No.16 Wisconsin (16-13-3, 13-9-2 WCHA) vs. Minnesota State (13-15-4, 9-13-2 WCHA)
Date/Time - Friday-Saturday, Feb. 27-28 at 7:30/7 p.m. CT
Arena – Alltel Center (4,832) - 200’ x 100’
Television - None
Radio - Wisconsin Radio Network (Brian Posick and Mike Cerniglia)
Series – Wisconsin leads 15-12-3 (4-8-2 in Mankato)
Last Meeting – The Badgers won to a 4-2 victory at the Kohl Center on Feb.16, 2008 to earn a series split.
Series Notes
This will mark the 31st and 32nd meetings between the schools, the fewest for the Badgers against any WCHA foe
The Badgers are 15-12-3 against MSU all-time, but just 4-8-2 in Mankato
The Badgers have never swept the Mavericks at the Alltel Center and have taken just one series in the building with three points on Jan. 2-3, 2004
The UW has swept MSU on four occasions
UW and Mankato are both led in scoring by defensemen – Jamie McBain (7 goals, 27 assists, 34 points) and Kurt Davis (6-23-29), respectively.
Wisconsin Notes
The Badgers are looking to earn
home ice for the first round of the
WCHA playoffs for the first time since
the 2005–06 season.
The Mavericks have one of the worst penalty-killing units in the nation at 78.2 percent, but no one has more shorthanded goals (10). Meanwhile, their power play is No. 2 in the WCHA at 21.2 percent
Despite going 6-for-10 on the
penalty kill last weekend, the Badgers
still lead the WCHA in league
games with a 90.0 percent penalty kill
(135-for-150). The team also ranks second
in all games with an 88.7 percent
penalty kill (172-for-194).
Junior forward Blake Geoffrion
tallied his league-leading ninth power-play
goal in WCHA play last Friday.
One more power-play goal for Geoffrion
would make him just the third
player since the 1994–95 season to post
double digits in power-play goals in a
season. Joe Pavelski had 11 power-play
goals in 2005–06, while Dany Heatley
collected 10 in 2000–01.
Wisconsin lost its second overtime game of the season last Friday, falling to
0-2-3 in overtime contests this season. The UW went 0-3-6 in overtimes during the
2007–08 season and is 0-5-9 in overtimes since ending the 2006–07 season with a
4-3 overtime victory against St. Cloud State in the 2007 WCHA Final Five third-place
game.
Wisconsin’s defensemen lead the nation in scoring with a 3.12 points-per-game
average and 100 points. The Badgers are one of just two defenses averaging
better than 3.00 points-per-game. The UW defensive corps ranks second in the nation
with 25 goals, four behind St. Lawrence.