Feb. 10, 2016

Game Notes vs. Maine Get Acrobat Reader

OVERVIEW
— Notre Dame posted a sweep at Vermont last weekend (Feb. 5-6) to move into a tie for first place in the Hockey East standings with Boston College.
The Irish are now 11-1-3 over their last 15 games (dating back to Nov. 28) and are also 6-1-0 over their last seven games.
During the last 15 games, goaltender Cal Petersen has a .946 save percentage and a 1.67 goals-against average to go along with the 11-1-3- record.
Notre Dame is 8-3-3 at home this season (5-1-1 in Hockey East home games) and the Irish are also 6-0-0 on the year in one goal games.

DETAILS — GAME 29
Match-up: Maine at Notre Dame
Date: Friday, Feb. 12, 2016
Time: 6:40 p.m. (ET)
Site: Notre Dame, Indiana
Arena: Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022)
Television: NBC Sports Network (NBCSN)
Play-by-Play: Steve Schlanger
Analyst: Pierre McGuire
Live Streaming: NBC Sports Live Extra
Live Radio: New Country 99.9 FM
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Audio: WatchND App (www.watchND.tv)
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Stats:
All-Time Series: Notre Dame leads 6-2-1 (9 games)

DETAILS — GAME 30
Match-up: Maine at Notre Dame
Date: Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016
Time: 7:10 p.m. (ET)
Site: Notre Dame, Indiana
Arena: Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022)
Television: NBC Sports Network (NBCSN)
Play-by-Play: Steve Schlanger
Analyst: Anson Carter
Live Streaming: NBC Sports Live Extra
Live Radio: New Country 99.9 FM
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Audio: WatchND App (www.watchND.tv)
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Stats:

THE NOTRE DAME-MAINE SERIES
— The Irish and Black Bears have only met nine times, with four of those meetings coming over the past two seasons as part of Hockey East play (Notre Dame is 2-1-1 in those four games).
Last season, the Irish went 1-0-1 at Maine (Feb. 6-7), including a 4-4 game one tie as well as a 5-1 win in game two.
Cal Petersen’s current 41-game starting streak dates back to that second game at Maine, when he stopped 33 of the 34 Black Bear shots he faced to earn the win.

CAREER STATS vs. MAINE
Anders Bjork 2 GP, 2-2-4
Mario Lucia 4 GP, 1-2-3
Jordan Gross 2 GP, 1-1-2
Luke Ripley 2 GP, 0-2-2
Sam Herr 5 GP, 1-0-1
Thomas DiPauli 5 GP, 0-1-1
Jake Evans 2 GP, 1-0-1
Andy Ryan 4 GP, 0-1-1
Ali Thomas 2 GP, 0-1-1
Connor Hurley 2 GP, 0-1-1
Justin Wade 2 GP, 0-1-1
Steven Fogarty 4 GP, 0-0-0
Ben Ostlie 2 GP, 0-0-0
Dawson Cook 1 GP, 0-0-0
Cal Petersen 2-1 (GP-GS), 1-0-0, 0.71 GAA, .977 Sv.%
Chad Katunar 1-1 (GP-GS), 0-0-1, 6.05 GAA, .862 Sv.%

BLACK BEARS AT A GLANCE
Maine carries a 7-17-6 record into the weekend, including a 4-10-2 mark in Hockey East play.
Over the last eight games, the Black Bears are 2-4-2 and were swept at home last weekend (Feb. 5-6) by Providence College by scores of 1-0 (ot) and 4-2.
Junior forward Blaine Byron leads the team with 21 points (8-13-21), while senior forward Will Merchant leads the team with 10 goals (10-7-17).
In net, junior Matt Morris is 6-7-3 on the season (3.07 GAA, .913 save percentage) and has started each of the last four games, including a 50-save performance in the 1-0 loss to Providence.
Freshman Rob McGover has a 1-10-3 record to go along with a 2.79 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.
In Hockey East play, the Black Bears are averaging 1.81 goals per game (ranking 11th out of 12), while giving up 3.00 goals against perr game (7th).

GROSS NAMED DEFENSIVE POTW
— Sophomore defenseman Jordan Gross put together a four-point weekend to help lead the Irish to a weekend sweep at Vermont (Feb. 5-6) and he was then named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Monday (Feb. 8).
Gross notched a pair of assists in Friday night’s 2-1 win and then added a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 3-1 victory.
It marked Gross’ first career weekly Hockey East honor, while it is the fourth time a Notre Dame player has earned Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors this season (Cal Petersen: Nov. 2, Jan. 4, Jan. 25).

