Wisconsin vs Michigan State | NCAA College Hockey | Highlights - March 28, 2026

Eye above the DCU Center. We are set to go. Underway in the Worcester Regional Final. Top lines all around. 2006 National Championship team. Joe Pavelski one of the best ever to come out of this school. Hauser couldn't cover up that. And strong and they like to play in Michigan State had penalties in the first game. They don't mind playing on the PK. They'd rather play hard. Worcester Regional Final. Finley can't step around. Patrick Geary the assistant captain. They call him Gears. He really holds it down. Now a shot sneaks through underneath Augustine. Best look of the game for the Badgers. And it came from Fitzgerald. Lucky number 13. Just tallied 100 career points in the Regional Semi. Leads the team and shared lead the team was a nasty goal. We asked him is that something you try and practice? He says yeah but it never works because that man Trey Augustine is so selfless in his play for the Spartans but lost it on the way in. Gavin Morrissey assists and points leader for Wisconsin. Two on one shot whistles high and wide. Oh boy that nearly snuck through again. Augustine on his aggressive line. Number two Luke Osborne again the freshman. Number four and fourth in the country among defense with 20 points this season. Like this speed and skill but sometimes it's just about grit and grind in front. Good entry by Deering. Wrist shot deflected in front. Badgers trying to wrap. Augustine gets back in position. Slow developing for the Badgers. One time in his senior season for the Badgers. Michigan State hands it off to Tassie. Costly giveaway. Joining the play shot. Osborne deflected right back to the puck. Again try to do anything to create an odd man opportunity. Yeah the key for Mike Hastings is we can't just dance around. We're not gonna out speed out skill Michigan State. We've got to be deliberate with the puck and that's something that Michigan State has their board battle for the puck. 50-50 wins are going to be critical. The team's batting 500 against each other this season. Vansagie great pass. Lindstrom got turned away. The trailer joins. It's West and the shot never missing out again. Specifically Russell Stramel and Martone for MSU are so good. Keep them out of the middle. Good pass by Nielsen to the backside. Martone got hit up high and he goes down in a mass of Badgers in front. And again why that's so important not only is MSU so productive when they can actually get a close point range but they've lost some of their defensive core this season. Hard hit along the wall. Nielsen keeps it moving for MSU. Good pass out of the trouble. Bouncing puck stuck on an edge and a nice recovery by Gavin Morrissey. Right back in on one mistake against MSU. Romani offloads. Schaude rips a shot. Bounced off the glove of Hauser and the Badgers get to it first. Tassin gets his feet moving with Gavin Morrissey Rochester Hills Michigan native. Off ice. Things starting to open up here. Six minutes and change to go in the first but Minnesota State. Great toe track there by Manisto. Deflected out of play. Trying to show off some skill for the first time. They can put on a show. That was a nice opportunity again. You see number 10 Manisto just a little pull move. Has an opportunity. Stramel and Martone both at 6-3. Big kids that can push in front of the net that starting line for Michigan State. Something to pay attention to. MSU has numbers. Lindstrom can't force it out. Badgers back in. Good pass. Shot. Came late and that gave Augustine time to make the save. Horvath's got to rip that quicker. Yeah. Puck movement started though with Ben Dexheimer there. Going down low. Remember he plays deep. You see Lewis back in 2024. That's where MSU went to a flash. Less than a minute to go in the first period. Spartans looking for a quality chance. It's just off. Lentless pressure here late in the first period. Less than 30 seconds to go. Great shift by Martone. Deering. Grab the puck. Not for long. Martone heading to the net front. Lindstrom from distance. Slides back in the green. Hit by Tassie. Michigan State. First period is done. Wisconsin. Throughout the season, so look for those turnover opportunities I think is a key to the second period. You could tell the back half of that period both teams started to settle in and just play their games. Always a key in a championship. Face-off win and score. A snipe by Wisconsin. Seventh goal in the last 11 games for the lone Wisconsin native on the roster. 