MADISON, Wis. – As a major winter storm makes its way east, the eighth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions head to the frigid Midwest, where the temperatures are so cold trees are exploding, for a crucial Big Ten series against the fifth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers on Friday and Saturday evening inside the Kohl Center.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

Dates: Friday, January 23 | Saturday, January 24

Place: Kohl Center | Madison, Wis.

TV: FRI: N/A | SAT: B1G Network

Time: 7 p.m. (CT) | 7:30 p.m. (CT)

Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday

Listen: LionVision

Live Statistics: Live Stats

Game Notes: Penn State

THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP

This week marks the 58th and 59th meetings in the all-time series as Wisconsin is Penn State’s most common opponent.

The Nittany Lions hold the 29-25-3 edge in the series including a series sweep last year in Madison that ended a seven-game Badger winning-streak which was preceded by a six-game Penn State winning streak. The teams are an even 12-12-2 all-time in Madison.

Penn State enters the weekend having won five-straight games overall as well as five-straight Big Ten games, the longest regular-season conference winning streak for the Nittany Lions in program history.

The Nittany Lions are coming off their third conference sweep of the season, just one shy of their single-season record of four achieved during the 2016-17 season.

Junior Aiden Fink leads all Nittany Lions with eight points in eight career games against the Badgers on four goals and four assists while senior Ben Schoen has added four goals and three assists for seven points in eight games against the Badgers. Junior Reese Laubach has also seen success against the Badgers with seven points in eight games on three goals and four assists.

Despite a sub .500 record for the first time in his coaching career last season, Wisconsin Bench Boss Mike Hastings remains the active leader in career win percentage ranking fourth all-time at 69.4 percent in his 13+ seasons as head coach.

Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky is sitting just three wins shy of 250 at Penn State while ranking as the eighth winningest coach among active coaches with 420 total victories.

SCOUTING WISCONSIN

The Badgers enter the weekend 15-5-2 after being swept at home by No. 2 Michigan State. Wisconsin is currently fourth in the Big Ten standings with 22 points and an 8-4-0 record, three points back of the Nittany Lions for second.

On Saturday, the Badgers will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their 2006 NCAA championship as part of alumni night.

The Badgers stumbled a bit last year following a successful 2023-24 season, but have rebounded and are one of the top teams in the nation after returning seven of their top eight scorers from last season led by Quinn Finley who paces the team with 10 goals in 20 games this season. Christian Fitzgerald is tied with Finley for the team-lead with 10 goals as well.

Gavin Morrissey leads the team in points with a trio of goals and a team-high 18 helpers for 21 points while Ben Dexheimer is the highest scoring defensemen in the Big Ten with 18 points, a mark tied for 11th nationally.

With an assist in each of his last four games, senior forward Tyson Dyck is on a career-best four-game point streak.

Between the pipes Daniel Hauser has impressed in his first season in Madison posting a 13-3-2 record with a .913 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average.

The Badger powerplay has also excelled converting 28 percent (23-for-82) of the time to rank second in the Big Ten and fifth in the nation.

Wisconsin ranks second in the Big Ten and third in the nation averaging 3.95 goals per game while allowing just 2.55 to rank third in the Big Ten and 13th in nationally.

Like the Nittany Lions, the Badgers also excel in the third period outscoring opponents 34-20 over the final 20 minutes.

Wisconsin has been strong on the dot this season ranking second in the Big Ten and ninth nationally winning 53.5 percent of its draws led by Morrissey at 57.9 percent.

THE YOUTH OF COLLEGE HOCKEY

Six of the seven programs in the Big Ten are ranked among the 20 youngest teams in the nation.

Penn State is the fourth youngest team in the Big Ten and 13th youngest in the nation this season with an average age of 21 years and eight months while Wisconsin is the fifth youngest team in the Big Ten and 19th youngest nationally with an average age of 21 years and nine months.

START THE BATTLE, FINISH THE FIGHT

Penn State has scored first in 11 of its first 22 games boasting an 10-1-0 record in such games.

The Nittany Lions have also been strong holding leads late, posting an 10-1-0 record when leading after two periods of play with the lone loss coming in their home opener against Clarkson. Penn State is outscoring opponents 29-14 in the third period this season.

A HAT-TRICK OF HATTYS

Junior Matt DiMarsico is riding a five-game point streak (6-3-9) to tie his career-best while having scored at least one goal in four-straight games, the longest such streak of his career.