FAST STARTS
Notre Dame has taken a 1-0 lead in 22 of its 28 games this season.
The Irish are 15-2-5 when scoring first.
Notre Dame is out-scoring opponents 30-11 in the first period (18-6 in Hockey East play).
The 22 first goals are tied with North Dakota, Providence, St. Cloud and Air Force for the national lead.

IRISH POINT STREAKS/TRENDS
Jordan Gross has a two-game point streak (1-3-4) and seven points (1-6-7) over the last five games.
Thomas DiPauli has notched seven points (2-5-7) over the last six games.

PETERSEN CARRYING THE MAIL
— Sophomore goaltender Cal Petersen has started each of Notre Dame’s first 28 games of the season.
Petersen leads the nation in minutes played (1688:19) and percent of team minutes (98.4).
Dating back to last season, Petersen has started each of Notre Dame’s last 41 games.
With 786 saves this season, Petersen ranks third in the country in total saves, trailing AIC’s Alex Murray (807) and Princeton’s Colton Phinney (794).
In Hockey East play this season, Petersen is 12-2-2 with a 1.75 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage.
Petersen is one of only four Hockey East goaltenders to have played at least 90 percent of their team’s minutes in goal (entering the Feb. 12 games):
1. Cal Petersen, ND — 98.4%
2. Nick Ellis, PC — 94.5%
3. Kevin Boyle, UML — 93.3%
4. Thatcher Demko, BC — 92.4%

PLAYOFF PICTURE
— With three weekends remaining in the regular season, the races for playoff positioning and the regular season championship are heating up.
All 12 teams will make the Hockey East playoffs, with the top-four seeds earning first round byes and hosting best-of-three second round series (first round series will also be best-of-three).
Notre Dame (12-2-2/26 points), Boston College (11-1-4/26 points), UMass Lowell (10-4-4/24 points), Providence College (10-3-3/23 points) and Boston University (9-4-3/21 points) are currently separated by just five points and in a battle for the top four seeds/first round byes.

GROSS OFFENSE
— Sophomore defenseman Jordan Gross is providing an offensive spark and ranks third on the team with 26 points (8-18-26).
Gross’ eight goals are a career-high total (freshman season: 42 GP, 7-21-28).
Gross’ eight goals rank tied for third nationally in goals by a defenseman.
Among defensemen, Gross’ 26 points are tied for the second most in the country with Providence’s Jake Walman (13-1-326) and they trail only Ethan Prow of St. Cloud State (6-23-29).

NARDELLA JOINING IN
— Freshman defenseman Bobby Nardella, who has been paired with Gross since the Merrimack series (the last seven games), is joining in to create one of the nation’s top scoring duos among defenseman.
Nardella’s 21 points (4-17-21) rank fifth nationally among defensemen.
Nardella and Gross have combined for 47 points, tied for the second most among two defensemen on any one team in the country:
49 — Prow & Nevalainen (St. Cloud State)
47 — Gross & Nardella (Notre Dame)
44 — Walman & Gilmour (Providence)
38 — Wilson & Golightly (Robert Morris)
37 — Toews & Priskie (Quinnipiac)

JACKSON RANKS
— Heading into the weekend, Notre Dame Head Coach Jeff Jackson ranks second in career winning percentage in NCAA DI (minimum five years):
.661 — Red Berenson, Michigan (827-403-88)
.660 — Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame (424-201-72)
.638 — Don Lucia, Minnesota (688-370-97)
.624 — Dean Blais, Omaha (388-222-58)
.622 — Dick Umilie, New Hampshire (570-327-101)
.620 — Jerry York, Boston College (1004-595-109)

HOME COOKING
— Notre Dame is 8-3-3 on the season at the Compton Family Ice Arena, including a 5-1-1 mark in Hockey East play.
— The Irish posted a 7-1 win over Western Michigan on Jan. 8 and followed up with a 7-2 victory over Merrimack on Jan. 15 for back-to-back home games with at least seven goals for the first time since opening the 1994-95 season with wins over St. Francis (10-2 on Oct. 14) and Waterloo (8-4 on Oct. 21).

IN THE POLLS
— In the rankings for the 13th consecutive week, the Irish stayed moved up to No. 8 in both the
USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls after the weekend sweep at Vermont.
— The No. 8 ranking is Notre Dame’s highest since being ranked No. 6 in the Nov. 18, 2013 releases of both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.