This weekend, the hockey Huskies play their third and final consecutive WCHA opponent on the road in 2009. The Huskies will be in Madison to face the No. 16 Wisconsin Badgers, who currently sit in a tie for fourth in the WCHA with a 5-4-1 record, good for 11 points.

A yo-yo might be the best tool for describing the type of season the Badgers have had thus far, opening the season just 1-2-1 with losses to Colorado College and Minnesota State. Since then, the Badgers swept a very good New Hampshire squad before splitting with Minnesota and St. Cloud State. In between those splits, the Badgers swept Alaska-Anchorage.

This past weekend, the Badgers ripped the No. 8 Michigan State Spartans 7-3 on Friday before falling 3-2 to Michigan on Saturday.

Junior defenseman Brendan Smith (5-12=17) leads the Badgers in scoring thus far. Sophomore winger Derek Stepan (5-10=15) leads the offense in scoring after his goal and four assist effort against the Spartans.

Captain Blake Geoffrion (9-3=12) leads head coach Mike Eaves’ squad in goals and power play goals (5). He will be a major reason why the Huskies will want to stay out of the penalty box, as he has proven to be a Huskies’ killer on the man advantage.

Another Huskies’ nemesis, junior defenseman Cody Goloubef (3-5=8) seems to find ways to score goals against the Huskies despite only scoring 11 thus far in his career.

Between the pipes, the Badgers’ goaltending duties are split between a pair of juniors looking to earn the top spot. Brett Bennett (5-3-0 overall, 2.13 goals against average, .903 saves percentage) holds a slight advantage over Scott Gudmandson (3-2-1 overall, 1.82 goals against average, .926 saves percentage).

Meanwhile, it won’t matter whom the Huskies face night in and night out if they can’t find a way to stay out of the penalty box. The Huskies took four straight penalties to start Friday night’s matchup against the Minnesota State Mavericks, and found themselves down 3-0 before they could blink.

The Huskies will be looking for their first win since Nov. 13 when they stung the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.

Assistant captain Brett Olson (6-8=14), a sophomore, is just nine points away from tying his rookie numbers, and is leading the pack. Captain Malcolm Gwilliam (6-5=11), the ageless senior, continues his strong campaign, as he is tied for the team lead in goals and power play goals (2).

Freshman phenom Steven Seigo (1-8=9) continues to impress on the back end for head coach Jamie Russell’s squad. Fellow blueliner John Kivisto (2-3=5) continues to be steady while looking for that point that will push his total to a new career high.

Injuries have begun to creep in as the road trip looms longer for the Huskies. Last weekend, the Huskies lost the services of sophomore Alex MacLeod (2-2=4) and assistant captain Jordan Baker (2-0=2). They started the weekend without the services of freshman Milos Gordic (1-0=1 in eight games) and junior Bennett Royer (0-0=0 in nine games).

Friday night, Russell dressed nine players who are listed as defensemen on the roster due to the mass of injuries, and if MacLeod or Baker miss significant time, things will get even harder for this young team.

Another tough decision Russell will have this weekend will be who starts in net. Freshman Kevin Genoe (2-6-0 overall, 3.36 goals against average, .907 saves percentage in nine games) seemed to be playing well, but he’s been pulled in each of his last two starts. He’s left the door open for sophomore Josh Robinson (1-3-0 overall, 4.55 goals against average, .868 saves percentage in six games), who played one of his best games of the year on Saturday night.