By Jacob Messing

The No.7-ranked Wisconsin Badgers visit the Michigan State Spartans this weekend, as both teams hope to respond positively after a winless series over the weekend.

Both games will be streamed right here on FloHockey on Friday and Saturday at 7 PM EST each night.

Although the Badgers held their own against No. 4-ranked North Dakota last weekend with a loss and a tie against the Fighting Hawks, Wisconsin hasn’t seen the win column in their past three games (0-2-1). Their last victory came in a 4-2 win against St. Lawrence on October 27.

The Badgers will look to right the ship without head coach Tony Granato, whose duties as Team USA’s Olympic head coach place him in Germany for the regular pre-Olympic Deutschland Cup. He’ll leave Wisconsin in the hands of associate coaches Mark Osiecki and Mark Strobel over the weekend.

On the road, and Big Ten play, again this weekend

Note of the day: First of four straight series vs. teams beginning with the letter 'M' pic.twitter.com/NijyxuCLP2

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) November 7, 2017

“I wouldn’t think there’s gonna be any change, at all,” Osiecki said in the weekly presser when asked about the absence of Granato. “It’s been a consistent message from us as a staff.”

Osiecki said the team was ready to build on a strong showing against North Dakota.

“The energy that they played with this past weekend and jumping back into the Big Ten and playing at Michigan State,” he said. “I think our guys enjoy getting on the road and playing.”

The favored 6-4-1 Badgers can’t afford to give up ground on a weaker 4-4-0 Michigan State team. Given their recent struggles and the absence of their head coach, Wisconsin may be playing their season’s most important series yet.

The inner-conference series against Michigan State is just Wisconsin’s second Big Ten opponent; they split a pair with Ohio State to open the season. Including this weekend’s series, the Badgers play Big Ten opponents in 22 of their final 24 games; the exception is when they host a series with Mercyhurst over Thanksgiving weekend.

The Badgers have played just four of their 11 games on the road, posting a 3-1-0 record, with a win and tie coming on neutral ice. They’ll need that energy at Munn Ice Arena, where the Spartans hold a flawless 4-0-0 record.

Michigan State hopes that unbeaten record buoys their squad after a couple of ugly losses at the hands of No. 5 Minnesota, losing by a combined score of 7-1.

We’re back home against No. 7 Wisconsin on Friday & Saturday at Munn! pic.twitter.com/Zz48H2GxGk

— MSU_Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) November 6, 2017

The Spartans won’t be a pushover, however, as they can still salvage their season from their current .500 record.

Sparty swept Lake Superior State two weeks ago, scoring 10 goals in the series, but couldn’t find that offense against the Golden Gophers; Minnesota won those games 3-1 on Friday and 4-0 on Saturday.

With the Badgers’ ability to capitalize on mistakes, the Spartans will need to play smart, conservative hockey with an emphasis on defense.

Michigan State is fifth in the Big Ten in penalty killing and goals against. They are giving power play goals on 77.4 percent of opportunities, which will be a problem against the Badgers’ power play, which is converting on 23.1 percent on the man advantage — second-best in the Big Ten.

MSU’s defense has struggled through its first eight games, allowing 2.88 goals per game. Trent Frederic and Will Johnson lead the Badgers with 10 points each, but the Dhooghe brothers could pose another threat.

Freshmen Sean and Jason Dhooghe each scored their first college goals last week and will be eager to net more with the proverbial monkey off their backs.

Playing defense-first will help alleviate the pressure on Spartan goaltender John Lethemon, even if the offense has been moderately effective recently.

The key for the Spartans will be to pile on the shots against Wisconsin senior Kyle Hayton and let the scoring ability of top line Mitchell Lewandowski, Taro Hirose, and Patrick Khodorenko come naturally.

The offense should be hungry after being goal-starved last week and returning home will help. The Spartans are 4-0-0 when outshooting their opponent, which has happened in each of those four home games.

Don’t forget to tune in this weekend for the Big Ten matchup, streamed right here on FloHockey.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.