The rumors are true. The No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers are starting to resemble the team we came to know in the first half of the season, and not a moment too soon. Following two well-played games against that earned a split against No. 2 Michigan last week, Mike Hastings’ squad went to Hockey Valley and laid down a third-period onslaught to take the series opener, 7-3, against the No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions.
Wisconsin (20-11-2, 13-10 Big Ten) has won five of seven since the six-game losing streak
that took them from tournament lock to bubble team. Trending in the wrong direction, it was all the more discouraging to see Michigan and Penn State on the schedule to close the season. Credit to the squad for digging deep; they’ve received contributions all over the roster to right the ship and notch some big wins.
Eli Pulver stood on his head against Michigan last weekend after having a really rough 2026 so far in place of the injured Hauser, who was a tad shaky early before slamming the door in the third period. Sophomore defenseman Weston Knox, seeing the ice more in lieu of the injured Logan Hensler, posted three assists in Thursday’s win over Penn State. That game also featured seven goal from seven different players, and 14 total players posting at least one point. This is the team that once ascended to the nation’s number two ranking.
The NPI had the Badgers 12th going into this series, meaning there’s not a ton of wiggle room when it comes to making the NCAA Tournament. That’s why Thursday’s win against Penn State means so much, especially after a win over Michigan last week. Wisconsin needed to at least earn a split in the two biggest series of the year, and now it’s locked in. Going out and getting a sweep would do wonders.
Most importantly, in the short term, Thursday’s win guaranteed the Big Ten Quarterfinal will be hosted at the Kohl Center. The rematch with Ohio State is set; the Badgers will face the Buckeyes in a best-of-three series for the third time in three years. The last two didn’t favor Wisconsin, once as the heavy favorite and the other coming short in a strong upset effort.
My thoughts on Ohio State are well documented at this point, but suffice to say, they can be a big-time thorn in Wisconsin’s side. No matter how poor their record, no team can frustrate the Badgers for 60 minutes quite like the Buckeyes. That said, this is the first time Wisconsin has looked rejuvenated in March during the Hastings era. The team that just knocked off Penn State on the road is not the team that’s sputtered out against Ohio State the last two years.
Before the Buckeyes, Wisconsin gets one more chance to pad the résumé Friday night against the Nittany Lions. Advancing past the Big Ten Quarterfinal would probably be enough to lock in an at-large bid, but sweeping Penn State could provide just enough cushion for the Badgers to enter the conference tournament carrying a little less weight on their shoulders.
The Nittany Lions are in the midst of a Wisconsin-like slump, going 2-5-2 since sweeping the Badgers in late January. Despite their struggles, it’s tough to sweep a good team in their own barn. There might also be a little extra spice to Friday night’s finale after a player from each team received a game misconduct on Thursday.
Blake Montgomery delivered a high cross check after the whistle midway through the game to earn a trip to the locker room. Penn State failed to convert on the five-minute power play, in part because they took a penalty of their own nearly a minute in, giving the Badgers only three minutes of penalty time to kill.
Penn State’s Lev Katzin got the hook with 1:35 remaining after submarining an unsuspecting Grady Deering who slowly made his way off the ice. Katzin was sent to the tunnel immediately so tempers wouldn’t have a chance to escalate, but don’t be surprised if Friday’s game gets a bit testy.
Wisconsin can likely survive a loss to Penn State without doing much damage to its tournament odds. With six automatic qualifiers and ten at-large berths, the Badger faithful are really rooting against bid stealers – teams currently ranked outside of the top 16 – winning their conference tournaments. Adding another top ten win on Friday would strengthen their NPI ranking and help push them off the bubble, allowing Wisconsin to absorb a bit more conference tournament chaos.
This is the best case for Wisconsin, which looked to be playing its way out of any postseason consideration just a month ago. It’s been a rollercoaster of a season that hopefully has a bit of ride remaining. For the past two years, the ride never seemed to ascend again at the right moment, but this year the Badgers finally found some momentum down the stretch.
If everybody contributes like the last couple of weeks, this once downtrodden team could be poised to win Wisconsin’s first NCAA Tournament game since 2010, when they ultimately fell to Boston College in the championship game. We’re a few weeks from having that conversation, but it’s one we certainly weren’t thinking about at the end of January.
For now, the Badgers can help themselves rest a little easier by earning their first Big Ten sweep since taking out Notre Dame a month ago and focus on getting past the Big Ten quarterfinal for the first time since 2021. If Wisconsin continues playing good hockey, the rest will take care of itself.
Game Info
Date: March 6
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: University Park, Pa. | Pegula Ice Arena
TV: B1G+ | Radio: 1310 WIBA
