WHO: #8/8 Notre Dame (27-10-0) at #4/4 Michigan (27-9-1)
WHEN: Saturday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. ET
WHERE: Compton Family Ice Arena
WATCH: BTN
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
SETTING THE STAGE
- No. 3 seed Notre Dame will play a Big Ten Tournament semifinal game at No. 2 seed Michigan at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 12 at Yost Ice Arena (Ann Arbor, Michigan).
- It will mark Notre Dame’s third appearance in the Big Ten semifinals in five seasons since joining the league.
- The Irish won semifinal games in 2018 and 2019 en route to claiming back-to-back Big Ten Tournament Championships.
- On March 9 Head Coach Jeff Jackson was named as one of three finalists for the Big Ten’s Coach of the Year award, which will be announced on March 15.
- Notre Dame was the only team to sweep Michigan this season (did so twice), most recently defeating the Wolverines on Feb. 25-26 to close out the regular season.
- In the game one win, Notre Dame handed the Wolverines their first regulation loss since Dec. 11.
- Graduate student goaltender Matthew Galajda stopped 59 of the 61 shots he faced in that series versus the Wolverines 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 a second consecutive week.
- The Irish last went 5-0-0 against Michigan in 2012-13, besting the Wolverines four times during the regular season and then posting a 3-1 win in the final CCHA Championship game at Joe Louis Arena (March 24, 2013).
- Notre Dame is 8-2-0 in its last 10 meetings with Michigan and carries a seven-game winning streak at Yost Arena into Saturday’s semifinal (last loss at Yost was 2-1 on Nov. 9, 2018 when the current senior class played their first game at Michigan).
- Galajda has started each of the past eight games for the Irish, posting a 7-1-0 record to go along with a .944 save percentage and a 1.77 goals-against average.
- Notre Dame is tied for third in the country with 27 wins (27-10-0), trailing only Minnesota State (33-5-0) and Quinnipiac (28-5-3) and tied with Michigan (27-9-1).
- The Fighting Irish are 10-4-0 on the road this season, 19-1-0 when scoring first and 23-1-0 when scoring at least three goals.
- Nick Leivermann has a five-game point streak (0-6-6).
- Graham Slaggert has a three-game point streak (2-3-5), while Landon Slaggert (1-1-2) and Trevor Janicke (2-1-3) have two game point streaks as that line of Slaggert/Slaggert/Janicke accounted for 10 points in the quarterfinal series against the Badgers.
- 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
- In the 20 games since the Irish returned from break on Jan. 1, senior defenseman Spencer Stastney has five goals and 13 assists for 18 points, notching at least one point in 14 of the 20 games.
- Stastney is now tied as Notre Dame’s second leading scorer with a career-high 27 points on seven goals and 20 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 0.56 assists per game, which ranks eighth in the Big Ten.
- Stastney has also blocked 62 shots, which ranks third in the Big Ten.
IRISH – WOLVERINES SERIES HISTORY
- All-time, Michigan leads the series 82-69-5, but Notre Dame leads the series 13-8-0 since joining the Big Ten.
- Notre Dame recognizes the first official meeting as a 3-2 overtime win by the Fighting Irish on Jan. 17, 1922 at the Weinberg Coliseum in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- The Irish and Wolverines met each season from 1991-92 to 2012-13.
- During the 2012-13 season, Notre Dame went 5-0-0 against the Wolverines, including a 3-1 victory in the championship game of the final CCHA tournament.
- In Notre Dame’s inaugural season in the Big Ten (2017-18), the Irish and Wolverines met five times, with the Irish claiming three victories, including a last second win at the 2018 NCAA Frozen Four.
- As time ran down in the 2018 NCAA Frozen Four semifinal (April 5), Cam Morrison slid the puck back to Jake Evans in the slot, who shot it five-hole for the game-winner with five seconds remaining – sending Notre Dame to the national championship.
- Notre Dame and Michigan’s other Frozen Four meeting came at the 2008 Frozen Four (Denver, Colorado) when the Irish posted a 5-4 overtime win to advance to the NCAA championship game for the first time in program history.
- Calle Ridderwall scored the game-winning goal in that contest at the 5:44 mark of overtime.
- The teams also played at Notre Dame Stadium on January 5, 2019, as the two teams utilized the same ice as the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins of the NHL for the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.
- The Let’s Take This Outside game featured the largest crowd to attend a home hockey game for the Irish (23,422) but Michigan claimed the 4-2 win over the Irish.
- Head Coach Jeff Jackson is 39-34-8 all-time against Michigan (including his time at Lake Superior State), while he is 12-6-0 all-time against the Wolverines in the playoffs.
NOTRE DAME vs. MICHIGAN IN 2021-22
- Notre Dame went 4-0-0 against the Wolverines during the 2021-22 regular season, including a recent home sweep by scores of 4-1 (Feb. 25) and 2-1 (Feb. 26) to close out the regular season, costing Michigan a chance at the Big Ten title.
- In game one of that series, the Wolverines scored first but Graham Slaggert, Jesse Lansdell and Jack Adams scored next before Spencer Stastney iced the win with an empty netter.
- In game two, Trevor Janicke scored at 16:52 of the third to break a 1-1 tie and lift the Irish to the victory.
- Matthew Galajda played both games and stopped 59 of the 61 shots he faced 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 a second consecutive week.
- The Irish became the first team to defeat Michigan in regulation since Dec. 11 and the only team to sweep the Wolverines this season (did so twice).
- Earlier this season, Notre Dame swept a series at Yost Ice Arena with a pair of overtime wins, including 3-2 in game one (Nov. 19) and 5-4 in game two (Nov. 20) to extend their winning streak at Yost to seven games.
- Ryan Bischel played both games in the Notre Dame net, making 28 saves in game one and 37 in game two.
- Ryder Rolston had a pair of goals in the game one win, including the overtime winner.
- Then Max Ellis had a hat trick, including the overtime winner, in game two to become the first visiting player to record a hat trick at Yost Ice Arena in 15 years (2006).
B1G TOURNAMENT TALK
- Notre Dame has reached the Big Ten tournament semifinals for the third time in five seasons since joining the league.
- In 2018, Notre Dame defeated Penn State 3-2 in the semifinals to advance to the championship game – a 3-2 overtime win against Ohio State.
- In 2019 the Irish downed Minnesota in the semifinals on Michael Graham’s overtime tally, sending the Irish to the title game where they would defeat Penn State 3-2 to claim the championship.
- All told, Notre Dame is now 9-4-0 in Big Ten Tournament games (9-3-0 in games played under the current format and 2-0-0 in semifinal games).
- As the top seed, Minnesota hosts fifth-seeded Penn State in the other semifinal game this weekend.
- The top remaining seed will then host the championship game on March 19.
— ND —