MADISON, Wis. – To begin its stretch run of five-straight weekends of Big Ten series to finish off the regular season, the Wisconsin men's hockey team welcomes the No.10 Michigan Wolverines to the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 24-25.
Friday's game starts at 7 p.m. and streams on B1G+, while Saturday's game starts at 7:30 p.m. and airs on the Big Ten Network.
Here's six quick things to know before tuning in:
Rosters: Wisconsin || Michigan
Game Notes: Wisconsin
1 - SCOUTING MICHIGAN: The Wolverines currently own a 14-9-1 record, including an 8-6-0 record (20 points) in Big Ten play. They head into the weekend after splitting a series with then-No. 1 Michigan State winning game one, 3-2, in overtime and losing game two, 4-1.
The Badgers and Wolverines currently sit tied in fourth place as both teams fight for a top-four Big Ten finish to secure home ice for the Big Ten Tournament.
UW and UM each have 20 points through 14 Big Ten games and sit three points behind third-place Ohio State and nine clear of sixth-place Notre Dame. The remaining schedules are similar between the schools,
| Wisconsin's Remaining Schedule |
Michigan's Remaining Schedule |
| Michigan |
at Wisconsin |
| at Minnesota |
Penn State |
| Penn State |
at/vs. Michigan State |
| at Ohio State |
Minnesota |
| Notre Dame |
at Ohio State |
Freshman forward Michael Hage leads the roster with 11 goals and 23 points in 21 games played. Graduate student goaltender Logan Stein boasts nine wins in 13 starts, accumulating a .899 save percentage and a 3.00 goals-allowed on average.
The last time the Badgers and Wolverines met came Dec. 13-14, 2024. Wisconsin won the first game, 4-0, before falling, 3-2, in overtime in game two.
2 - WEEKEND OF FIRSTS: The Badgers game against LIU last Friday, Jan. 17, proved to be one full of firsts.
After missing four games while away winning gold with Team USA at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, freshman defenseman Logan Hensler scored his first NCAA goal in the second period on the power play.
Sophomore defenseman
Zach Schulz also notched his first goal of the season in the third period. Schulz and Hensler became the first Badger blue-liners to find the back of the net since senior Dan Laatsch scored two overtime game-winners in the first half of the season and the first two defensemen other than Laatsch to tally this year.
Additionally, freshman forward
Adam Pietila notched his first NCAA point, recording an assist on fellow freshman forward
Gavin Morrissey's first-period tally.
3 - NEVER ENDING OVERTIME: Since the beginning of November, the Badgers have had at least one game of every series go into overtime, totaling eight overtime games over nine series. The only weekend without an overtime was the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 28-29. In that period, Wisconsin has a 9-7-2 record, with five of seven losses coming in overtime.
UW has skated in 10 overtime periods through 24 contests so far this season, exceeding the number of overtime contests (eight) in 40 games during the 2023-24 campaign. Its 10 overtime games this year are the most since it played 11 overtime games during the 2018-19 season. UW went 2-4-5 in overtimes that year. There have only been four seasons in UW history with more extra periods.
4 - MIGHTY MITES, ALUMNI AND SHIRTS, OH MY: As Michigan makes its way to the Kohl Center this weekend, Wisconsin will wrap up two straight weekends of home games.
The Badgers will be running promotions on both nights of the series against the Wolverines. Friday is Mighty Mites Night as UW welcomes groups of youth hockey teams to the Kohl Center.
Saturday is Alumni Night as former UW skater Steve Alley will be recognized during the game. Additionally, students are encouraged to wear red, and the first 100 Crease Creatures in attendance will receive a red shirt.
Fans can buy tickets to both games
here.
5 - LAST TIME OUT: The Badgers enter the series after recording a 6-3 win and 2-2 tie against the Long Island University Sharks in their final non-conference games of the season last Friday and Saturday.
In the first game of the series, a combined nine points from Wisconsin's first line of
Quinn Finley,
Gavin Morrissey and
Ryland Mosley propelled the Badgers past the Sharks, 6-3. Wisconsin opened the scoring 4:03 into the first period on a goal from Finley. LIU tied the game with 1:58 remaining in the first period, but Morrissey responded 50 seconds later to give UW a 2-1 lead heading into the second period. Fifty-four seconds into the middle frame, the Sharks tied the game again.
Logan Hensler scored his first career goal with 10:08 left in the second on the power play to reinstate Wisconsin's lead. Sixteen seconds later,
Simon Tassy's second goal of the season extended the Badgers' lead to two. LIU made it a 4-3 game 26 seconds into the third period, but
Zach Schulz (with 16:05 remaining) and
Gavin Morrissey (with 10:10 remaining) each tallied a goal in the final 17 minutes of the game to help the Badgers to a 6-3 victory.
In game two, UW tied LIU, 2-2, but won the exhibition shootout, 2-1. Finley struck first for Wisconsin at the 15:35 mark of the first period. LIU tied the game 10:46 into period number two before
Sawyer Scholl gave UW its lead back 12:37 into the frame. The Sharks then made it a 2-2 contest with 3:58 remaining in the second. Neither team scored in the third period or in overtime as the game officially ended as a 2-2 tie, but
Tommy Scarfone made three saves and Finley and
Christian Fitzgerald lit the lamp to help the Badgers to an exhibition shootout win.
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Friday's game starts at 7 p.m. and streams on B1G+ while Saturday's contest begins at 7:30 p.m. and airs on BTN. Audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA or on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.
