Wolverines to Host Wisconsin in First Round of B1G Tournament

Friday, March 2

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:30 PM

Michigan

Wisconsin

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Jake Slaker

Wolverines to Host Wisconsin in First Round of B1G Tournament

2/28/2018 5:10:00 PM | Ice Hockey

By: TJ Garske

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 3 seed University of Michigan ice hockey team (18-13-3, 11-10-3-1 B1G) is set to host the No. 6-seeded Wisconsin Badgers (14-17-4, 8-13-3-1 B1G) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The two teams will square off on Friday (March 2) and Saturday (March 3) on Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena at 7:30 pm. A third game, if necessary, will be played Sunday (March 4) at 7:30 p.m.

Fans can order tickets for all three games at MGoBlue.com/tickets. Individual tickets are $25 each for all locations for all days. Group tickets of 10 or more are $20 each, while all-inclusive Ice Box and Box A and Q are available starting at $60 per person. For more information, please call (734) 647-1268.

The Wisconsin Series
Michigan and Wisconsin meet for the 144th time in program history, with U-M holding a 73-59-11 record in the series. The two teams first met in Jan. 1923, as Michigan beat the Badgers, 2-1, in a double-overtime victory. The Wolverines hold a 38-16-7 home record against the Badgers.

Michigan went 1-2-1 against Wisconsin this season. Their first meeting was a decisive 7-3 victory in November for the Badgers, before the two teams played to a tie the next day. The Maize and Blue was able to pick up the extra point in the Big Ten standings by winning the shootout in that game, leaving Madison with two out of a possible six points in the standings. The teams then split in Ann Arbor in early February, when the Wolverines won the first game, 5-3, before dropping the second by a score of 4-2.

The two teams have met in the Big Ten playoffs once, with Michigan winning the 2015 quarterfinal matchup by a score of 5-1. Overall, the squads have played each other nine times in the postseason, with Michigan going 4-5 in those meetings. The highest-profile matchup between the Badgers and Wolverines came in the 1977 National Championship, when Wisconsin defeated Michigan, 6-5, in overtime.

Scouting the Badgers
Wisconsin is led by head coach Tony Granato, who is now in his second season behind the bench for his alma mater. He led Wisconsin to a 20-15-1 (12-8-0 Big Ten) record in his first season as head coach after the program had won just 12 of 70 games the previous two seasons prior to his arrival. The Badgers finished second in the Big Ten standings last season and lost in overtime of the championship game in the Big Ten Tournament to Penn State.

The Badgers come into the playoffs having lost their last four games of the regular season, and five out of their last six; they have been outscored, 21-5, in their last four games, during which they were swept by Minnesota and Ohio State. Wisconsin finished with 28 points in the Big Ten, good for sixth place, finishing ahead of only Michigan State.

The Badgers were picked to finish third in the Big Ten this season in the 2017-18 Big Ten Preseason Poll. Wisconsin had three players selected to the 2017-18 Big Ten Preseason Watch List including sophomore forward Trent Fredric, grad transfer goaltender Kyle Hayton and senior forward Cameron Hughes. Frederic, the 29th overall pick by the Boston Bruins in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, was a unanimous selection for the watch list.

Leading Wisconsin
Wisconsin is led by senior forward Ryan Wagner, who has accumulated 29 points (13G, 16A) through 35 games this season. Freshman defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk leads the team in assists with 20, while also contributing three goals. Sophomore forward Trent Frederic leads the Badgers in goals with 15 on the season, while also adding 13 assists.

In net, graduate student, Kyle Hayton has played in 26 games, starting 23 of them for Wisconsin. He finished the regular season with a 2.97 goals-against average, an .894 save percentage and a 9-11-3 record. In addition, sophomore Jack Berry has appeared in 13 games, starting 12 of them. Berry finished with a record of 5-6-1, with a 2.89 goals-against average, and a .903 save percentage.

Back-to-back Sweeps … Again
Last weekend the Wolverines swept Arizona State at home to conclude the regular season as both games finished with identical 5-3 final scores. Following the sweep of Notre Dame the week before, this is the second time the Maize and Blue has recorded back-to-back sweeps this season, after it swept Minnesota and Penn State in consecutive weeks in January.

Arizona State opened the scoring on Friday with a goal just under a minute into the contest. It would prove to be the only lead the Sun Devils would hold all weekend, as Michigan sophomore forward James Sanchez scored two consecutive goals to give the Wolverines the lead. Freshman forward Michael Pastujov also scored in the first, giving U-M a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes. Junior defenseman Joseph Cecconi opened the scoring in the second when he scored Michigan's fourth straight goal. The score would remain at 4-1 until late in the second when Arizona State cut their deficit to 4-2. The Sun Devils added another goal late in the third period, before freshman forward Dakota Raabe iced the game with an empty-net goal.

