Badger men’s hockey visits Minnesota in return to Big Ten play 

Wisconsin (2-12-2, 0-2-0-0 Big Ten) returns to Big Ten play for the first time since Dec. 5-6 with a series this Friday and Saturday at No. 16 Minnesota (10-7-1, 1-2-1-0 Big Ten). Friday’s game begins at 8 p.m. CT and airs live on BTN. Saturday’s game is a 5 p.m. CT start as part of “Hockey Day in Minnesota” and will be shown live on Fox Sports North and Fox Sports Wisconsin.  

UM Last Meeting: W, 2-1 -- Wisconsin completed a sweep over then-No. 1 Minnesota on Feb. 7, one night after beating the Gophers by the same score during a Thursday-Friday series. In the second game, Grant Besse gave UW a 1-0 lead late in the first period, then helped break a 1-1 tie early in the third period with an assist on Nic Kerdiles’ game-winner that gave UW a 2-1 victory. Joel Rumpel made 28 saves in the win. The Thursday game saw UW take a first period lead on a Frankie Simonelli power-play tally that Joseph LaBate and Kevin Schulze assisted. Then in the third, with the game 1-1, Jedd Soleway set up Jake McCabe for the winner with just over six minutes left in the contest. Rumpel turned away 31 shots by Minnesota in the victory.

 

UM  Series Notes: According to UW records, the teams meet for the 271st and 272nd times, the most-played series in UW history ... Wisconsin sits 17-26-7 against Minnesota under head coach Mike Eaves, but is 15-17-6 since the start of the 2005–06 season ... UW is 7-14-3 in Minneapolis against Minnesota under Eaves, but 7-8-3 at Minnesota since 2005-06 ... the Badgers are 0-4-1 against UM in their last five games played in Minneapolis, last winning there on March 2, 2011 ... Wisconsin has six Minnesota natives on its roster (Besse, Dougherty, Hurley, LaBate, Schulze, Wittchow)