NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey program is set to head East to faceoff against Big Ten foe, Penn State, Jan. 20-21 inside Pegula Ice Arena.
Both contests will be streamed on BTN+ with puck drop Friday night slated for 6:30 p.m. followed by a 5 p.m. start the following night to conclude the regular season series between the Irish and Nittany Lions.
QUICK HITS
- The Irish spent a weekend at home last week, facing off against No. 2/2 Minnesota for a two-game series. Notre Dame opened up the weekend with a shootout victory over the Golden Gophers, as Ryan Bischel made 36 saves between the pipes Friday night, including four highlight reel saves in the overtime session to keep the Irish hopes alive.
- In the shootout, Ryder Rolston net the lone goal for either side as the Irish picked up the extra point in conference play.
- The week prior at Wisconsin, the Irish split with the Badgers. After a 2-0 loss in game one, Notre Dame bounced back to a season-best six goals Saturday night en route to the 6-4 victory.
- Bischel picked up his nation-leading fourth shutout of the season in the team’s first game of the calendar year, defeating Alaska, 2-0, stopping all 25 shots faced in the contest.
- The Irish closed out the first half of their season with an 8-8-2 record following a split with No. 5/5 Penn State at home to enter the holiday break.
- In game two of that series, Bischel stopped a career-high 47 saves as the Irish picked up a 5-3 win, and amassed 81 saves over the two game weekend.
- With 730 total saves this season, Bischel currently ranks third nationally in the category.
NOTRE DAME vs. PENN STATE
- The two teams most recently met to close out the first half of the season at Compton Family Ice Arena. In the December series, the Irish split with the visiting Nittany Lions, 5-2 and 5-3, with ND taking the latter game.
- Captain Nick Leivermann led the team with three assists in their most recent outing with the Nittany Lions while Trevor Janicke (0-2-2), Justin Janicke (1-1-2) amd Chase Blackmun (0-2-2) all had multiple points on the weekend series.
- Ryan Bischel recorded a career-high saves in game two of the weekend series, registering 47 stops on 50 shots faced in Notre Dame’s 5-3 victory. In addition to his career night on Saturday, the senior netminder tallied 34 saves in game one’s loss for a two-game total of 81 saves.
- At State College, the Irish own an 8-3-3 record, sweeping their last set of road games against the Nittany Lions.
- All-time, Notre Dame is 21-8-4 against Penn State, having met 33 times in program history.
TEAM LEADERS
- Trevor Janicke’s 16 points (7-9-16) leads the Irish as do his seven goals.
- Ryder Rolston and T. Janicke each boast nine assists which is tied for a team-best.
- Jack Adams, who scored the eventual game-winner on night two with the Badgers leads the team with three game-winning goals. His other two came against Penn State and Ohio State.
- Three individuals boast multiple powerplay tallies, with Primeau, T. Janicke and Rolston all having a pair.
- Ryan Bischel recorded a career-best 47 saves against Penn State to end the first half of the season. His current save total is 730 which ranks third nationally while his four shutouts is second best in the country. Among Division I goaltenders, Bischel’s .924 save percentage ranks eighth in the country and sits second in the Big Ten Conference, just .001 behind top-ranked Justen Close at Minnesota.
- Always willing to jump in front of a shot, Jake Boltmann’s 44 blocks leads the team and is 11th nationally.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
- Ryan Bischel was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List on Thursday, Jan. 12. With 730 saves in 24 games played this season, the Minnesota native ranks third nationally while his four shutouts is second-best among Division I collegiate goaltenders.
- After 57 saves on the weekend against No. 2/2 Minnesota, which included a shootout victory over the Golden Gophers, Bischel was named Big Ten Third Star of the Week. The senior recorded a .919 save percentage over the two game series, improving his season save percentage to .924, ranked eighth nationally.