College Hockey Series of the Week: No. 2 Michigan vs No. 13 Wisconsin

One squad is making its case to be the number one overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Another is trying to get off the bubble.

No. 2 Michigan visits No. 13 Wisconsin, where the Wolverines and Badgers are jockeying for position not only in the conference standings but also in the NPI.

For 24-5-1 Michigan, the road to a Big Ten tournament title goes through Yost Ice Arena. The Wolverines hold a slim one-point lead over in-state rival Michigan State in the conference standings, even though Sparty is ahead of them in the polls and NPI.

An 18-10-2 Wisconsin squad is three points behind Penn State in the Big Ten, but its 15th-place standing in the NPI puts them at risk of being left out if some conferences have bid stealers in their tournaments.

But how both teams are in these spots can be traced back to the near-month-long break in December.

Since college hockey resumed during the holiday break, Michigan has been one of the hottest teams in the country. The Wolverines are a blistering 8-1-1, including three wins in OT.

Wisconsin, on the other hand, is 6-8 during this stretch. For those who like offensive hockey, this series is for you. Michigan has the nation's best offense with a 4.70 goals per game clip. The Wolverines scored 10 times in the two games against Penn State this previous weekend.

The Badgers have the sixth-best goals-per-game average at 3.73, which is good enough for the second-best Big Ten team. Another key is that there could be a lot of goals scored in the power play.

Michigan leads the country in power play goals with 34 and scores with the man advantage 30% of the time. Wisconsin is not too far behind the maize and blue with 32 goals and scoring 29% for the season.

What could be the difference is the goaltending for Michigan. The Wolverines have relied on freshman Jack Ivankovic between the pipes throughout the season. And he has performed to the tune of a 92% save percentage in 25 starts.

Wisconsin is going to need to have its best defensive series in order to have a good result this weekend. The Badgers are 37th in the country in goals given up per game. They have surrendered three per game.

One starting point would be to silence the sticks of Michael Hage, Will Horcoff and TJ Hughes. Hage and Hughes are second and third in points with 43 and 42, respectively. While Horcoff does not have the points, he is second in goals with 21.

Michigan looks to continue its offensive onslaught, but the Badgers will draw on the Kohl Center crowd to make an impact.

It is want against need in these two games, with the ramifications sky high. Puck drop for game one on Friday night will be at 8 p.m. and will be at 7 p.m. Saturday night.

Chase Fisher is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email ctf5198@psu.edu.