First Place on the Line in Top-Five Battle in Madison

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- An early season battle with first-place implications in the Big Ten standings is on tap Friday and Saturday (Nov. 3-4) when the No. 4-ranked Univeristy of Michigan ice hockey team battles No. 5 Wisconsin at Kohl Center in Madison. Friday's game is set for a 7 p.m. CDT puck drop, and Saturday's game will start at 6 p.m. CDT. Both games will be streamed live on B1G+.

Notes

• Michigan and Wisconsin will face off for the 169th and 170th meetings in the century-old rivalry, after the longtime foes first played in January 1923. The Wolverines lead 87-67-14 in the all-time series with the Badgers, but UW leads 40-30-4 in Madison. This will be the first time since 2005-06 that the teams have met in a top-five matchup.

• Wisconsin is 7-1 to start the season under new coach Mike Hastings. Last weekend the Badgers traveled to Minnesota and handed the then No. 1-ranked team in the nation a pair of losses. With six Big Ten points, they are two ahead of Michigan in the standings.

• Michigan averages 5.62 goals per game, tops in the nation, while Wisconsin's scoring defense ranks third at 1.62 goals per game.

• Rutger McGroarty was named the national co-Player of the Month after leading the nation in scoring during October, finishing with 15 points in eight games. He had at least one point in seven games, including the first five of the season, that extended his point-scoring streak to a career-high 13 games. McGroarty's best game was a four-point outing against Providence on Oct. 8.

• T.J. Hughes captured his first career Big Ten weekly honor after being tabbed the Second Star of the Week on Tuesday (Oct. 31). He led the Wolverines in a sweep of Lindenwood last weekend, finishing the weekend with eight points. He had a career night on Saturday (Oct. 28) with a five-point game (two goals, three assists). It came a day after he scored a goal and collected two assists. Additionally, he went 20-9 at the faceoff dot (69 percent).

• McGroarty and Hughes are tied as the nation's leaders in scoring with 15 points. Defenseman Seamus Casey is third with 14, while Dylan Duke and Gavin Brindley are fifth with 13 apiece. Casey has had at least one point in all eight games and is riding a 13-game point streak that dates back to last season.

• After a tremendous weekend, going 7-for-13 on the power play, Michigan ranks No. 2 in the nation in the category. The Wolverines have converted on 17 of 41 opportunities for 40.5 percent.

• The Wolverines rank third nationally in faceoff percentage at 57.4 percent. Frank Nazar III (79-55) and Hughes (80-48) both rank in the top 10.