The Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team returns to kick off the second half of the season with a trip to Milwaukee for the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off. The Badgers beat Lake Superior State on Sunday, setting up a championship game against No. 7 Western Michigan.
Western Michigan knocked off No. 12 Boston College in the late game at Fiserv Forum after Wisconsin’s 3-2 win earlier in the day. The Badgers get the defending national champs in an exciting matchup on Monday night at 7:30 p.m., airing on B1G+.
The first half of the season was very kind to Wisconsin (13-2-2, 8-2 B1G), ranked second in the nation and sitting atop a loaded Big Ten. They are 3-1 against Michigan and Michigan State, the teams currently ranked first and third in the country, and are riding a five-game winning streak.
It’s been a heck of a bounce-back year for head coach Mike Hastings, who finished below .500 for the first time in his coaching career last season. Last year’s team struggled in close games, which made up the bulk of their schedule. This season, they not only excel in close games, but have been elite when finding themselves in an early hole. Wisconsin has erased two-goal deficits to avoid losses against Minnesota State, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Notre Dame to this point.
The Badgers rank second nationally in scoring offense, trailing only Michigan. They lead the Big Ten with nearly five goals per game in conference play and feature a top-five power play. Senior Christian Fitzgerald has been a revelation this season, especially on the power play, where he has seven goals and is one off the pace of the NCAA lead. He also leads the Badgers with 10 overall goals.
Freshman Blake Montgomery burst onto the scene and is looking like a superstar. He is tied with junior Quinn Finley for second on the team with eight goals. The Ottawa Senators draft pick has to be the first name that comes to mind when talking about the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
The scoring defense is middle of the pack, which is to be expected considering the caliber of offenses in the Big Ten. Wisconsin lost defender Zach Schulz after a questionable hit against Notre Dame, resulting in surgery for a broken fibula, but players like Logan Hensler, Ben Dexheimer, Luke Osburn, Aidan Dubinsky, and Joe Palodichuk are more than capable of holding down the fort.
There is also cause for optimism in the crease, as the Badgers now have a capable one-two punch with freshman Daniel Hauser and sophomore Eli Pulver, the latter of whom started getting some run in late November against Michigan State after Hauser started every game prior. Pulver has been sharp, and Hauser gets some much-needed rest after playing a ton of minutes early in his first NCAA season. Plus, there is plenty of time to find a hot hand to ride into the postseason.
The excitement in Madison is real. This team is playing hard-nosed hockey and wearing teams down. It’s a well-coached squad that has learned from too many close calls last year. The Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off will be a fun showcase at Fiserv Forum before a three-week homestand beginning with Alaska Anchorage on January 9. The Badgers return to Big Ten play with back-to-back series against Michigan State and Penn State, two teams who will have plenty to say with regard to the Big Ten landscape over the next two months.
