Upsets Highlight Opening Night of Big Ten Hockey Tournament

Photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletics

Road teams were victorious in all three games on opening night of the 2025 Big Ten Hockey Tournament on Friday. Three lower seeds — No. 5 Penn State, No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 7 Notre Dame — will attempt to advance to the semifinals when best-of-three games series continue Saturday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Wisconsin defeated No. 3 Ohio State for the first time this season with a 4-1 win at Nationwide Arena.

The Badgers built a 3-0 lead after two periods, receiving a pair of assists from Christian Fitzgerald and 28 saves from goaltender Tommy Scarfone.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — High-scoring affairs are nothing new to Penn State and Michigan and it continue Friday at Yost Ice Arena as the Nittany Lions prevailed, 6-5, in overtime.

JJ Wiebusch completed a hat trick with a nifty shot between the legs to notch the game-winner five minutes into overtime. Teammate Aiden Fink contributed four assists.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Notre Dame toppled No. 2 seed Minnesota, 3-2, at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Axel Kumlin scored just 1:30 into the opening period and the Fighting Irish never trailed, despite being out-shot 32-24 for the game. Notre Dame's Jeff Jackson recorded his 600th career win.