Quick Six Border Battle: Badgers prepare for No. 3 Gophers

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 7:00 PM CT and Saturday’s game starts at 6:00 PM CT. Both games will be streamed on B1G+.

Here are six quick things to know before you tune in:

Roosters: Badgers || Gophers

1 – HOME, SWEET HOME: The Badgers return home to the Kohl Center after back-to-back series on the road. Both games against Minnesota will feature promotions and fans can purchase 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 game is a ‘WHITE OUT!’ Visitors must wear white clothing during the match. 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 glasses.

It’s Border Struggle Week!!!

Help us Saturday ⚪️’White Out’⚪️ the Kohl Center

Distributing 7,000 Wisconsin Hockey foam glow sticks to fans and 1,000 LED glasses to the @CreaseCreatures #BeatMinnesota pic.twitter.com/5kmcZca5wj

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 5, 2024

2 – WEEKEND SUMMARY: Wisconsin won its first Big Ten road series of the season when it earned four of six points at then-No. 19/20 Notre Dame last weekend. 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 defeated the Fighting Irish 44-24, but lost 3-2 in overtime. The Irish got on the board first with 12:22 left in the first period. Neither team lit the lamp until there were five minutes left in the second period, then 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 night, but Notre Dame responded with 1:13 left in the period to make it a 2-2 game. It remained that way until extra time. A Badger power play late in the third period that went into overtime quickly became a three-on-three and then an Irish overtime power play, which they took advantage of to earn the extra conference point.

First of the season for the cap (@owenlindmark) 🫡

🍎: Ben Dexheimer & Kyle Kukkonen pic.twitter.com/eKMqw1bf5h

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 2, 2024

The Badgers earned their first conference victory in game two, winning 2-1. Wisconsin lit the lamp first with 14:26 left in the second period Owen Lindmarks second goal of the year. Notre Dame responded with 7:34 left in the period, but with 35 seconds left. 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.

 

B1G cellies for a B1G win! pic.twitter.com/rWC9B1pvqX

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 3, 2024

3 – A WEEKEND FULL OF PRINCESS: UW’s series at Notre Dame last weekend featured many firsts with freshman defenseman Weston Knox and forward Lucas Buss will make their NCAA debut and play in both Friday and Saturday games. Knox picked up his first collegiate point in Saturday’s game, adding an assist on graduate student Lindmark’s goal in the second period.

WHAT A RIP FROM LINDMARK (@owenlindmark) 🔥

🍎: Kyle Kukkonen & Weston Knox pic.twitter.com/UZtjtPcWYm

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 2, 2024

Freshmen forward Ryan Botterill also reached a milestone with his first NCAA goal, scoring on the power play in the second period of Friday’s game.

 

DO YOUR THING, 21! 🔥

The freshman scores his first NCAA goal on the power play!

🍎: Logan Hensler & Tyson Dyck pic.twitter.com/paHAjq10Hc

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 2, 2024

In addition, 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 matches and Tassy scoring the match-winner on Saturday.

 

TASTY (@SimonTassy) TIME! ⏰

🍎: Christian Fitzgerald & Ben Dexheimer pic.twitter.com/J3XxQs4wIV

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 2, 2024

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 tries, and his 78 wins rank 28th in the country.

Wisconsin has excelled from the faceoff spot all year and currently ranks 11th in the nation with a 55.2 percent success rate (262 wins in 475 attempts). It ranks seventh among teams that have played at least eight games.

5 – SCOUTING THE GOPHERS: No. 3 Minnesota (7-1-0, 2-0-0 Big Ten) enters the weekend having defeated Penn State at home, winning game one 3-1 and game two 1-0. With the sweep in the first conference series of the year, UMN is 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 is tied with junior forward Matthew Wood for the team lead in points with 13 in eight games played.

Minnesota has split its goal duties between graduate student Liam Souliere and sophomore Nathan Airey, who have started four games each. Souliere has recorded three wins and one loss, with a 1.25 goals-against average and a 0.948 save percentage. Airey has four wins, a 2.00 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.

6 – HOW TO WATCH: The puck drop will take place on Friday at 7:00 PM and on Saturday at 6:00 PM. Both games will be streamed 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 it on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.