MADISON, Wis. – After a bye week, the No. 1 Wisconsin men's hockey team will play a pair of road games in East Lansing, Michigan, for a Big Ten match-up against the No. 11 Michigan State Spartans on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17-18.
Friday's game begins at 6:30 p.m. CT, while Saturday is a 5 p.m. start.
Here's six quick things to know before tuning in:
Rosters: Badgers || Spartans
1 - BEST IN THE NATION: After rising to No. 3 last week, the Badgers climbed USCHO's top-20 men's hockey rankings up two spots to No. 1 this week. The team received 969 votes, including 32 first place ballots.
The last time Wisconsin was No. 1 in the USCHO poll was during the preseason of the 06-07 season when UW tied for No. 1 with Boston College.
UW also checks in at No. 1 in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live Poll, it's first top ranking since the final poll of the 2005-06 NCAA championships season.
2 - WINNING STREAK: Wisconsin heads into this series after its third consecutive sweep and sixth consecutive win, sweeping then-No.17 Michigan Tech, then-No.1 Minnesota and then-No. 4 Michigan in three straight weekends.
The Badgers' six consecutive wins give them a 9-1-0 record, which is the program's best to start a season since the 1999-00 team went 10-1-0. The team's six-game win streak is its longest since UW won six games from Dec. 6-28, 2013.
The six consecutive wins against ranked teams and four consecutive victories over top-five programs also mark firsts for UW since the USCHO.com Poll began in 1997.
3 - LUCKY NUMBER 6.5: After heading into the final five minutes of Saturday's game against then No. 4 Michigan tied 1-1, senior forward
Mathieu De St. Phalle scored on the power play with 6.5 seconds left to give Wisconsin the victory.
This marked his team-best sixth-career game-winning goal.
It also marked the third consecutive game UW scored the winning goal in the last four minutes of the contest.
4 - LET'S GO LINDMARK: After missing five games due to injury,
Owen Lindmark returned to the lineup for the series against Michigan with a bang. The graduate student forward netted two goals in UW's comeback victory on Friday, including the game-winner with less than four minutes remaining in regulation.
Lindmark's strong performance earned him his first career Big Ten Third Star of the Week honor.
5 - SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE: No. 11 Michigan State is off to a hot start with an 8-3-1 record through 12 games, including a 3-0-1 record in Big Ten play. The Spartans head into the weekend after a pair of home victories over Penn State, tying 3-3 but taking the extra point in the shootout and winning game two, 5-3.
Sophomore forward Karsen Dorwart leads the roster with six goals and 16 points. Freshman goalie Trey Augustine has been the Spartans' primary netminder, winning seven of his 10 starts and accumulating a .909 save percentage.
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop for Friday's game is set for 6:30 p.m. while Saturday's game will start at 5 p.m. Both games are available to stream live on B1G+ while audio play-by-play airs on 1310 WIBA on Friday and 1070 The Game on Saturday. It will also be available on the Badgers app and The Varsity Network App. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
