The Gophers hope to keep the Wisconsin Badgers reeling
The Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s hockey team will look to stay hot and undefeated in Big Ten play when they hit the road to Madison this weekend to face the Wisconsin Badgers. Minnesota is up to #3 in the country this week after their sweep of Penn State last weekend. Meanwhile the Badgers have struggled out of the gate opening their season at 2-6.
Minnesota will look to see if they can find their offense again after a weekend where they could only muster four goals against Penn Sate, but still pulled off a sweep. Minnesota won the opener 3-1 after a pair of Jimmy Snuggerud goals was added to by an empty net goal by Jimmy Clark. Saturday’s game was scoreless for the first fifty-nine and a half minutes, but Clark tipped in a point blast with less than 30 seconds left in regulation to get the Gophers a 1-0 win. Liam Soulere picked up the 28 save shutout against his former squad.
Minnesota is led in points by UCONN transfer Mathew Wood and Connor Kurth, both with 13 on the season. Kurth’s six goals lead the team with Brody Lamb one back with five. The Gopher net has been split evenly between sophomore Nathan Airey and Soulere the Penn State transfer. Airey is 4-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a.908 save percentage, while Souliere is 3-1 with a 1.25 GAA and a whopping .948 save percentage. Souliere has not given up more than two goals in a game this season and has the Gophers line shutout.
The Badgers picked up a 2-1 win against Notre Dame last Saturday ending a five game losing streak. Wisconsin has struggled in year two of the Mike Hastings era starting the season 2-6 with a home split with Lindenwood before being swept at home by Ohio State, swept at Denver and splitting at Notre Dame last weekend. Quinn Finley and Gavin Morrissey lead the Badgers in scoring with 7 points each, with Finley’s five goals leading the team. In goal the Badgers have split action between RIT transfer Tommy Scarfone and William Gramme. Scarfone has played five games and has a 2.59 goals against average and a.885 save percentage. Gramme in three games is slightly worse with a 3.3 GAA and a.851 save percentage.
But when these teams meet, you can always throw out the records. Minnesota is just 1-3-1 in their last five games against the Badgers with a win and a tie in Madison a season ago. The Gophers would love to score early and often and get the crowd out of the game. Wisconsin has extra promotions this weekend for the Gophers. Friday’s game is Denim Night – students are encouraged to wear ‘Canadian Tuxedos,’ and the first 800 students in attendance will receive a customizable denim hat. Saturday’s contest is a ‘WHITE OUT!’ The first 7,000 fans in attendance will receive a Wisconsin Hockey foam glow stick, while the first 1,000 students will receive Wisconsin Hockey light-up glasses. Hopefully the Gophers can ruin some weekends.
A reminder that there will be no TV broadcast this weekend. The games will only be available to stream via B1G+ with Badger students on the call. It’s not Minnesota’s fault before you even go there. BTN isn’t in full hockey mode as of yet as they will have a basketball tripleheader tonight and a football game tomorrow night. Both will dwarf hockey in the ratings…it is what it is. Wisconsin does not have a local broadcaster pick up their broadcasts like the Gophers do with Fox9+, so the stream is the only option. I suggest trying to get the video to sync up with the radio call from Wally Shaver and Pat Micheletti if you don’t want to go crazy.
HOW TO WATCH:
#3 Minnesota Golden Gophers @ Wisconsin Badgers
Where: Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin
When: 7 Pm Friday; 6 PM Saturday
TV: NONE
Stream: Big Ten Plus
Radio: 1130AM/103.5 FM/ I Heart Radio/ Varsity Network App