MADISON, Wis. – The No. 16 Badger men's hockey team will be back on the road this weekend as they travel to Minnesota for the first border battle of the season. Before Wisconsin squares up against the Gophers, here are six quick things you should know before tuning in.
 
1. IRISH REVIEW: Last weekend, the Badgers came within about two inches of a sweep over No. 4 and previously unbeaten Notre Dame at the Kohl Center.The Badger defense blanked Notre Dame Friday night, 3-0, but the two teams split the series as the Fighting Irish grabbed a 5-4 overtime win Saturday night. Freshman forward Alex Turcotte knocked a puck out of the air in the third period that skipped off the crossbar, while an overtime breakaway by frosh forward Cole Caufield reached the goal line, but was cleared by a Notre Dame defenseman before crossing the line. Leading scorers on the series were Cole Caufield, Alex Turcotte, K'Andre Miller and Linus Weissbach all boasting three points on the weekend.
 
2. LEBEDEFF'S SECOND SHUTOUT: In blanking Notre Dame Friday night, sophomore goalie Daniel Lebedeff recorded the second shutout of his career. The Wisconsin defense was near impenetrable, only allowing 22 shots on goal and the sophomore blocked them all. He made 21 saves in his prior blanking, a 3-0 shutout over Michigan State on Dec. 8, 2018 at the Kohl Center.
 
3. NO DAYS OFF: Wisconsin has played a ranked opponent every weekend since the beginning of the season, and 12 games into the season, they will face off against unranked Minnesota.

When considering the records of Wisconsin's opponents this season in each game, UW's foes have combined for an 81-37-9 overall record. 

The opponents in 11 of UW's 12 games so far this season currently have a winning record. Opponent records for teams this year include Boston College (7-4-0), Merrimack (2-7-1), Minnesota Duluth (5-4-1), Clarkson (8-3-1), Penn State (9-2-0), Omaha (6-3-1) and Notre Dame (8-1-1).
 
4. BORDER BATTLE HISTORY: This weekend's games will mark the 210th and 211th meeting between the Badgers and Gophers on the ice. The deep history between these two schools is one of the biggest rivalries in collegiate hockey. Wisconsin trails all time 96-171-23, but the teams have split four consecutive series in Minneapolis and six of the last seven weekends facing off against each other.

The Wisconsin-Minnesota rivalry, at 290 games played, is tied for the fourth-most played rivalry in college hockey behind Michigan-Michigan State (326), Colorado College-Denver (320) and Minnesota-North Dakota (296).
 
5. SCOUTING MINNESOTA: Boasting a 4-6-2 record, Minnesota has had its ups and downs already this season. The Gophers swept Niagara early in the season and have wins against Colorado College and Michigan, but they also hold losses to Minnesota Duluth, Notre Dame and Penn State. Minnesota's defense has been holding teams to just over three goals a game, but their offense has been struggling to keep up with its defense only averaging 2.58 goals a game. The Badgers are 5-0-0 this season when allowing three or less goals.

Personnel wise, the Gophers only boast three seniors to their roster including defenseman Tyler Nanne who leads the team with 20 blocks on the season. The two leading scorers for Minnesota are Sampo Ranta and Sammy Walker, both with eight points on the year. In goal for the Gophers will most likely be freshman Jared Moe. Moe has played in seven out of 12 games for Minnesota this season and boasts a 3-3-1 record allowing an average 2.69 goals per game.
 
6. HOW TO WATCH: The border battle between the Badgers and Gophers will take place at 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night. Watch the games on FOX Sports Wisconsin or FOX Sports North on Friday night and FOX Sports Wisconsin+ or FOX Sports North+ on Saturday night. A radio broadcast will be available on 1310 WIBA on Friday and 1070 WTSO on Saturday with live stats at uwbadgers.com. Fans can also follow along with live updates by following @BadgerMHockey on Twitter.