The Wolverines scored four consecutive goals again on Saturday, this time to start the game. Junior forward Cooper Marody opened the scoring halfway through the first period before senior defenseman Sam Piazza added a power-play goal three minutes later. Sophomore forward Adam Winborg also lit the lamp in the first period, which gave Michigan a 3-0 lead at the first intermission. Senior captain Tony Calderone scored the Wolverines' only goal in the second period before Arizona State scored two in a row to cut the U-M lead to 4-2 after two periods. Calderone scored again in the third for his team-leading 19th goal. Arizona State could only manage to score one more goal in the third period as Michigan earned the 5-3 victory.

Sophomore goaltender Hayden Lavigne guarded the crease in both games against the Sun Devils, finishing with two wins and 54 saves over the weekend.

How Sweep it is
Michigan's sweep of Arizona State was its fifth sweep on the season. This is the third time in the last four years that the Wolverines have had at least four sweeps in a season, and the first time the Maize and Blue have had five weekend series sweeps since the 2014-15 season. The sweep over the top-ranked Fighting Irish (Feb. 16, 18) was also the first time in program history U-M has swept the No. 1-ranked team. The highest-ranked team Michigan had swept to that point was the No. 2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes during the 2011-12 season.

CLASSy Piazza
Senior defenseman Sam Piazza was named one of 10 NCAA men's ice hockey student-athlete finalists for the 2017-18 Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Through 30 games this season, Piazza has recorded 14 points (2G, 12A) on the year.

PairWise Watch
The PairWise Ranking is a statistical comparison tool meant to mimic the decisions made by the NCAA selection committee for the NCAA tournament. It compares programs based on head-to-head records, records against common opponents and the ratings percentage index, which looks at the quality of teams played. Points are awarded for each school you win comparisons against. Michigan's 50 points ties them for ninth in the PairWise Ranking, ahead of the 16th spot cutoff point for the tournament.

Leaders and Best
Junior forward Cooper Marody's 41 points and 29 assists lead all players in the Big Ten Conference. Joining him atop the standings is senior captain Tony Calderone, as his 19 goals are tied for most in the Big Ten.

Finishing Strong
The Maize and Blue ends its regular season on a five-game win streak, and a six-game unbeaten streak. Since being swept by Notre Dame in early January, the Wolverines have gone 10-3-1, tied for the second most wins in college hockey since Jan. 8.

Elite Eight
Eight Wolverines have set career highs for points this year. The players are Calderone, Marody, sophomore forward Jake Slaker, senior forward Niko Porikos, sophomore goaltender Hayden Lavigne, junior defenseman Joseph Cecconi, senior Dexter Dancs and sophomore forward Nick Pastujov.

Tony Lights the Lamp
Calderone's 19 goals are the most by a U-M player in the first 34 games of a season since Tyler Motte's 29 goals in 34 games during the 2015-16 campaign.

Marody in Good Company
Marody's 41 points are the most by a Wolverine through 34 games since Kyle Connor had 60 in 2015-2016.

Quinntessential Blue-Liner
Freshman defenseman Quinn Hughes' 21 points (3G, 18A) from the point are the most by a U-M freshman blue-liner through 34 games since Zach Werenski had 34 points over that span in 2014-15. Hughes' 18 assists tie him for eighth most by a freshman defenseman in team history, while his 21 points rank him in 13th for Michigan freshmen defensemen.

Climbin' the Ranks
Marody is tied for sixth nationally with 41 points on the season and is tied for fifth with 29 assists. Calderone is tied for 12th nationally with 19 goals.

GOALLL!
Michigan is tied for 10th in the nation in goals per game as they have averaged 3.21 goals over its 34 games. Calderone ranks T-13th in the nation in goals per game at 0.56.

Home Sweet Home
The Wolverines have scored 60 goals at home this season, which ranks seventh in the country. An average of 1.76 goals per game at home puts the Maize and Blue eighth in the country in home goals per game.

Block It Out
Michigan ranks fourth nationally with an average of 14.68 blocked shots per game and fourth in total blocked shots with 499 on the season.

SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS
Michigan ranks ninth nationally with an average of 33.74 shots on goal per game and is 17th in the nation with a +3.41 shots-on-goal margin per game.

The Finishing Touch
The Wolverines rank fifth in the nation in third-period goals, scoring 43 of them this season. Sophomore forward Jake Slaker's eight third-period goals are tied for seventh most nationally.