MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men's hockey team travels to South Bend, Indiana, this weekend to take on the No. 15 Fighting Irish at Compton Family Ice Arena.
Friday's contest is set for a 6 p.m. start while Saturday's tilt is slated for a 5 p.m. start (CT). Both games will air on NBC Sports Network and stream at NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Both games can also be heard on 1310 WIBA and the Badger Sports Network, online on iHeart Radio and the iHeart Radio app.
Here are six notes to know ahead of this week's games against the Fighting Irish.
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98 POINTS: With a goal in the Badgers' 4-1 loss to Ohio State, senior forward
Seamus Malone recorded his 98th career point. Malone has 32 goals and 66 assists in 134 games, and needs just two more tallies to notch 100 career points. He'll become the 74th in school history if he makes it.
MESSNIN' AROUND: Freshman forward
Mick Messner scored the Badgers' lone goal in Wisconsin's 2-1 overtime loss to Ohio State last Friday. Messner has three goals in six contests and six goals and eight total points through 28 games.
His five goals in Big Ten play is tops among the Badgers.
Rookie skaters have accounted for 13 of the Badgers' 22 goals scored in the past nine games. Messner and fellow freshman forward
Dominick Mersch lead UW rookies in the stretch with three goals apiece. With 31 goals and 82 points through 28 games, the Badgers' talented first-year class accounts for nearly 40 percent of Wisconsin's scoring this season.
SOPHOMORE STARS: Sophomore forward
Linus Weissbach recorded an assist last Friday, giving him five points in his last six games (2 goals, 3 assists). He is now tied for fourth on the team with 16 points in just 18 games played with four goals and 12 assists. Sophomore defenseman
Wyatt Kalynuk, who had an assist in both games last weekend, scored his third point in five games and is third on the team with 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists).
PK LOOKIN UP: Last weekend, Wisconsin's penalty-kill performance against Ohio State marked its best since early December when UW went 5-for-5 on the kill against Michigan State. The Buckeyes entered last weekend 11th in the nation at 23.3 percent, but the Badgers went 11-for-12 on the penalty kill (91.7 percent), including 7-for-7 last Saturday. Despite the performance, UW's penalty kill ranks 59th in the nation at 73.6 percent (89-for-121).
FINAL OUTINGS: The Badgers have just six more regular-season games before the Big Ten tournament. Following its series against the Fighting Irish, Wisconsin will travel to No. 17 Penn State next weekend before hosting Michigan March 2 and 3 at the Kohl Center.
Eight points separate six of the seven teams in the Big Ten, with second-place Michigan holding an eight-point advantage over seventh-place Wisconsin. Ohio State controls the top spot in the conference with 12 wins and 41 points.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH: The Badgers and the Fighting Irish meet for the 72nd and 73rd times this weekend. Notre Dame (15-10-3, 8-8-2-2 B1G) posted a 5-2 victory over Michigan on Tuesday, completing its home series with the Wolverines after playing them outdoors in Notre Dame Stadium on Jan. 5. Before that, the Irish were on a three-game winless skid, skating to a 1-1 tie against Michigan State and suffering back-to-back losses at Ohio State.
Bobby Nardella leads the Fighting Irish in scoring with seven goals and 27 points. Senior forward Dylan Malmquist is a close second with nine goals and 26 points. Goaltender Cale Morris' 2.33 goals against average ranks third among Big Ten netminders, while his .927 save clip ranks second. The junior is 12-9-3 and owns two shutouts in 24 games played for the Fighting Irish.
Wisconsin leads the all-time series 41-22-8 against Notre Dame, but has gone 4-5-1 in the last 10 games. This weekend's series marks the third and fourth meetings between the two teams this season. The Badgers hosted the Fighting Irish Jan. 18, falling 6-4 in the series opener before skating to a 2-2 tie at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on Jan. 20.
