The No. 7/8-ranked Ohio State men’s hockey team heads to Madison, Wis., for a two-game series with Wisconsin this weekend.
The teams will meet at 8 p.m. ET Friday and Saturday in the Kohl Center.
Bally Sports Wisconsin (Friday) and Wisconsin Extra (Saturday) will televise the game and Bally Sports Great Lakes will carry the broadcast. The games will be streamed through Big Ten Plus and can be heard on Ohio State Radio. Live statistics will be available.
Ohio State is 15-8-1 on the year, with an 8-6-0-0-0-0 mark in Big Ten play, while Wisconsin is 9-13-0 and has a 2-10-0-0-0-0 Big Ten record.
The Buckeyes split a series at No. 6 Michigan last weekend (W 7-2, L 2-4) and Wisconsin played an exhibition game vs. the U.S. National Under-18 Team last Friday, falling 6-1.
Buckeye Notes to Know
Ohio State had a six-game winning streak end in game two at Michigan. It was the first stretch with six wins in a row since Jan. 12-Feb. 9, 2019.
The Buckeyes and Badgers met in Columbus in October, with Ohio State posting 3-1 and 4-3 victories to sweep the series.
Ohio State is second nationally on the penalty kill (85/95, .895) and first in shorthanded goals (9).
The Buckeyes are in a stretch of four straight road games. In the second half of the season, nine of the Buckeyes’ 14 games are away from Columbus, including an outdoor game in Cleveland vs. Michigan.
In the last seven games, the Buckeyes are scoring 5.14 goals a game, with four or more in five outings. Ohio State was 6-1 in the seven-game stretch.
Ohio State has an NCAA-best nine shorthanded goals this season, with seven players scoring while down a man. Davis Burnside (in the same game) and Patrick Guzzo each have two shortys.
This season, 22 Buckeyes have posted at least one point. Seventeen have scored a goal, with 22 notching at least one assist.
Freshman Stephen Halliday has a team-best 24 points and fifth year Jake Wise has also hit the 20-point mark (23). Thirteen Buckeyes have reached double-digit points.
Cam Thiesing has a team-best 11 goals, while Davis Burnside and Joe Dunlap each have 10. Mason Lohrei paces the team with 18 assists, one of five Buckeyes with double-digit helpers.
Travis Treloar and Halliday are tied for sixth in the NCAA with six power play goals each.
A Look Ahead
Ohio State is off next weekend before hosting Penn State Feb. 3-4 in Value City Arena. The teams will meet at 7 p.m. in game one, on Big Ten Plus, and 6:30 p.m. in game two on BTN. Ohio State Radio will carry both matchups. Single-game and group tickets and mini plans are all on sale now, with more information on OhioStateBuckeyes.com/tickets. Parking is free for all home games in VCA. Promotions
Buckeyes vs. Badgers
Ohio State is 25-23-5 all-time vs. Wisconsin and leads the regular season series since the start of Big Ten play, 22-11-5, with a 24-13-5 mark overall since 2013-14. In Madison, Ohio State has the advantage, 10-9-3.
The teams opened Big Ten play in Columbus this season, with Ohio State posting a sweep Oct. 7-8 (W 3-1, 4-3). The squads last met on Badger home ice Jan. 8-9, 2022. Ohio State won game one, 5-3, before a 2-2 overtime tie and Buckeye shootout victory.
Gustaf Westlund leads the Buckeyes with 18 games played vs. Wisconsin and has a team-best four goals, seven assists and 11 points vs. the Badgers. Tate Singleton, in 16 games vs. UW, and Mason Lohrei, in six games, both have a 1-6-7 line against the Badgers. Cam Thiesing (6 gp, 2g, 4a) and Travis Treloar (8 gp, 3g, 3a) both have six points against UW.
Wisconsin is 9-13-0 on the year and 2-10-0-0-0-0 in Big Ten play. The Badgers played an exhibition game vs. the U.S. National Under-18 Team last Friday, falling 6-1. The squad opened the year with a split of a Big Ten series with Notre Dame at home (W 2-0, L 6-4).
The Badgers are scoring 2.55 goals a game while allowing 3.18. The power play has converted 20.2 percent of its chances and the penalty kill has stopped 79.5 percent of its opponents’ opportunities.
Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik is a 1990 graduate of Wisconsin, where he was a captain on the Badgers’ national championship team.
Buckeye sophomore defenseman Mason Lohrei is a native of Madison, Wis.
In the Rankings
This week, the Buckeyes moved up to a season-high seventh in the DCU/USCHO rankings and stayed at No. 8 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
Ohio State started the year No. 16 in the DCU/USCHO.com preseason poll and was No. 18 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason rankings. The squad has been ranked in the Top 20 all season.
Ohio State is one of five Big Ten teams in the USCHO Top 20 this week, joining No. 2 Minnesota, No. 6 Penn State, No. 8 Michigan and No. 15 Michigan State, with Notre Dame the first team out receiving votes.
Special Teams
The Buckeyes were 5-for-7 on the penalty kill against Michigan and are now 87-for-95 (.895) this season, ranking second in the NCAA behind Dartmouth (.917).
Ohio State is first nationally with nine shorthanded goals, ahead of Bowling Green, St. Cloud and Providence with six each. Davis Burnside and Patrick Guzzo each have two shorthanded goals to lead the Buckeyes and tie for fifth in the NCAA. Ohio State also has man-down tallies from Cam Thiesing, Dominic Vidoli, Tate Singleton, Kamil Sadlocha and Joe Dunlap.
The nine shorthanded goals are the most for the Buckeyes since the 2006-07 squad had 11. The previous best since that year was five in 2012-13 and 2015-16.
The squad has allowed four shorthanded goals – vs. Wisconsin Oct. 8, Bentley Oct. 20, LIU Nov. 26 and Penn State Dec. 3.
Ohio State was 4-for-13 on the power play against Michigan, with a 4-for-8 night in game one. It was the most power play goals for the squad since Oct. 25, 2019 at Mercyhurst.
Overall, Ohio State is 24-for-106 (.226) with the man advantage and has put 191 shots on goals while a man up.
Stephen Halliday and Travis Treloar share the team lead and are tied for sixth in the NCAA with six power play goals each, with Treloar scoring two in the opener at Michigan. Jake Wise has five, while Cam Thiesing has three and Michael Gildon has two. Scooter Brickey and Tyler Duke have also scored on the power play.
Halliday has a team-best 16 power play points, ranking second with 10 assists, and Mason Lohrei is first with 12 assists with the man advantage, ranking second in points with 12.
