No. 1 Wisconsin (11-2-1-0 WCHA, 21-2-1 overall) will take on the No. 2 Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-2-2-0 WCHA, 20-2-3 overall) — on the heels of a four-game away series — at LaBahn Arena this weekend.
The Badgers are looking to regain their dominance over the Golden Gophers after the last match-up. Minnesota outplayed the Wisconsin lines in their first game of the series, winning 4-2. But the Badgers came back the next day to tie up the game 2-2 after a 3-on-3 shootout in overtime.
Although the Golden Gophers will provide the Badgers their biggest challenge of the season whenever they face off, Wisconsin has won nine of the last 12 match-ups against their rivals. Included in these nine wins are two in the NCAA tournament along with a game in the WCHA Final Faceoff last year on Minnesota’s home turf.
In the two months after that series, the Badgers picked up a winning streak of 11 games, until last weekend in their series against unranked Bemidji State. While the Cardinal and White froze out the Beavers 3-2 on the first night, Bemidji State came out strong and beat the Badgers 3-2 the next night.
In their other two games over the break, Wisconsin faced off against Robert Morris and Northeastern in Pittsburgh, Penn. The Badgers picked up a 3-1 win over Robert Morris and a 4-3 win in overtime against No. 3 NE.
Friday night’s game is not only the opener of this series, but free admission is being offered to students along with a free t-shirt to battle their border opponents. The puck is set to drop on Friday night at 7:07 p.m. with their rematch starting at 3:07 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at LaBahn Arena.
