No. 1-ranked Michigan State hockey prepares for Wisconsin Badgers

After a sweep of the Lindenwood Lions to finish year at Munn, Michigan State hockey (11-1-0) heads to Madison this weekend to take on the Wisconsin Badgers (5-8-1). This is the first of two series with the Badgers this season. The second series will happen in early January where one game will be played at Munn Ice Arena and the other will be outdoors at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Let’s take a look at the Badgers and get ready for this weekend matchup in Madison.

Series history

The Spartans and Badgers are very familiar with each other when it comes to hockey. This weekend they will be taking on each other for the 135th and 136th time. The current series record has MSU leading the series at 67-64-4. Michigan State also has a slight edge over the last 10 matchups winning six out of the 10 against the Badgers. This included three of the four meetings last season. These teams were also in a fierce battle for the regular season championship in the conference last season. In the end the Spartans ended up winning, but it was very competitive for the two teams.

Wisconsin overview

This season, the Badgers have struggled out of the gate. They go into this series with a record of 5-8-1 which already has surpassed their number of losses from last season when they went 16-7-1. This team seems to be vastly underperforming this season. This is more in line with how the Badgers have played over the last few years outside of last season though. It seems more and more likely that last year may have been at least partially an aberration. That is not to say that they are a bad team though, many of their games have ended in overtime. If the games are getting to overtime that says that the team is at least competitive in most games.

One of the biggest changes this season for the Badgers is that they lost a number of key contributors from last season. Their top point scorer from last season, Cruz Lucius, transferred to Arizona State. There were also a number of seniors who graduated, though that is to be expected. It hurts though when three of your top five scorers are no longer helping you out.

Even through these struggles there are a few players to watch out for with this team. The biggest contributors this season are sophomore Quinn Finley (9-9-18) and freshman Gavin Morrissey (4-11-15). Finley is a forward who is a 2022 3rd round selection of the New York Islanders. He started off the season relatively slow, but has come to life over the last few weeks. In his last four games alone, Finley has eight points off of two goals and six assists. The assists is where he is his most dangerous. His hockey sense allows him to make the plays around the net which opposing goalies hate.

As for Morrissey, he has been a strong edition to the Badgers coming from the USHL. Though he is only a freshman, Morrissey is 21 and has spent the last three seasons between the USHL and the NAHL. That experience in those leagues has really allowed him to develop his game and provide a spark for a team that needs it. Morrissey leads the team in +/- as well at +8. This adds even more importance on the need for the Spartans to shut him down this weekend.

MSU keys to success

For the Spartans, these two games should be very winnable. The Badgers are a decent team, especially compared to other weaker teams that the Spartans have played this season. A week like this is when the team needs to play “blue collar” hockey like coach Adam Nightingale preaches. There are no off games in the Big Ten because it is easily one of the best conferences in all of college hockey.

One thing that the Spartans will need to take advantage of this weekend is the power play. Currently, the Badgers are tied for 58th in the NCAA for team penalty killing. The Wisconsin penalty killers often struggle with things like matchups which lead to great chances and power play goals. Michigan State hockey has not had an amazing power play this season, but if they are able to get the chances this weekend, they could be a major key to this series.

Another aspect that will be key is that the Spartan offense out depths the Badgers. Considering that most of the Wisconsin defenders have a negative +/-, this should be attainable for a team that ripped off a lot of great shots last weekend. Also, the goaltenders have been struggling all season with both reporting a save percentage below .890. Look for a high scoring game if the Spartans are able to break the dam open this weekend.

Finally, as usual the goaltending will need to keep up its strong start to the season. It is likely that Trey Augustine will start both games for the Spartans. It would not be surprising though if Luca Di Pasquo starts seeing more opportunities after he recorded his first career shutout last weekend. Either way, this tandem has shown that they can get it done, and done well. Look for more success in the crease this weekend.

Where to watch/listen

This weekend series in Madison will be held at the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday night. Both games will start at 7 p.m. ET and will be streaming on BTN+. The Spartan Media Network will also be providing audio through their website.