WHO: #13/12 Notre Dame (18-8-0, 10-6-0-5-1-0 B1G) vs. Penn State (14-13-1, 5-12-1-1-1-1 B1G)
WHEN: Friday, Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. ET // Saturday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. ET
WHERE: Compton Family Ice Arena
WATCH: Peacock // Fighting Irish TV (International)
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
NOTES (PDF)
SETTING THE STAGE
- Notre Dame continues with Big Ten play this weekend at Compton Family Ice Arena by playing host to Penn State (Feb. 4-5).
- The Fighting Irish are coming off a series split with then 10th-ranked Minnesota, including a 3-2 overtime win in game two that was capped by Landon Slaggert’s game-winning goal.
- Last weekend, the Nittany Lions tied Ohio State in game one, 2-2, before dropping game two 6-0 (Jan. 28-29).
- The Fighting Irish head into the weekend fourth in the Big Ten standings with 26 points, while Penn State is fifth with 17 points.
- Less than a month ago Notre Dame posted a sweep at Penn State, taking game one 4-2 (Jan. 7)behind a pair of Max Ellis goals and then winning game two in overtime, 5-4, with a dramatic Eliis goal scored with under one second remaining in the overtime stanza (Jan. 8).
- Spencer Stastney had a team-high three assists in Notre Dame’s series against the Gophers en route to claiming Big Ten Third Star of the Week honors (Feb. 1).
- Stastney has now tallied a point in eight of Notre Dame’s last nine contests (3-8-11) and has a three-game point streak (1-5-6).
- The Fighting Irish boast the nation’s top penalty kill at 92.93% (92-for-99) on the season and also have scored five shorthanded goals this season (Ellis 2, Cam Burke 2, Spencer Stastney), which ranks tied for fourth in the country (first in the Big Ten).
- Max Ellis leads the Irish with a career-best 25 points on a team-high 15 goals and 10 assists.
- Ellis’ 15 goals rank tied for 11th in the country (tied for third in the Big Ten).
- Trevor Janicke has a goal in each of Notre Dame’s last three games and ranks second on the team with a career-high 10 goals.
- Ryder Rolston now ranks third on the Irish with nine goals (he had one goal in 28 games last season as a freshman) and he has a team-best four game-winning goals (ranks tied for sixth nationally).
- Balanced attack: 15 Notre Dame players have scored this season, while 13 players have at least 10 points on the season.
- The Fighting Irish are 11-5-0 at Compton Family Ice Arena this season.
- The Irish are 12-1-0 when scoring first this season and 16-0-0 when scoring at least three goals.
- 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).
- Notre Dame has made each of the last five NCAA Tournaments, the longest streak in program history, and eight of the last 11 NCAA Tournaments overall.
- The five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the second-longest active streak in the NCAA, trailing only Minnesota Duluth (6), with Minnesota State (3) and St Cloud State (3) tied for third..
THE NOTRE DAME – PENN STATE SERIES
- Notre Dame has a 15-7-3 all-time record/series lead against Penn State in games played while both teams were at the NCAA DI level (ND leads 18-7-4 including games against Penn State from 1983-85).
- Earlier this season in a weekend series at Penn State (Jan. 7-8), Notre Dame posted a 4-2 win in game one and then recorded a 5-4 overtime win in game two.
- In game one, Max Ellis had a pair of goals and Landon Slaggert added the game winner with seven minutes left in the third period while Ryan Bischel had a career-high 38 saves.
- In game two, Cam Burke tied the game late in the third period on an extra attacker goal and Jake Pivonka, Spencer Stastney and Max Ellis combined for a dramatic game-winning goal with 0.2 seconds left on the clock.
- Nick Leivermann finished with a goal and two assists in that win, while Matthew Galajda posted 35 saves.
- The teams met five times last season, with Penn State knocking the Irish out of the Big Ten Tournament with a 6-3 win on March 14 in the teams’ third-straight meeting.
- To close out the 2020-21 regular season, the Irish swept the Nittany Lions by scores of 5-2 and 7-1 (March 5-6).
- In game one, five different players scored and Lansdell had a pair of assists.
- In game two, Max Ellis had a goal and two assists, while Alex Steeves and Jake Pivonka each had a goal and an assist.
- Earlier in the 2020-21 season, the teams each won an overtime game at the Pegula Ice Arena (Jan. 28-29), with Penn State taking game one 2-1 and the Irish winning game two 3-2.
- Spencer Stastney had the overtime winner in game two for Notre Dame.
- During the 2019-20 season, the Fighting Irish went 3-1-0 against Penn State as the teams split a series at the Compton Family Ice Arena as Penn State won game one 4-2 (Dec. 13) and a 4-2 Notre Dame win on Dec. 13.
- Then at Penn State, the teams skated to a 3-3 tie in game one (Jan. 31), with Cam Burke’s shootout winner securing the extra point, and Notre Dame posted a 4-2 win in game two (Feb. 1).
- In 2018-19, the teams met five times, culminating in Notre Dame’s 3-2 win in the Big Ten Championship game on March 24, 2019.
- Spencer Stastney, Cal Burke and Cam Morrison (game winner) scored for the Irish in the championship game, while Cale Morris made 46 saves en route to earning Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors for the second consecutive season.
- That championship game win over Penn State marked the 500th career victory for head coach Jeff Jackson.
- In 2017-18, Notre Dame was undefeated in five contests against Penn State (4-0-1) including a Big Ten Tournament semifinal victory.
- In that 2018 semifinal win at Compton Family Ice Arena, Jack Jenkins netted the game winner with 31 seconds left in regulation for a 3-2 win, propelling the Irish to the championship and sparking their “cardiac kids” run where they won five straight games by scoring the game-winner in the final minute of regulation or in overtime.
STEPPING UP
- Several Fighting Irish skaters have increased their point totals this season over the past few years.
- After a freshman season with one goal in eight games and a sophomore season with 16 points in 24 games (5-11-16), Max Ellis has 15 goals and 10 assists for a career-best 25 points in 25 games.
- Ellis posted the first hat trick of his career, capped by scoring the overtime game-winning goal, at Michigan on Nov. 20 marking the first visiting player to record a hat trick at Yost Ice Arena in 15 years (2006).
- In 26 games this season, Cam Burke has eight goals and nine assists for 17 points, all of which represent career-high totals for the senior.
- Junior Trevor Janicke has a career-high 10 goals in 26 games this season, besting his previous career-high of eight goals scored as a freshman and junior.
- Janicke’s 15 points are also a career-best total (had 13 points in 37 games as a freshman and in 24 games as a junior).
- Solag Bakich has a career-high 14 points (4-10-14) in 22 games this season after scoring once in 10 games as a freshman and then notching seven points (4-3-7) in 28 games as a sophomore.
- Ryder Rolston had six points on a goal and five assists last season as a freshman and now has nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points in 25 games as a sophomore.
- Defenseman Jake Boltmann joined the Irish for the second semester last season, skating in 19 games (0 points).
- This season, Boltmann has a goal and eight assists for nine points in 24 games.
NHL NOTE TO KNOW
- Former Irish captain Steven Fogarty made his Boston debut late in January to become the 14th former Fighting Irish player to appear in the NHL this season.
- The program’s 14 alums in the NHL ranked seventh nationally, trailing only North Dakota (23), Minnesota (23), Boston University (19), Boston College (19), Michigan (19) and Wisconsin (16) [totals as of Feb. 1, 2022]..
— ND —