WHO: Notre Dame (10-9-1, 8-7-1-1-2-1 B1G) vs. #5/5 Minnesota (15-5-0, 11-5-0-0-0-0 B1G)
WHEN: Friday, February 12 – 7:30 p.m. ET | Saturday, February 13 – 5:30 p.m. ET
WHERE: Compton Family Ice Arena
WATCH: Friday – NBCSN & NBCSports.com | Saturday – RSNs & NBCSports.com
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
NOTES (PDF)
FOR STARTERS
- The Fighting Irish carry a season-long, three-game winning streak into this weekend’s series against fifth-ranked Minnesota.
- Last weekend, Notre Dame swept Ohio State by scores of 6-1 (Feb. 5) and 8-1 (Feb. 6) marking Notre Dame’s first game with at least eight goals since an 8-2 win at Omaha on Oct. 20, 2018.
- Junior forward Alex Steeves had a goal and six assists for a seven-point weekend against the Buckeyes en route to being name the Big Ten’s Second Star of the Week (Feb. 9).
- Steeves had a goal and three assists in game one of that series and added three assists in game two and he has now recorded at least one point in 15 of Notre Dame’s 20 games and has a five-game point streak (4-6-10).
- Dating back to Notre Dame’s game two, 2-1 win at Minnesota on Jan. 16, senior goaltender Dylan St. Cyr has started all seven games and posted a .930 save percentage to go along with a 2.13 goals against average and a 4-3-0 record.
- Graham Slaggert has a career-long, five-game point streak (1-7-8).
- Landon Slaggert (1-4-5) and Spencer Stastney (3-1-4) have three-game point streaks.
- Nick Leivermann has a two-game goal scoring streak (3-1-4).
- With 526 career wins, Head Coach Jeff Jackson (Lake Superior State and Notre Dame) enters the weekend tied with George Gwozdecky (Miami and Denver 1989-2013) for 11th all-time in wins, while John MacInnes of Michigan Tech (1956-81) ranks 10th with 555.
- Notre Dame is 7-1-0 on the road this season, including series sweeps at then third- ranked Michigan (Nov. 27-28) and at then first-ranked Minnesota (Jan. 15-16) and the Irish penalty kill is 17-for-17 away from home.
THE NOTRE DAME-MINNESOTA SERIES
- Minnesota leads the all-time series 33-24-5 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 are playing for a ninth 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).
- Earlier this season, the Irish swept then top-ranked Minnesota at 3M Arena by scores of 3-2 and 2-1 on Jan. 15-16.
- Graham Slaggert had a goal and assist in the game one win, while Dylan St. Cyr stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced in the game two victory.
—ND—