1-0 Badgers. Morrisey the face-off specialist wins it back. Knows what to do. A nice snipe. Again gets right under the glove of Trey Augustine. He goes down but can't quite his glove on that. Again the Badgers are 12-0-1 when Quinn Finley scores. He's one of those strong release Morrisey again at 58 percent on those face-offs. Again that was definitely a set play. Knowing he has the strength to turn him in whole. Aimless pass by Wisconsin. Blazing into the MSU zone. Now a good feed to the slot. Healthy rebound. Another developing story for MSU. We have not seen Charlie Streamer. Shot off target down the wall. Swings it up top. Dexheimer. Morrisey down low. Tassi fumbled it. Pushed it back to Morrisey. Cross seam pass. Finley's got it. Missed it. Finley too hot to handle. Works it along the wall. Tapped by Tassi. Morrisey back to him. Hits Gerald. Space. One-timer. Finley kicked away. Puck still free. Tassi looked eyes but they moved that puck around the perimeter well. Weren't able to get a real in-close shot. Huge kill for MSU. Now six for six as a unit in the regional. Underneath the toe of Daniel Hauser. Martone's got it again. High slot for MSU. Fires away. Hauser in the splits. Power play opportunity. Martone good poise he has to hold it. Draw the play across. McConnell bumps it off the back wall. Martone recipient on the far side. Hits Gerald. Made him feel it. Again it's dumped down by Wisconsin. Great kill here with 15 seconds to go on the penalty. Spartan power play. Nearly 37% since New Year's Day. Hauser can't grab it. Gets some puck luck. Falls just right for Gavin O'Connell. This game is tied in the second period. Take a look at that. Hauser's right in front. O'Connell just gets a nice little kind of goes over. Hauser couldn't believe the puck ended up looks like a deflection. Again yeah off the stick of Dexheimer wants that one back. A nice zone entry again to push this puck through. Good things happen when you put the puck on net. O'Connell now knows that. Again the junior forward from Plymouth, Michigan. Massive goal to tie this game. Spartans equalized but may have lost one of their key players, Charlie Strammel. Yes it is confirmed now he is out for the game. Top line center for MSU. That is a huge loss for State. Free pass on side. Manisto dancing. Great thing and a stretch pass. These guys have all the skiers crashing. That backhand Nolan pass in the slot. Are in the ice. Great great puck movement. MSU back in again. Nielsen taking his position at top of the house. Martone plays it topside. Shot again. Russell oh nearly got a deflection but Hauser. Charlie Strammel who's six power play faceoffs in the nine games that I have watched him play. He is unstoppable. Firepower Wisconsin is up by one. Funny deflection again Augustine closed up the five hole. Pucks are bouncing here in Worcester. One timer that's deflected. Sturges family. Coach said he was the glue of the staff and your hearts go out to him. Helped bridge the gap between coaching staffs. Loved his alma mater and the entire staff wearing DS pins to honor his legacy. Wisconsin trying to even up this game. Swinging a miss there as time ticking down back to even strength. The box Lee is free. The fabulous freshman Hauser liberates but it's no goal. Oh situational awareness comes out of the box is able to get it and Hauser just I don't know how he got his pet on that. The shiftiness of Lee. A nice ref standing right there. After a review the call on the ice stands no goal. The puck never seems to go in the second. It's another great battle between Big Ten rivals. Augustine watches that puck bounce in front of him. Lindstrom drops to Geary. Bounce up kicked by Tolk. He doesn't have a stick either. Two Badgers without their weapons and now Wisconsin settles. Wow that was chaos. What a flurry of opportunities. Again a shot Hauser didn't batter. Morrissey's got it for the Badgers. The shot off a deflection. But they're lucky to escape that that net front crusher that MSU put on late in this period. And here with Hauser's eyes away inches away from a fourth comeback effort to drive to the four in Vegas. Third period underway here in Worcester, Mass. This meeting this season between the Badgers and the Spartans. Think of it like a best of five series and