What: No. 4 Michigan State (15-5-0, 5-3-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 2 Wisconsin (15-3-2, 8-2-0 Big Ten)
When: 9 p.m. ET Jan. 15, 8 p.m. ET Jan. 16
Where: Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin
TV/Radio: Thursday’s game will be on Big Ten Network, with Friday’s game available on BTN-plus. Both games can be listened to at MSUSpartans.com or on the Michigan State Athletics app.
All-Time series: MSU is 70-67-4 all-time against Wisconsin, including a 21-38-2 mark when facing the Badgers on the road.
Coaches: MSU’s Adam Nightingale is 84-40-9 in his fourth season behind the Spartan bench. Mike Hastings is 54-36-7 in his third season with the Badgers after 11 seasons at the helm of Minnesota State.
MSU update: The Spartans returned to conference play on the road at Ohio State last weekend, splitting the series by taking the opener 6-2 before falling 2-1 in the finale. Freshman forward Porter Martone, who recorded three goals and two assists on the weekend, was named the Big Ten’s Second Star of the Week.
Senior forward Daniel Russell recorded his 100th career point in Friday’s win over the Buckeyes, becoming the first MSU player since Mitchell Lewandowski to reach that mark. Senior forward Charlie Stramel continued on his torrid pace with a goal and assist, moving his season-leading point total to 26 with 12 goals and 14 assists.
“Anytime you play a team in our conference, it’s going to be a good team, so we go in with the mindset of understanding who we need to be to be a good hockey team,” Nightingale said. “We have to go out there and be us and be the best version of the team that we are. This is the second half, and we’ve been clear on the expectations, and now there is no excuse. Our young guys aren’t young anymore, and I’ve enjoyed that our group has bought in to the way we want to play.”
MSU sits fourth in the Big Ten with 18 points, one behind Penn State and four behind the second-place Badgers. Michigan leads the conference with 26 points while having played two more games than the rest of the Big Ten.
Scouting the Badgers: MSU will be looking for a drastically different result in its second series with Wisconsin, as the Badgers came into Munn Ice Arena in mid-November and swept the then-No. 1 ranked Spartans.
Since that series, the Badgers have gone 5-1, the lone loss coming in a neutral-site game against defending NCAA champion Western Michigan.
“We’ve grown a lot since (the Wisconsin series), and I think we’ve become more mature and more consistent with our play overall,” Stramel said. “We’ll be more than ready to go this weekend. We continue to gain more and more confidence and build chemistry. We’re trying to go into their barn and do what they did to us in the first half. That’s the goal.”
Forwards Quinn Finley and Christian Fitzgerald lead the team with 10 goals each, while forward Gavin Morrissey leads the Badgers in total points with 21 (three goals, 18 assists). Wisconsin has 10 total players with at least 10 points.
Goaltender Daniel Hauser has started 16 of Wisconsin’s 20 games, but backup Eli Pulver played both games against MSU earlier this season, winning both contests.
Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X @Nathaniel_Bott.
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