B1G Quarterfinal Preview: #7 Irish Open Playoffs By Hosting Wisconsin

WHO: #7/7 Notre Dame (25-9-0) vs. Wisconsin (9-23-3)
WHEN: Friday, March 4 at 7 p.m. // Saturday, March 5 at 6 p.m. // Sunday March 6 at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Compton Family Ice Arena // Tickets
WATCH: BTN+
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com

NOTES (PDF)

SETTING THE STAGE

• No. 3 seeded Notre Dame will play host to sixth-seeded Wisconsin in a best-of-three 2022 Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal series at Compton Family Ice Arena (March 4-6).
• The Fighting Irish earned the No. 3 seed by sweeping then second-ranked Michigan last weekend, winning game one 4-1 (Feb. 26) and game two 2-1 (Feb. 26).
• Notre Dame handed the Wolverines their first regulation loss since Dec. 11 and became the only team to sweep Michigan this season, which they did twice (home and away).
• In the sweep of Michigan, graduate student goaltender Matthew Galajda stopped 59 of the 61 shots he faced over the weekend for a .967 save percentage and a 1.00 goals against average en route to being named the Big Ten’s Second Star of the Week for the second consecutive week.
• Notre Dame carries a five-game winning streak into the playoffs, with Galajda starting each of those five games (5-0-0, 1.40 goals-against average, .956 save percentage).
• Notre Dame is tied for third in the country with 25 wins (25-9-0), trailing only Minnesota State (31-5-0) and Quinnipiac (28-5-3) and tied with Michigan (25-9-1).
• It will mark the first time since going 18-15-0 in 1989-90 as a Div. I Independent that the Irish will finish a season without a tie. 
• The Fighting Irish are 15-5-0 at home this season and 17-1-0 when scoring first.
• Spencer Stastney (2-2-4) and Jack Adams (2-2-4) each have three-game point streaks, while Nick Leivermann has a two-game point streak (0-3-3).
• Notre Dame is 6-2-0 in overtime this season, with the OT game-winning goals coming from Cam Burke (at Michigan Tech), Ryder Rolston (at Michigan), Max Ellis (at Michigan and at Penn State), Spencer Stastney (at Ohio State) and Landon Slaggert (vs. Minnesota).

STASTNEY’S STARRING ROLE

• Since the Irish returned from break on Jan. 1, senior defenseman Spencer Stastney has five goals and 12 assists for 17 points in 17 games and he has notched at least one point in 13 of the 17 games.
• Stastney is now Notre Dame’s second leading scorer with a career-high 26 points on seven goals and 19 assists.
• Stastney’s previous career highs were five goals (2020-21), 17 assists (2019-20) and 20 points (2019-20).
• Stastney is the only defenseman in the country with multiple shorthanded goals this season (2).
• Stastney is averaging 0.58 assists per game, which ranks ninth in the Big Ten.
• Stastney has also blocked 53 shots, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten.

IRISH – BADGERS SERIES HISTORY

• Former opponents in the WCHA, Notre Dame and Wisconsin have met 84 times in program history with Wisconsin leading the all-time series 47-28-9.
• The first meeting between the two teams came during the 1921-22 season when the Irish skated away with a 3-0 victory at Badin Rink (outdoors at Notre Dame). 
• The teams met once more, in 1925-26, before taking a 40 year hiatus and returning to competition when Notre Dame earned varsity status.
• As a head coach, Jeff Jackson is 11-9-2 all-time against the Badgers (1-1-0 at Lake Superior State).
• The one win Jackson had over the Badgers at Lake Superior State came on April 4, 1992, in Albany, New York, as the Lakers defeated Wisconsin 5-3 to win the NCAA Championship (the first of Jackson’s two NCAA Championships at Lake State).
• Since the Irish joined the Big Ten, Notre Dame leads the series 10-8-2.
• Last season, the teams opened the shortened 2020-21 season on Nov. 13-14 at the Compton Family Ice Arena, with the Badgers posting a 2-0 win and a 5-3 victory (Colin Theisen had a hat trick in that game two loss).
• Then at Wisconsin on Feb. 19-20 2021, the Badgers took game one 4-2 before the teams skated to a back-and-forth 5-5 tie in game two. 
• In the game two shootout, Max Ellis scored and Dylan St. Cyr denied Cole Caufield, Dylan Halloway and Ty Pelton-Byce to seal the extra point.
• The teams split the 2019-20 series 2-2-0, including a split at the Kohl Center on Nov. 15-16.
• Wisconsin took game one, 3-0, and Notre Dame took a back-and-forth game two, 5-4 in overtime.
• Later in the season at home (Jan. 24-25), Notre Dame dropped game one, 6-4, before bouncing back to take game two, 5-2.

NOTRE DAME vs. WISCONSIN IN 2021-22

• Notre Dame went 3-1-0 against the Badgers during the 2021-22 regular season.
• The teams first met on Nov. 12-13 at the Compton Family Ice Arena with Notre Dame posting a series sweep, taking game one 5-1 and then following up with a 3-0 win in game two. 
• Matthew Galajda played both games in that series, stopping 24 shots in game one and posting a 22-save shutout in game two.
• Max Ellis had a pair of goals in game one with Spencer Stastney chipping in three assists, while game two featured Irish goals by Grant Silianoff, Nick Leivermann and Hunter Strand.
• The teams then played in Madison on Feb. 12-13, with the Irish dropping game one 5-3 before rebounding to take game two 3-2. 
• Notre Dame outshot the Badgers 41-15 in that game one loss, but could not overcome a 3-1 first period deficit despite goals from Solag Bakich and Grant Silianoff to make it a 4-3 game late in the third.
• In game two, Galajda made 30 saves and Jesse Lansdell, Hunter Strand and Trevor Janicke scored to secure the win.
• Galajda started three of the four games against Wisconsin but was the goalie of record in all four contests (3-1-0) while posting a .955 save percentage to go along with a 1.10 goals against average and one shutout.
• Offensively, Ryder Rolston (1-3-4) and Spencer Stastney (0-4-4) each had four points against the Badgers this season, while seven other skaters had three points.
  

B1G TOURNAMENT TALK

• Notre Dame enters the 2022 Big Ten Tournament as the No. 3 seed after placing third in the standings with 47 points, trailing only Minnesota (55 points) and Michigan (51 points).
• The Irish will host a quarterfinal series for the second time since joining the league, having swept Michigan State in 2019 en route to winning the championship.
• It will be Notre Dame’s third quarterfinal series overall, as the Irish dropped a quarterfinal series at Minnesota, two games to one, in 2020 before the season was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Last season’s single-elimination tournament was also played at the Compton Family Ice Arena, with the Irish falling in their first game to Penn State.
• All told, Notre Dame is 7-3-0 in Big Ten Tournament games (7-2-0 in games played under the current format and 3-2-0 in quarterfinal games under the current format).
• Notre Dame captured Big Ten Tournament Championships in 2018 and 2019.
• As the top seed, Minnesota has a bye this weekend, while No. 2 Michigan hosts Michigan State, the Irish host Wisconsin and No. 4 seed Ohio State hosts Penn State in best-of-three quarterfinal series March 4-6.
• The top seed and highest remaining seed will then host one game semifinals on March 12, while the championship will be played on March 18 or 19 depending on the site (highest remaining seed).

— ND —