MADISON, Wis. — The No. 11/12 Wisconsin men's hockey team (11-7-0, 9-5-0 0-1-0 Big Ten) will travel to No. 2 Minnesota for a border battle series against the Golden Gophers (15-3-0, 11-3-0-0-0-0 Big Ten) on Feb. 5-6.
Minnesota sits in first place, five points ahead of the Badgers with both teams having played half their 28 scheduled Big Ten games.
Here are six quick things to know before tuning in:
1 - TEN STRAIGHT: Sophomore forward Cole Caufield extended his point streak to double digits last weekend against Michigan State and now has a point in his last 10 games. In that time, he's racked up an astounding 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points. Caufield currently leads the nation in goals with 14 and is tied for most points with 28. His seven-point weekend (four goals, three assists) against the Spartans was enough to earn him Big Ten First Star of the Week honors.
2 - HOLLOWAY HOT STREAK: Dylan Holloway, a first-round pick by the Edmonton Oilers, has three goals and 11 assists in his current six-game point streak, including five consecutive multi-point games. The sophomore forward racked up two goals and two assists for a four-point night last Friday against MSU, earning him Big Ten Second Star of the week.
3 - IT TAKES A TEAM: Wisconsin's line of Linus Weissbach, Ty Pelton-Byce and Cole Caufield combined for seven goals, seven assists and 14 points against Michigan State last weekend. That included both game-winning goals. Senior Ty Pelton-Byce has points in each of his last seven contests (five goals, four assists) and goals in four consecutive games. He has six goals and 12 points in 11 games played this season.
4 - HOBEY BADGERS: Forwards Cole Caufield, Dylan Holloway, and Linus Weissbach were nominated for the Hobey Baker award fan vote. Fans can vote on hobeybaker.com/vote to help select college hockey's top player for the 2020-21 season. Way to go Badgers!
5 - GOALIES LOOKING GOOD: Goaltenders Cameron Rowe and Robbie Beydoun each saw action against the Spartans last weekend, helping the Badgers get the sweep. Beydoun, a transfer from Michigan Tech, notched a shutout on Friday, stopping all 19 shots he faced for his second perfect game as a Badger. Rowe also faired well against the Spartans, only letting up one goal in the Badger's 4-1 win.
Rowe was on the Mike Richter Award watch list that was released earlier this week. He's 5-1-0 with a 1.58 goals-against average, a .946 save percentage and one shutout in eight appearances. His goals-against average and save percentage rank fourth and share third in the nation, respectively.
6 - SCOUTING MINNESOTA: The Big Ten-leading Gophers are a deep, experienced team that boasts the nation's top offense (4.22 goals goals per game), the second-ranked defense (1.61 goals against per game), one of the top goaltenders in Jack LaFontaine, a talented and balanced scoring attack and a stingy defensive corps.
The Badgers handed Minnesota its first loss of the season back on Jan. 9 at LaBahn Arena in a 3-1 victory to end UM's perfect 10-0-0 start, but the Gophers enter winners of four-straight games.
HOW TO WATCH: The Badgers and Gophers are set to face off at 7 p.m. CT on Friday and Saturday. Watch both games on Fox Sports Wisconsin Plus and Fox Sports North Plus or listen on the radio at 1310 WIBA and the Badger Radio Network. Follow along on Twitter at @BadgerMHockey or with live stats on UWBadgers.com.
The games will also air in Canada on RDS both nights. Friday's game can be found on TSN3, TSN.ca and the TSN App. Saturday on TSN.ca and the TSN App
