(NOTRE DAME RELEASE)
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
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.
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