Earlier in the season, the Badgers traveled to Columbus, Ohio to face Ohio State (6-15-1, 6-14-0 Big Ten), splitting the first two of four games between the two sides this season.
The No. 5 University of Wisconsin Badgers (15-8-1, 13-6-1) hope to sweep the Buckeyes after playing very well against Notre Dame last weekend.
The Badgers split last weekend’s series, winning the first and drawing the second game, then losing in a shootout after Ty Pelton-Byce scored the game-tying goal with less than 30 seconds left in the final period, forcing overtime and Pelton-Byce’s second goal of the game — on top of his two assists.
Men’s Hockey: Wisconsin looks to bounce back against Ohio State
Wisconsin looks to maintain their play all season behind the likes of UW’s three Hobey Baker award finalists — Cole Caufield, Dylan Holloway and Linus Weissbach — who are among those with a shot at winning the award for the nations best player. All three Badgers make up the top three for most points this season, Caufield being in first at 37 points and Holloway and Weissbach with 29 each.
Against the Fighting Irish, Weissbach notched career points number 100 and 101, while Caufield added two goals and two assists to his season total over the weekend. Holloway leads the Big Ten in points per game with 1.81, having 29 points in only 16 games played due to his time with Team Canada.
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Luckily for the Badgers attack, they are facing Buckeye goalie Tommy Nappier, who is last in the Big Ten in both win percentage (0.325) and goals allowed average (3.21), while also owning the second worst save percentage in the conference at 90%.
As for the Buckeyes, in order to score against the Badgers, it looks like their best chance will be when they have a man advantage, as their only highly ranked offensive players are on the power play. Quinn Preston leads the Buckeyes with 4 power play goals. But the Badgers rank second in the conference for penalty kill percentage, meaning Ohio State is going to have to get creative in order to score on this hot Badger team.
The puck drops for the final home series of the season for the Badgers Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m. on Fox Sports Wisconsin.
