MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team is ringing in the New Year with a two-game conference series against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Kohl Center.
Here are six quick things to know before tuning in:
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Notre Dame
1 - BACK TO B1G: Wisconsin (8-12-0, 1-9-0-0 B1G) plays at home for the first time in over a month when it returns to Big Ten play this Friday and Saturday against No. 18 Notre Dame (9-9-2, 4-5-1-1 B1G).
UW's final 14 regular-season contests all come against Big Ten foes, all of whom are currently ranked.
The Badgers enter the series with Notre Dame after reaching the championship game of the 2022 Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in the Milwaukee tournament at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 28-29. UW blanked Lake Superior State, 4-0, in the semifinal, before dropping a 3-1 decision to Clarkson in the title contest.
2 - LUCK OF THE DRAW: Senior forward Owen Lindmark leads the Big Ten with a 60.2 face off win percentage (206-136). Lindmark is also tied for the national lead with six career short-handed goals and shares the Big Ten lead with a pair of short-handed tallies.
3 - CRUZIN': Freshman forward Cruz Lucius has points in a career-best four consecutive games with a goal and five assists. He has points in six of the last seven contests (4g, 7a) and leads the Badgers with eight goals and 18 points in 20 games played.
Lucius' 18 points rank 11th in the nation among freshmen.
4 - MOE-MENTUM: Goaltender
Jared Moe stopped all 24 shots he faced in the Badger's 4-0 victory over Lake Superior State for his third shutout of his career. He made 21 saves against Clarkson in the title game and was named most outstanding goaltender of the tournament and Big Ten third star of the week.
5 - SCOUTING NOTRE DAME: The Fighting Irish are coming off a series split against non-conference opponent Alaska. Notre Dame fell 3-2 in the first match before rallying to claim the second game, 2-0.
Junior forward Ryder Rolston leads the roster with six goals and 14 points in 19 games played. Ryan Bischel leads their goaltending duo with a .926 save percentage and averages 2.53 goals against.
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop on Friday is set for 7 p.m. on Bally Sports Wisconsin Extra. Saturday's game is set for 5:30 p.m. and will air on Big Ten Network. Follow along on Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey
