For the second week in a row, the Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team stands pat at No. 7 in the USCHO rankings following a weekend split, this time after a loss and an overtime win over the Ohio State
Buckeyes. The Badgers have had their share of trouble with Ohio State over the past few years, but found a way back from an early 2-0 deficit on Saturday night to end the series on a high note ahead of a road trip to No. 1 Michigan State this weekend.
Friday’s 5-1 loss looks worse on paper thanks to three late goals by the Buckeyes, though Wisconsin (8-2-2, 4-2 B1G) had a chance to climb back in after Simon Tassy made it 2-1 with just under 10 minutes to play. Saturday had an ominous start as the Buckeyes (5-5, 1-3 B1G) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Badgers stormed back with four unanswered goals before getting outscored 3-1 in the final frame to force overtime.
Sophomore Gavin Morrissey was the hero, snapping a bar-down wrister to give Wisconsin the overtime win. Freshmen Bruno Idzan and Vasily Zelenov each netted their first collegiate goals in the win, while Ohio State’s Max Montes, a Hartland native, continues to be a thorn in Bucky’s side, tallying two goals and an assist in the series.
The road doesn’t get any easier, as Wisconsin now heads to East Lansing to face off with the unanimously voted top team in the country; however, if history is any indication, the Badgers might be poised to make some noise.
Wisconsin is 9-2-2 all-time on the road against top-ranked teams while they’re also ranked in the top 10. The Spartans were ranked number one for all four meetings last year, where the Badgers went 1-3 with two overtime losses and a one-goal regulation loss in East Lansing. Last year’s Badgers were clearly a few rungs below this year’s squad, but they made Michigan State sweat.
Michigan State (9-1, 4-0 B1G) is currently rocking a nine-game winning streak after dropping its opener to New Hampshire, including two wins apiece over then-No.1 Boston University and then-No. 3 Penn State. Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Michigan are locked in a three-way tie atop the Big Ten, though the Spartans have played two fewer conference games than their counterparts and are the only undefeated team left in conference play.
Former Badger Charlie Stramel is in his second year as the Spartans’ top-line center, where he’s played admirably and ranks second on the team in points. His life is certainly easier playing alongside Porter Martone, a freshman right-winger selected sixth overall in the 2025 NHL Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. Martone paces Michigan State with seven goals this season to go along with his seven assists.
From a statistical standpoint, Michigan looks like a much scarier opponent than Michigan State, and the Badgers fared well in Ann Arbor. But Michigan State has the ultimate equalizer in junior goaltender Trey Augustine. The Detroit Red Wings 2023 draft pick is third nationally in both goals against average (1.32) and save percentage (.948), and has to be the early favorite for the Mike Richter Award recognizing the best collegiate goaltender. He is a difficult puzzle to solve, and he allows the well-rounded Spartan attack to play aggressively.
The offensive statistics for Michigan State are fairly mundane—they’re not excellent on the power play and have only scored five or more goals twice this season. They don’t rely on being flashy (though Ryker Lee has a pretty flashy goal against Notre Dame last week), but they are so solid at every position that they overwhelm opponents from the opening puck drop until the final horn. And with Augustine in the crease, two goals can easily be enough for the Spartans to skate their way to a win.
We’ve talked all season about Wisconsin facing a new, more difficult test each week. Well, this is the culmination of their early tests, going into Munn Ice Arena to square up with the big bad wolf of the Big Ten. Two years ago, this looked like it was going to be the must-see conference matchup for the foreseeable future, as the Badgers and Spartans were firmly entrenched in a battle for the Big Ten regular season championship until Wisconsin had a late-season stumble at Ohio State.
That season, both Michigan State and Wisconsin poked their noses ahead of everyone else after being bottom feeders the year before. The Spartans kept the seat warm, waiting for Wisconsin to make its way back to the table.
Now the table is set, and both teams are vying to sit at the head. Michigan State has earned it for now, but the Badgers might want to shuffle the seating arrangement before all is said and done. The only crime is that both games will be on B1G+, with Iowa wrestling on the schedule for Big Ten Network on Friday and the Wisconsin football game airing Saturday night. We’ll see what the weekend slates look like next semester, but the Big Ten is far too good a hockey conference not to get more televised games.
Game Info
Date: November 21-22
Time: Friday – 7:30 p.m. | Saturday – 6:00 p.m.
Place: East Lansing, Mich. | Munn Ice Arena
TV: B1G+ | Radio: 1310 WIBA/1070 The Game