this is the final matchup. Big Ten rivalry at its best. Sweat middle and a blocked shot. Diving again. Joe Polatochuk setting the tone. He is as resilient as they come in collegiate hockey. Yeah they say he leads with a bark. The assistant captain taking one for the team there. Dexheimer leads with a hug. It's like the stick in the game with an injury for MSU. Big skates to fill on that top line. It has impacted some of Porter Martone's productivity in the back half of this game as Daniel Hauser covered in the second period. He is the reason that Wisconsin is still within reach. Tassie feeds far side and it's too far for Oliver Tolk. Got a shot. That's the kind of effort Wisconsin's gonna need. Mike Hastings said we cannot let big speedy MSU cut middle on us. Loose puck top of the house. Bullied there. Phelan steps to him. Shot clubbed by Hauser. Another chance for MSU. Sean Barnhill number three getting a shot from the point. Again that big stick taking 215. Spartans get a tap outside the blue line by Bansangi. In deep here. In both nets in this games we love meeting Hauser and Augustine. His program's in good hands in the biggest events. Augustine covers again and MSU heads up. Can't clear. Onto the stick of Montgomery. Got turned and what great defending by Max. Confident defending by Sterbak. Faceoff win by the Badgers. Dexheimer works it high. Into the circle. Through the trees and out of play. Bansangi. Wisconsin trying to fight it out of the zone. Won't happen as Martone sails one over the top. Martone at the dot. Shot pass. Intended for Bansangi who was net front. Wisconsin's got to clear him out. He's got the size advantage on Pilatichuk. And there's the Michigan State. Get bodies in front and you will win postseason games. Baskov cashes on the man advantage. 3-1 Spartans. First you get a shot it goes wide by Porter Martone. A nice pass up. Basil saying give me that puck let me take one and there's so many bodies in front you could hear it post. A beautiful pass from Riker Lee and fired a rocket. That power play of MSU. 36.5. Fun he's ever had playing hockey again. He just loves this team and you could tell. Badgers need two and Augustine's elite glove scoops it up. Tulk off the back wall. Tassie trying to jam it in. Support. How draining is that type of wall play late in the game. Here's the takeaway. Nielsen quickly feeds and stopped by Hauser. Sean Barnhill taking a big step in his game. Second NCAA tournament contest. Working through traffic. Jarecki staying with the play. Just what Nightingale wants about teams that played in other leagues but now members of the Big Ten. That win in 06 was the only year that a women's program and a men's. Badgers looking for any opportunity in the MSU zone. Paddled in by Augustine. Fended it off and then wisely vacuumed to take Michigan State back where they feel they belong. Ralph off his own end for MSU. Let's move it quick here through the neutral zone. Pace from Wisconsin down two goals. Send in front. Tulk feeds it back. Middle kicked into the corner of the skate blade of Kukanen. Now Dubinsky off a deflection. Tulk trying to jam it in. Rebound. Pressure over and over. Wide shot and it flubs. Ralph there can't quite clear it. Tulk up just right in front. Spits out to his stick and he buries it low. Short side. The defensive freshman. The full season most goals by the D-Core since the 18-19 season. Finley racing in again. Spartan goes down in the corner. Ouch. Sturback slow to get up. Fired in from distance off the back wall. Dexheimer crashing through again. Badgers buzzing. An answer by Wisconsin. Gavin Morrissey the assistant captain. Freshman for the Badgers and Gavin more pressure by the Wisconsin Badgers to keep that puck. The 13-fifth Gerald moves it to the top. Again these deer active. A wide shot but you see them just in front of the net again. What a shot. Look at all the bodies in front and now the Badgers burst up ice. What a sequence. Net drive. Ran out of space. He was taking wave after wave not letting that puck out of the zone. Deering's turn. Trying to drive it forward. Brink with a shot and another huge rebound. Off breaks Fitzgerald. Far side just missed. Oh Luke Osborne went top corner nearly had his second. We are talking about Gavin Morrissey the points leader from University of Wisconsin. Next goal. Russell can't get to the puck. Unanswered goals at 24 seconds into OT.