#14 Irish Open Big Ten Play At #7 Minnesota

WHO: #14 Notre Dame (4-1-1) at #7 Minnesota (3-3-0)
WHEN: Friday, October 29 at 9 p.m. ET // Saturday, October 30 at 6 p.m. ET
WHERE: 3M Arena at Mariucci
WATCH: BTN // Bally Sports North
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com

NOTES (PDF)

SETTING THE STAGE

• The Fighting Irish hit the road to open Big Ten play at seventh-ranked Minnesota this weekend, marking the start of Notre Dame’s fifth season as an affiliate member of the Big Ten.
• Last weekend, the Irish split a home series with RIT, falling 3-2 in overtime of game one (Oct. 21) before rebounding with a resounding 6-0 game two win (Oct. 22). 
• Trevor Janicke (two goals), Max Ellis (two goals) and Solag Bakich (three assists) led the Irish offense, while Matthew Galajda posted 22 saves to earn his first shutout with the Irish and the 20th of his career.
• Bakich notched his first career three-point game and his second career multi-point game (had a goal and an assist versus LIU on Oct. 9).
• Janicke posted his third career two-goal game (second of the season) and his seventh multi-point game.
• For Ellis, it marked his second career two-goal game and his seventh career multi-point game. 
• Notre Dame is 2-0-0 on the road this season after going 9-2-1 on the road last season.
• The Fighting Irish are averaging 3.93 goals per game, which ranks eighth nationally and fourth in the Big Ten.
• Notre Dame’s penalty kill has started the season with a perfect 23-for-23 showing over the five games, joining Michigan Tech and St. Lawrence with perfect penalty kills in the early going. 
• The Irish are also holding opponents to 1.57 goals-against average, which ranks fourth nationally.
• Adam Karashik (0-3-3) and Graham Slaggert (1-1-2) each have two-game point streaks heading to Minnesota.
• Ellis leads the Irish with seven points followed by Janicke (4-2-6) and Solag Bakich (1-4-5).
• All told, nine Notre Dame players have scored so far this season, while 17 have at least one point.
• The 2021-22 season marks Notre Dame’s 17th under head coach Jeff Jackson and its fifth season in the Big Ten.
• Overall, it is the 53rd season of NCAA Division I hockey for Notre Dame.
• Notre Dame returns four of its top-five point scorers from 2020-21, including Graham Slaggert (7-18-25), Landon Slaggert (8-14-22), Nick Leivermann (5-12-17) and Max Ellis (5-11-16).
• The Irish welcome four graduate transfers into the fold for the 2021-22 campaign, including forward Jack Adams, defenseman Chase Blackmun, goaltender Matthew Galajda, and defenseman Adam Karashik. 
• Five freshmen also join the Irish this season in forward Tyler Carpenter, defenseman Ryan Helliwell, forward Justin Janicke, forward Hunter Strand and defenseman Hunter Weiss. 
• Goaltender Josh Graziano also transferred into the program as a sophomore, having last played collegiately at Union. 
• 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 BIG TEN STANDINGS

• This season, teams will be 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.
  

GALAJDA NAMED THIRD STAR

• Graduate student Matthew Galajda was named Big Ten Hockey’s Third Star of the Week, the conference announced on Tuesday (Oct. 26).
• Galajda made 22 saves to help lead the Irish to a 6-0 win over RIT on Friday night (Oct. 22), marking his first shutout for Notre Dame and the 20th of his career. A 2018 First Team All-American, his 20 career shutouts rank second in NCAA Men’s Division I.
• Galajda is now 3-0-0 on the season with a 1.33 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage. For his career, the Aurora, Ontario native is 63-15-9 with an 1.63 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage.

THE NOTRE DAME – MINNESOTA SERIES

• Minnesota leads the all-time series 35-24-5 dating back to 1924-25 when the Irish lost 2-1 in overtime in the first meeting.
• Notre Dame recognizes its first win over Minnesota in 1926-27 when the Irish shutout their opponent, 2-0, in Minneapolis.
• Twenty-nine contests between the two teams have been decided by a single goal, with the Irish narrowly leading that category 16-13.
• The teams will be playing for a 10th consecutive season.
• Before the Irish joined the Big Ten, those meetings largely overlapped with Mario Lucia’s time at Notre Dame from 2012-16 (Mario is the son of former Minnesota head coach Don Lucia – a 1981 Notre Dame graduate/former defenseman).
• Last season, the Irish swept then top-ranked Minnesota at 3M Arena by scores of 3-2 and 2-1 on Jan. 15-16 and then the Gophers swept a series at Notre Dame on Feb. 12-13 in a pair of 3-0 wins.
• During the 2019-20 regular season, the Irish went 1-1-2 against Minnesota, including a 1-0-1 mark in Minneapolis (Nov. 1-2).
• That road series at Minnesota included a 2-2 game one tie (Minnesota won the 3-on-3 ot) and a 5-3 game two victory.
• Then in the 2020 playoffs, the Gophers eliminated the Irish, two games to one on March 6-8.
• The teams eliminated each other from the postseason in 2019 and 2020 with the Irish posting a 2-1 Big Ten Tournament semifinal win in overtime on March 16, 2019 en route to ultimately claiming a second consecutive Big Ten Tournament Championship.
• Notre Dame leads the series 11-9-2 since joining the Big Ten and 14 of the last 17 meetings have been decided by a goal or ended in a tie (two ties in that span, 12 one-goal games).
• Notre Dame’s active career leaders against the Gophers include Nick Leivermann (15 GP; 5-1-6), Graham Slaggert (16 GP; 1-4-5), Spencer Stastney (16 GP; 1-4-5) and Trevor Janicke (11 GP; 3-2-5).
• Five of Nick Leivermann’s 13 career goals have come against the Gophers.
• Ryan Bischel is 1-1-0 with a 2.50 goals against average and an .894 save percentage against the Gophers.

— ND —