GOPHERS WOMEN'S HOCKEY SERIES PREVIEW

Road series at Wisconsin, 7 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday at LaBahn Arena

TV: none; Stream: B1G-Plus both days

Randy Johnson's preview:

Opening bell: The fifth-ranked Gophers (24-5-1, 18-5-1 WCHA) enter the next-to-last series of the regular season on an eight-game winning streak, capped by a 1-0 and 5-1 sweep of No. 10 St. Cloud State last weekend. Minnesota sits in third place in the conference, seven points behind first-place Ohio State and four behind Wisconsin. The second-ranked Badgers (26-4-0, 20-4-0) have won 13 consecutive games since their 5-3 loss to the Gophers on Dec. 8. Minnesota finishes the regular season with a home series against Minnesota Duluth, while defending national champion Wisconsin is host to No. 1 Ohio State.

Watch them: This game is chock full of candidates for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the top player in women's college hockey. Gophers junior forward Abbey Murphy continues to lead the nation with 29 goals, which is four and six ahead of the Wisconsin duo of Kirsten Simms and Lacey Eden. Simms and teammate Casey O'Brien rank first and second nationally in scoring with 56 and 52 points, respectively.

Pregame reading: Big third period lifts Gophers women to sweep of St. Cloud State.

Forecast: This is an important series for the Gophers to show they can compete with the best teams in the nation, and getting at least a split would show progress. They haven't lost since being swept by Ohio State by a combined 13-1, and the high-scoring Badgers (a nation's-best 5.40 goals per game) will present a stiff challenge. "If we want to get to the Frozen Four, if we want to win a national championship, we have to go through the champs," Gophers coach Brad Frost said.

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