The Wisconsin men’s hockey (15-9-2, 8-8-0 Big Ten) season has been steadily freefalling since their loss to No. 4 Michigan State on Jan. 15.
The Badgers started the season ranked No. 20 in the country and climbed their way to No. 2 in November after sweeping Michigan State in East Lansing, putting themselves into national championship discussion. But after a miserable January and early February, highlighted most recently by an abysmal weekend in Minneapolis, Wisconsin sits at No. 13.
Tournaments in the distance
The Big Ten has been a competitive conference in men’s hockey. Wisconsin last won the Big Ten championship in the 2013-14 season, but they won the regular season as recently as 2020-21.
Sitting in fourth place in the Big Ten, the Badgers have to face the conference leading Wolverines and third place Penn State in their last four games of the season. Wisconsin last played Minnesota in a series they could have won, but were dominated by the Gophers in both games.
The Badgers rank fourth in the nation in power play percentage, seventh in scoring offense and eleventh in faceoff win percentage, finding themselves atop the nation in many offensive categories. Wisconsin leads their opponents in goals per game, shots per game and power play percentage. Statistically the Badgers perform well on the ice, but their last six games have been some of their worst performances losses of the year, and now face possible upsets over the next two weeks.
Wisconsin’s next two series are against unranked Notre Dame and Ohio State. If the Badgers continue to drop a few games to teams below them in the Big Ten standings, especially these bottom Big Ten teams, their league ranking will only continue to fall.
The Frozen Four playoff format follows a 16 team selection, where the six conference champions get an automatic selection and the remaining the next ten spots are chosen by a committee. If Wisconsin continues to drop in the rankings, their chance of a bid into the tournament may rely on their performance in the Big Ten Tournament. championship.
Loss of confidence
The Badgers are seeing a fluctuation of statistics individually, headlined by junior forward Quinn Finley’s six-game point drought. Finley’s lack of scoring production has aligned with Wisconsin’s six-game losing streak.
“Nobody wants to score or do well more than [Finley]…It’s about him getting back to his process and understanding what makes him good and what doesn’t,” Wisconsin head coach Mike Hastings said. “We need his entire game, not just the idea of him contributing offensively.”
Freshman goaltender Daniel Hauser has started a majority of the games for the Badgers in net, but three of his last four games have been below a .900 save percentage.
Sophomore goaltender Eli Pulver has had one above .900 save percentage in the three full games he’s played this season. Pulver has been between the pipes for six games and has a .868 save percentage.
When asked if Pulver may be getting the start over Hauser, Hastings said the starting position was one each of the goaltender were competing for.
“Having a more aggressive mentality from our goaltender is something that’s important for us to be successful on the weekend,” Hastings said.
Freshman forward Blake Montgomery went on a heater that lasted from October to December, but he’s since slowed down in his production. He has one point in his last 10 games, with one assist in the first game of last weekend’s Minnesota series.
Top performers
Sophomore forward Gavin Morrissey leads Wisconsin in points with 20 assists and 23 points in 23 games. Morrissey ranks No. 11 in assists per game in the NCAA, showing consistency in assisting Wisconsin goals this season. Morrissey made his return to the ice against Minnesota after being out with a lower-body injury.
“He has a real positive impact on us for what you see on the ice and what you see off the ice,” Hastings said. “It was really great to have him back in the lineup.”
Senior forward Christian Fitzgerald leads the team with 13 goals in 26 games. Fitzgerald went on an eight-game goal drought in late December. He has three goals in the last 10 games, scoring twice last Saturday against Minnesota.
Heading into the week on an eight-game point streak, senior forward Tyson Dyck has three goals and eight points in eight games — topping his collegiate career high in points.
“It’s nice to get opportunities now and be able to capitalize on them, but I think it just goes back to all the work that I’ve been able to put in,” Dyck said.
On the blue line, senior defenseman Ben Dexheimer is dominating with five goals and 20 points in 26 games. Dexheimer is No. 14 in points for defenseman with an 8.8 shot percentage.
Looking ahead
Freshman forward Vasily Zelenov has been out since the December Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off and is set to return this weekend. Hastings said Zelenov has been “going in a really good direction.”
Sophomore defenseman Logan Hensler will be out for a period of time following his lower-body injury on Saturday against Minnesota. Hastings said sophomore defenseman Weston Knox is in “a position to be in the lineup.”
The Badgers’ blue line currently has six healthy defenseman. Senior forward Jack Horbach has been practicing to add depth to Wisconsin's defense. Hastings said it was a "necessity" when you have an injury-filled 26-man roster.
“The [team’s] mentality has been good this week and we’re going to focus on what we could control moving forward, while learning from what happened last weekend [against Minnesota],” Hastings said in a press conference.
Wisconsin will face Notre Dame at home on Feb. 6 and 7 and will travel to Columbus on Feb. 13 and 14 to face off against Ohio State.
Michigan comes to Madison on Feb. 20 and 21, where Wisconsin will have to skate against the No. 1 ranked team in the league who’s only lost four games all season. The Badgers beat the Wolverines on Nov. 8 in a final 6-1 score.
To close out the season, Wisconsin will play Penn State in University Park on Mar. 5 and 6. The Badgers have lost the last four games played against the Nittany Lions, both of which were home series.
The Big Ten Tournament bracket gives the regular season winner a bye week, as the next six teams play in the quarterfinals. As things stand, Wisconsin would face Minnesota in the first round on Mar. 11. That may change as Big Ten teams are playing each other in the coming weeks to finish out the season.
The Badgers have eight games left in the regular season that could bump their seeding for the Big Ten tournament, giving them more opportunities in the Frozen Four. A chance of repeating the 2005-2006 championship run is still on the horizon. Wisconsin’s championship dreams are not out of reach because they lost six consecutive games, but it does change the playing field. The Badgers will need their top scorers to show up in these final games and they’ll need consistency in net to keep the games even.
