WHO: #13/13 Notre Dame (15-6-0, 8-4-0-3-1-0 B1G) at Ohio State (15-6-1, 7-4-1-0-0-1 B1G)
WHEN: Friday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. ET // Saturday, Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. ET
WHERE: Value City Arena
WATCH: BTN Plus // BTN
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
NOTES (PDF)
SETTING THE STAGE
- Notre Dame continues with Big Ten road play this weekend, heading to #15/16 Ohio State for a weekend series versus the Buckeyes on Friday, Jan. 14 (7 p.m. ET) and Saturday, Jan. 15 (8 p.m. ET).
- The teams are separated by one point in the Big Ten standings, with the Fighting Irish fourth with 22 points (8-4-0-3-1-0), while Ohio State is tied for second with 23 points (7-4-1-0-0-1).
- Notre Dame is in the midst of playing seven games in the first 19 games of January, culminating in next Wednesday’s makeup game against Boston College (Jan. 19).
- After taking five of six points at Penn State last weekend including a 4-2 game one win (Jan. 7) and a comeback 5-4 overtime win in game two (Jan. 8), the Fighting Irish are 6-2-0 on the road this season.
- Max Ellis had two goals in the game one win versus the Nittany Lions and then scored the overtime winner in game two with 0.2 seconds remaining, with assists from Spencer Stastney and Jake Pivonka.
- Nick Leivermann had a career-high three points in that overtime win, scoring his sixth goal of the season and adding a pair of assists.
- Ellis leads the Irish with a career-best 24 points on a team-high 14 goals and 10 assists.
- Ellis’ 14 goals rank tied for fifth in the country (tied for first in the Big Ten).
- Ellis is averaging 0.667 goals per game, which ranks ninth in the NCAA.
- Ellis is also tied for the NCAA lead with two shorthanded goals this season.
- Senior defenseman Nick Leivermann is tied for second on the team with 17 points (6-11-17).
- With the 17 points, Leivermann ranks tied for ninth in the NCAA in points by a defenseman.
- Cam Burke and Ryder Rolston lead the Irish with three game-winning goal apiece, which also ranks tied for seventh in the NCAA.
- All told, 15 Notre Dame players have scored so far this season, while 11 players have at least 10 points on the season.
- The Irish are 11-1-0 when scoring first this season.
- Notre Dame’s penalty kill is 75-for-81 on the season (.9259), which ranks second in the NCAA.
- The Irish also have four shorthanded goals this season (Ellis 2, Cam Burke, Spencer Stastney), which ranks fifth-most in the country (first in the Big Ten).
- Notre Dame has made each of the last five NCAA Tournaments, the longest streak in program history, and eight of the last 11 NCAA Tournaments overall
- The five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the second-longest active streak in the NCAA, trailing only Minnesota Duluth (6), with Minnesota State (3) and St Cloud State (3) tied for third.
THE NOTRE DAME – OHIO STATE SERIES
- Notre Dame owns a 41-40-11 edge in the all-time series after splitting a series last semester at Compton Family Ice Arena (Dec. 3-4).
- Ohio State took game one of that series, 4-2, after building a 2-1 lead in the first period; Ryder Rolston and Max Ellis scored for the Notre Dame goals.
- In game two, Nick Leivermann had a goal and an assist to lead the Irish to a 5-1 win and the senior defenseman finished that two-game series with four points on a goal and three assists.
- Rolston, Landon Slaggert, Cam Burke and Jesse Lansdell also scored for Notre Dame in the game two win, while Ryan Bischel totaled 24 saves to earn the victory.
- Since joining the Big Ten, Notre Dame leads the series with the Buckeyes 10-6-1.
- In their last visit to Columbus, the Irish posted wins of 6-1 and 8-1 to sweep the road series against Ohio State last year (Feb. 5-6, 2021), led by Alex Steeves who had a goal and three assists in game one and added three more assists in game two for a seven point weekend and Big Ten Second Star of the Week honors.
- Nick Leivermann had three goals and an assist in that series, while Cam Burke posted a career-best three points on a goal and two assists in the game two victory and Spencer Stastney had a goal in each game.
- Earlier in the 2020-21 season, the teams split a series at the Compton Family Ice Arena (Dec. 12-13).
- Notre Dame went 2-1-1 against the Buckeyes during the 2019-20 season, including a home sweep of Ohio State on Nov. 8-9, 2019 inside Compton Family Ice Arena.
- In that home sweep over then #8 Ohio State, the Irish took game one in overtime, 3-2, before earning a 2-1 victory in game two.
- Pierce Crawford provided the OT game winner in game one while then-freshman Solag Bakich scored his first career goal in that contest.
- In their inaugural season in the Big Ten (2017-18), the Irish and Buckeyes met five times, with Notre Dame skating away with a 4-1-0 record including a 3-2 overtime victory in the 2018 Big Ten Championship game courtesy of a Cam Morrison game winner.
- Notre Dame’s first Big Ten conference games included a weekend sweep of the Buckeyes in Columbus by scores of 4-1 and 3-2 on Nov. 3-4.
- Notre Dame Associate Head Coach Paul Pooley is a 1984 graduate of Ohio State where he earned All-American honors and graduated as the program’s all-time leader in goals (114), assists (156) and points (270).
- Pooley, who wore No. 22, became the first Ohio State hockey player to have his number retired on November 4, 2006 during a game between Notre Dame and Ohio State.
- Pooley’s nephew, Austin Pooley, played for the Buckeyes from 2017-21.
- Current Ohio State graduate student/forward Eric Cooley is the nephew of former Notre Dame forward Tom Mooney (1984-88).
- Notre Dame’s career offensive leaders against Ohio State include Graham Slaggert (14 GP; 3-9-12), Nick Leivermann (9 GP; 4-6-10), Jesse Lansdell (10 GP; 2-5-7), Spencer Stastney (14 GP; 2-4-6), Landon Slaggert (4 GP; 2-4-6) and Cam Burke (13 GP; 3-2-5).
ONE-TWO PUNCH
- Fighting Irish goaltenders Ryan Bischel and Matthew Galajda are one of the top tandems in college hockey, with two of the nation’s top-10 save percentages.
- Galajda, who is 9-3-0, ranks 10th in the NCAA with a .926 mark, while Bischel, who is 6-3-0, ranks seventh with a .932 save percentage.
- In goals against average, the duo also ranks seventh and eighth in the NCAA, with Bischel at 1.85 and Galajda at 1.92.
- Galajda (2) and Bischel (1) have also combined for three shutouts.
HOBEY HOPEFULS
- Forward Max Ellis and goaltender Matthew Galajda have been named to the Hobey Baker Award’s Phase One Fan Ballot (Jan. 12).
- Given annually to college hockey’s top player, the Hobey Baker Award includes candidates exhibiting the exceptional character traits of the award’s namesake, Hobey Baker, with consideration given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.
- To vote, visit the website www.hobeybaker.com/vote.
- Phase two of fan balloting will come from the list of Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists beginning March 17 and closing March 27. The fans’ vote accounts for a full one percent of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year’s award recipient.
- The 2022 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on Friday, April 8, 2022 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championship in Boston.
THE BIG TEN STANDINGS
- This season, teams are awarded three points in the conference standings for a win in regulation.
- If the game is tied following regulation, both teams will receive one point, with a second point being awarded to the team that wins in either the 3-on-3 overtime period or the shootout.
- The conference standings now match a national standard: W-L-T-OTW-OTL-SOW.
— ND —