Last Friday in a 4-1 victory over Notre Dame, DiMarsico registered his third hat-trick of the season and his first career hatty against a Big Ten opponent.

The junior is the first Nittany Lion to register multiple hat-tricks in a season as Penn State now has five on the year and 20 overall.

DiMarsico was named the B1G First Star of the Week following his four-goal weekend against Notre Dame and he now leads the team in both goals (14) and points (26) with his goal total ranking tied for second in the Big Ten and eighth nationally.

DiMarsico scored the game-winning goal in each contest over the weekend giving him a team-high three GWG’s this season and seven for his career to tie for sixth all-time. Three of his goals came on the powerplay giving him five on the season to rank second behind JJ Wiebusch’s six. The junior now has nine powerplay goals for his career ranking just outside the top-10 all-time at Penn State.

CRESPO GETTING IT IN

Senior alternate captain Jarod Crespo is in the midst of a career-year with career-highs in goals (4) and points (11).

Over his last five games, Crespo has three goals and four assists for seven points to go along with three multi-point efforts and a plus-8 rating.

Crespo also became just the second Nittany Lion defenseman all-time to register a hat-trick as he did against RIT at the beginning of the month joining Cole Hults (10/11/19 vs. Sacred Heart).

PHENOMENAL FINK

Junior Aiden Fink became the ninth Nittany Lion all-time to hit 100 points two weeks ago achieving the milestone in just 87 games, the quickest in program history, surpassing the 102 games it took Alex Limoges ’21.

Since returning to action after missing seven games with an upper-body injury to close out the first semester, Fink has nine points (1G, 8A) in six games. Overall, the junior has three goals and 15 assists for 18 points in 15 games this season to rank fifth on the team in scoring.

Last Saturday against Notre Dame, Fink tied his career-high in points and assists with four helpers. He also surpassed both Liam Folkes ’20 and assistant coach Andrew Sturtz ’20 on the all-time points list and currently sits seventh with 105 points.

RED HOT ROOKIES

The freshman class is hitting their stride coming out of the holiday break led by Luke Misa who has a career-long point streak with two goals and six assists for eight points during that span.

After returning with a Bronze Medal at the 2026 WJC, Gavin McKenna has registered points in his last three games (2-4–6) including a career-best three-point night and his first collegiate multi-goal game last Saturday.

McKenna, this week’s B1G Third Star of the Week, has points in six of his last seven games and has 24 points in 20 games this season to rank second in the Big Ten and tied for fifth in the nation in freshmen scoring. His 18 assists lead all Big Ten rookies and are good for third nationally. The rookie has 14 points in 12 Big Ten games this season to lead the team and rank sixth in conference only scoring.

Defenseman Jackson Smith has scored four goals in his last eight games as he now leads the Big Ten and ranks tied for sixth in the nation for defensemen with six goals on the season. His six goals are also tied for the sixth-most in a single-season by a Nittany Lion defenseman all-time. His four powerplay goals are also tied for the national lead among defensemen.

Smith has added eight assists for 14 points on the year to rank third in the Big Ten and tied for 26th nationally among blueliners while he tops the nation among rookies in defenseman scoring with his six goals and 14 points.

FLEM THE GEM

Freshman Josh Fleming was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List as well as a Hobey Baker Award nominee for the impressive start to his collegiate career.

Fleming currently leads the nation with a .943 save percentage while his 1.82 goals-against average is good for second in the Big Ten and fifth nationally.

Fleming has a pair of shutouts on the season which includes Penn State’s first-ever shutout against Minnesota two weeks ago. He is now just the sixth Nittany Lion netminder to record multiple shutouts in a single-season all-time.

The Montreal, Quebec native has allowed just two goals in three games since the start of the semester posting a 0.67 goals-against average and a .978 save percentage over that span.

Fleming is 7-3-0 on the year, including a 6-0-0 mark at home, while splitting time with sophomore Kevin Reidler (Gavle, Sweden) as the pair has combined for a .921 combined save percentage, a mark tied for second in the Big Ten and fifth in the nation.

Fleming, However, has lost three-straight road games posting just a 1-3-0 record away from Hockey Valley this season while Reidler is 4-1-0 with a .941 save percentage in road games this season.

NEXT UP

• Penn State returns home for a crucial series against No. 2 Michigan State with the second game taking place outdoors at Beaver Stadium.