first UW rookie since Dany Heatley scored 28 goals in 1999–2000 to lead the Badgers in goals. The 19 goals are also the most for a UW freshman since Heatley's 28. 

Kunin's 32 points made him the first UW rookie to reach 30 points since Nic Kerdiles tallied 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 32 games during the 2012–13 season. The 32 points were good for second among Big Ten freshmen, while his 0.94 points per game ranked seventh nationally among freshmen.

He scored four goals in the last minute of a period last season to rank second in the country, while his seven points in the last minute were also second. He had nine goals and 14 points in the first and last minute of periods, which both led the country.

Kunin finished conference play as UW's leader with 13 goals and 21 points in Big Ten play. His 13 goals ranked fourth among all Big Ten skaters, while his 21 points shared eighth. Both ranked second among Big Ten freshmen.

NON-CONFERENCE
The Badgers finished non-conference play 7-6-1 against non-conference foes. The seven non-conference victories matched the program's combined non-conference win total for the last two seasons. The Badgers were 7-13-6 in non-conference play over the last two seasons.

The Big Ten boasts the nation's second-best non-conference record at 46-29-11 (.599 win percentage). The NCHC leads with a 47-21-13 mark (.660). Big Ten teams have completed their non-conference schedules.

YOU DON'T KNOW JACK
Freshman goaltender Jack Berry started his Badger career with 144 minutes, 17 seconds of shutout hockey before finally allowing a goal to Merrimack last Friday. That marks the longest shutout streak to start a UW career, more than double Bernd Brückler's 67:59 of shutout hockey to start his career in 2001–02, which is the second longest streak in school history.

Berry's 22-save shutout in UW's game on Nov. 5 against Northern Michigan marked the fourth time a Badger goalie accomplished the feat in his first collegiate start. In addition to Bernd Brückler's 25-save shutout on Oct. 20, 2001 in a 5-0 win over Wayne State in his first start, Jim Carey posted a 22-save shutout on Nov. 1, 1992 in an 11-0 win over Northern Michigan. Wayne Thomas also began his career with a 22-save shutout on Nov. 16, 1968 in an 11-0 win over Pennsylvania.

BESSE TO 100
Senior forward Grant Besse needs nine more points to become the 74th skater in UW history to reach 100 career points, and would become the first since Tyler Barnes (2010–14) reached the mark with 101 points for his career. He began the season needing 31 to reach 100.

With 22 points through 21 games played, Besse currently boasts 38 goals, 53 assists and 91 points in 124 games played.

Besse's 124 games played makes him one of just two Badgers who have played 100 career college games, joining fellow senior forward Jedd Soleway, who has played 109 games.

LINHART AND SOUL
Junior defenseman Jake Linhart has points in three of his last four games and five of his last seven contests. He has quietly accumulated 14 points in 22 games to grab the team lead among defenseman in scoring. Linhart's 14 points, on two goals and 12 assists, are tied for fifth among Big Ten rearguards in scoring. His five points in Big Ten action has him tied for third in the Big Ten among defenseman in league games.

Linhart's eight goals last year ranked fourth among Badgers and only trailed tied Michigan's early-departure Zach Werenski among Big Ten defensemen, who finished with 11. That means Linhart shares the title the "Big Ten's top goal-scoring defenseman returning." 

Linhart also led UW defensemen with 18 points, which was tied for ninth among Big Ten blue liners.

FEELING A DRAFT
Wisconsin begins the season with eight NHL draft picks on its roster, including two first-round picks in Luke Kunin and Trent Frederic, third-round pick JD Greenway, fourth-round pick Max Zimmer, fifth-round selection Grant Besse, sixth-round choice Cameron Hughes and seventh-round picks Jedd Soleway and Matt Ustaski. 

UW's top four picks were all chosen in the 2016 draft.  

This year marks the first time since the 2010–11 season that UW boasts a first-round draft pick on its roster (Jake Gardiner), and the first team since the 2009–10 squad to boast more than one first-round pick (Gardiner, Ryan McDonagh, Brendan Smith).

Forwards Kunin and Frederic give UW its first first-round draft picks at the forward position since Kyle Turris played for UW during the 2007–08 season.

Kunin and Frederic give Wisconsin two first-round draft picks on the same team at forward for the first time in school history. 

CURRENT UW DRAFT PICKS    

NHL DEBUT
Former Wisconsin forward Joseph LaBate (2011–15) became the 16th Badger this season and the 81st all-time to play in the NHL when he made his debut on Nov. 23 at Arizona.

GETTING YOUNGER
While Wisconsin boasted one of the youngest rosters in the country last season with regards to age, they get even younger this year. The team average 20 years, 10 months at the start of October last season. This year, the team averages 20 years, 5 months.

UP NEXT
Following the two-game series with Michigan State, the Badgers will return to the Kohl Center on Feb. 10-11 to take on Penn Sate, which will be the first meetings between the two teams this season. PSU took the season series last year, 4-1, including a 5-2 victory in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Both games will start at 7 p.m. CT, airing on the Wisconsin Channel, BTN2Go and on the radio on WIBA-AM 1310 and the Badgers Sports Network.