Tony Granato
No. 19 Wisconsin (17-10-1, 10-4-0-0 Big Ten) visits No. 4 Minnesota (20-8-2, 11-3-0-0) with first place on the line in the Big Ten Conference.
The two teams play Friday and Saturday nights at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis after splitting a two-game series in Madison at the Kohl Center in early January.
The Badgers dropped a 4-3 overtime game against the Gophers, then rebounded for a 5-3 victory. Both teams have gone 6-2 since their last meetings.
The Badgers are coming off of a pair of wins over Michigan last weekend, while the Gophers took two games from Penn State, including a 4-3 overtime win in the series finale.
Tony Granato’s Badgers trail the Gophers by 3-points and have a seven-point advantage over third-place Ohio State. Wisconsin has six games left in the regular season, with all six coming against ranked opponents.
The two teams meet for the 283rd and 284th times, the most for the Badgers in school history.
Badger women open WCHA playoffs
The top-ranked Badger women’s hockey team opens the WCHA playoffs at LaBahn Arena tonight against Minnesota State.
The heavily favored Badgers won the regular season WCHA Championship.