MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin men's hockey team continues Big Ten play with a visit from border-rival and No. 3 Minnesota on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8-9, at the Kohl Center.
Friday's game starts at 7 p.m. CT and Saturday's game starts at 6 p.m. CT. Both games stream on B1G+.
Here are six quick things to know before tuning in:
Rosters: Badgers || Gophers
1 - HOME, SWEET HOME: The Badgers return home to the Kohl Center after two consecutive series on the road. Both games against Minnesota feature promotions, and fans can buy tickets here.
Friday's game is Denim Night – students are encouraged to wear 'Canadian Tuxedos,' and the first 800 students in attendance will receive a customizable denim hat.
Saturday's contest is a 'WHITE OUT!' Attendees should wear white clothing to the game. The first 7,000 fans in attendance will receive a Wisconsin Hockey foam glow stick, while the first 1,000 students will receive Wisconsin Hockey light-up glasses.
2 - WEEKEND RECAP: Wisconsin won its first Big Ten road series of the season when it earned four of six points last weekend at then-No 19/20 Notre Dame. Through eight games, UW has a 2-6-0 record (1-3-0 Big Ten) and is tied for second in the conference with five points.
In game one at Notre Dame, Wisconsin outshoot the Fighting Irish 44-24, but lost, 3-2, in overtime. The Irish got on the board first with 12:22 remaining in the first period. Neither team lit the lamp until five minutes left in the second period when Wisconsin's Ryan Botterill scored his first NCAA goal on the power play. Three minutes later, Owen Lindmark gave the Badgers their first lead of the evening, but Notre Dame responded with 1:13 left in the period to make it a 2-2 game. It stayed that way until overtime. A Badger power play late in the third period that trickled into overtime quickly became a three-on-three, then an Irish overtime power play, which they capitalized on to earn the extra conference point.
The Badgers picked up their first conference victory in game two, winning 2-1. Wisconsin lit the lamp first with 14:26 remaining in the second period on
Owen Lindmark's second goal of the year. Notre Dame responded with 7:34 left in the period, but with 35 seconds left in the frame,
Simon Tassy scored his first goal of the season on the power play to give the Badgers a 2-1 lead. The score remained the same until the final buzzer sounded.
3 - A WEEKEND OF FIRSTS: UW's series at Notre Dame last weekend featured many firsts with freshmen defenseman
Weston Knox and forward
Luke Buss making their NCAA debuts, playing in both Friday and Saturday's contests. Knox picked up his first collegiate point in Saturday's game, notching an assist on graduate student forward Lindmark's second-period goal.
Freshman forward
Ryan Botterill also reached a milestone with his first NCAA goal, scoring on the power play in the second period of Friday's contest.
Additionally, Lindmark and junior forward Tassy both scored their first goals of the year in the series, with Lindmark finding the back of the net in both games and Tassy scoring the game-winning tally on Saturday.
4 - FACEOFF LEADER LINDMARK: Owen Lindmark leads the Big Ten with a 68.4-percent success rate in the faceoff circle (among players who have taken at least 25 faceoffs). He has 78 wins in 114 total attempts, and his 78 wins rank 28th in the country.
Wisconsin has excelled in the faceoff dot all year and currently ranks 11th in the country with a 55.2-percent success rate (262 wins in 475 attempts). It ranks seventh among teams who have played at least eight games.
5 - SCOUTING THE GOPHERS: No. 3 Minnesota (7-1-0, 2-0-0 Big Ten) enters the weekend after sweeping Penn State at home, winning game one, 3-1, and game two, 1-0. With the sweep in its first conference series of the year, UMN sits in first place in the Big Ten with six points, one point ahead of the Badgers.
Junior forward Connor Kurth leads the Gophers with six goals, and he's tied with junior forward Matthew Wood for the team lead in points with 13 in eight games played.
Minnesota has split its goaltending duties between graduate student Liam Souliere and sophomore Nathan Airey, who have each started four games. Souliere has three wins and one loss, accumulating a 1.25 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage. Airey has four wins, a 2.00 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday. Both games stream live on B1G+. Audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA as well as on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.
