Notre Dame hockey travels to Madison, Wisconsin this weekend to face the No. 13 Badgers for their second home-and-home series this season. The Irish take the ice Friday, Feb. 6 and Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Kohl Center.
In their most recent series, the Irish recorded two ties against non-conference opponent Bowling Green. The Irish lost in a shootout at home Friday night and won in a shootout at Bowling Green the following game. Because the Falcons were not in the Big Ten, the shootout win and loss were recorded as ties, bringing Notre Dame’s record to 5-18-3 overall with 1-13 in the Big Ten.
The Badgers traveled to Minnesota the same weekend, where they lost their first game on Friday 4-1 and their second game on Saturday 8-4. In Friday’s loss, Wisconsin played freshman goaltender Daniel Hauser, who allowed three goals. The Golden Gophers also scored one empty-netter. For Saturday’s game, the Badgers started Hauser but pulled him after he allowed three goals in the first period. Sophomore goaltender Eli Pulver relieved him but allowed five goals in the remaining two periods. The unpredictable decision-making in net for Wisconsin will be one of the most interesting things to look out for as they prepare for their rematch against the Irish.
The last time the two teams battled, the Badgers beat the Irish 7-4 on Dec. 5 and 9-2 the following night in a pair of brutal losses for Notre Dame. In the first game, tensions emerged immediately during warmups after Wisconsin broke a pane of glass on Notre Dame’s boards and continuously threw pucks to make the cracks in the glass spread. The lack of respect for Notre Dame’s home arena laid the groundwork for conflict. When paired with the harsh penalties and ruthless offense of the Badgers, the Irish let their frustrations take over as they recorded two of their worst losses of the season so far.
In the final game of the series, junior forward Brennan Ali got a five-minute major for hitting from behind and was later disqualified. Then, Wisconsin senior defenseman Ben Dexheimer got a five-minute major for fighting and was disqualified, and Wisconsin freshman forward Finn Brink earned a 10-minute misconduct and disqualification. In the third period, freshman forward Cole Brown and senior defenseman Axel Kumlin for the Irish were later disqualified as well with two 10-minute misconducts. The teams will likely be feeling remnants of the tension this weekend.
While Notre Dame has played some of their best hockey of the season and has not recorded a loss in the last three games, Wisconsin is on a six-game losing streak. The Badgers will undoubtedly be hungry for a win at home as they attempt to replicate the high-scoring success they found the last time they faced Notre Dame.
When comparing the two teams, Wisconsin is stronger at winning on the face-off, beating the heavy-hitting Golden Gophers 37-27 and 37-33 despite losing last weekend. However, the Irish have been able to recover quickly on the backcheck and will be ready for the intense style of play the Badgers employ on offense. What the Irish have that the Badgers are lacking is a steady goaltender in sophomore Nicholas Kempf, who recorded 76 saves in Notre Dame’s last series.
The Irish are prepared for their Big Ten rematch and will need to continue with their recent momentum and offensive drives to give the Badgers difficulty on their home ice. The puck drops at 8 p.m. ET in both tilts.
