WHO: Notre Dame (5-6-1, 3-4-1-0-1-1 B1G) at #1 Minnesota (11-1-0, 9-1-0-0-0-0 B1G)
WHEN: Friday, January 15 – 8 p.m. ET | Saturday, January 16 – 6 p.m. ET
WHERE: 3M Arena at Mariucci, Minneapolis, Minn.
WATCH: Friday – Fox Sports North+ & BTN+ | Saturday – Fox Sports North & BTN+
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
GAME NOTES (PDF)
FOR STARTERS
- The Fighting Irish hit the road for just the second time this season with a weekend series at top-ranked Minnesota (Jan. 15-16).
- Notre Dame is coming off a home split with Arizona State, while the Gophers split a road series at Wisconsin, which included Minnesota’s first loss of the season (11-1-0).
- Sophomore forward Max Ellis led the Irish against the Sun Devils with a pair of assists in the game one win, followed by a pair of goals in the game two loss, marking his first career multi-goal game.
- He was named the Big Ten’s Second Star of the Week for his efforts (Jan. 13).
- Ellis became the 14th Irish player to score this season.
- Michael Graham (1-3-4) and Grant Silianoff (3-1-4) have three-game point streaks entering the weekend, while Solag Bakich (0-2-2) and Max Ellis (2-2-4) each have two-game point streaks.
- Notre Dame’s five game-winning goals this season have been scored by five players: Jesse Lansdell, Alex Steeves, Grant Silianoff, Graham Slaggert and Nick Leivermann.
- This weekend’s series has the potential to feature a combined 23 NHL draft picks (nine on Notre Dame, 14 for Minnesota).
- Landon Slaggert returned from winning gold with Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Championship (Jan. 5) to score a pair of goals in Notre Dame’s 5-3 win over Arizona State (Jan. 9) in his first game back.
- Slaggert skated with Minnesota’s Brock Faber, Ryan Johnson and Jackson LaCombe on Team USA.
THE NOTRE DAME-MINNESOTA SERIES
- Minnesota leads the all-time series 33-22-5 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-seven contests between the two teams have been decided by a single goal, with the Irish narrowly leading that category 14-13.
- This will mark the ninth consecutive season the teams have played.
- 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 during the 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 game one, 2-2 tie (Minnesota won the 3-on-3 ot) and a game two, 5-3 victory.
- In the game two victory, Nick Leivermann notched his first career multi-point game with a pair of goals, while Charlie Raith scored his first career goal.
- Last season in the playoffs, the Gophers eliminated the Irish, two games to one on March 6-8.
- The teams have eliminated each other from the postseason each of the past two years with the Irish were 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’s active career leaders against the Gophers include Colin Theisen (16 GP; 3-3-6), Nick Leivermann (11 GP; 5-0-5), Alex Steeves (12 GP; 2-3-5), Trevor Janicke (7 GP; 3-1-4), Spencer Stastney (12 GP; 1-3-4), Matt Hellickson (16 GP; 0-4-4) and Michael Graham (10 GP; 1-2-3).
- Five of Nick Leivermann’s eight career goals have come against the Gophers.
—ND—