WHO: #14/15 Notre Dame (8-3-0, 2-2-0-0-0-0 B1G) at #1 Michigan (10-2-0, 5-1-0-0-0-0 B1G)
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET // Saturday, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. ET
WHERE: Yost Ice Arena
WATCH: BTN+
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
NOTES (PDF)
SETTING THE STAGE
- Winners of four straight including a sweep of Big Ten foe Wisconsin last weekend, No. 14/15 Notre Dame heads to Ann Arbor this weekend to take on top-ranked Michigan (Nov. 19-20).
- The Fighting Irish have also won five games in a row at Yost Ice Arena.
- With the sweep of the Badgers (Nov. 12-13), Notre Dame evened its conference record at 2-2-0-0-0-0, while Michigan has already played six conference games and is 5-1-0-0-0-0.
- Graduate Student Matthew Galajda helped the Irish to the sweep last weekend, going 2-0-0 with a 0.50 goals-against average and a .979 save percentage while pitching a 22-save shutout in game two.
- Galajda, who is now 7-1-0 on the season with a 1.38 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage, was named the Big Ten’s Third Star of the Week (Nov. 16).
- On offense, Max Ellis (2-1-3) led the Irish with a pair of goals and an assist as seven different players combined to score Notre Dame’s eight goals.
- In the 5-1 game one win over Wisconsin, Spencer Stastney had a career-best three assists.
- Ellis leads the Irish with 14 points on a team-high seven goals and seven assists, followed by Solag Bakich (3-7-10) and Ryder Rolston (2-7-9).
- Trevor Janicke ranks second on the team with five goals, while Ellis, Bakich, Rolston and Spencer Stastney are tied for the team lead with seven assists.
- All told, 13 Notre Dame players have scored so far this season, while 18 have at least one point.
- Ellis has a five game point streak (4-3-7), while Adam Karashik (0-3-3) and Rolston (1-3-4) have three-game point streaks.
- The Irish are 7-0-0 when scoring first this season.
- Notre Dame’s penalty kill is 41-for-43 on the season (.9535), which ranks first in the NCAA (Michigan’s power play ranks third in the NCAA at 31.25%).
- The Irish are averaging 3.61 goals per game, which ranks 11th in the NCAA (second in the Big Ten) and are also holding opponents to 1.71 goals-against per game, which ranks sixth nationally (second in the Big Ten).
- 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 BIG TEN STANDINGS
- This season, teams are awarded three points in the conference standings for a win in regulation.
- If the game is tied following regulation, both teams will receive one point, with a second point being awarded to the team that wins in either the 3-on-3 overtime period or the shootout.
- The conference standings now match a national standard: W-L-T-OTW-OTL-SOW.
GALAJDA SHUTOUT RANKS
- Graduate student Matthew Galajda made 22 saves to help lead the Irish to a 3-0 win over Wisconsin on Oct. 13, marking his second shutout for Notre Dame and the 21st of his career.
- A 2018 First Team All-American, his 21 career shutouts rank tied for third in NCAA Men’s Division I history:
- Rank Name (Years) GP Shutouts
- 1. Dryden McKay (2018‑pres.) 109 27
- 2. Ryan Miller (1999‑2002) 106 26
- 3. Michael Bitzer (2014‑2018) 138 21
- Matthew Galajda (2017‑pres.) 94 21
- 5. Joe Fallon (2004‑2008) 132 20
- 6. Ben Scriven (2006‑2010) 117 19
- Michael Garteig (2012‑2016) 124 19
THE NOTRE DAME – MICHIGAN SERIES
- All-time, Michigan leads the series 82-65-5, however, since their final season in the CCHA (2012-13), the Irish hold the edge with a 14-9-0 record.
- Notre Dame recognizes the first official meeting as a 3-2 overtime win by the Fighting Irish on Jan. 17, 1922 at the Weinberg Coliseum in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- The Irish and Wolverines met each season from 1991-92 to 2012-13.
- During the 2012-13 season, Notre Dame went 5-0-0 against the Wolverines, including a 3-1 victory in the championship game of the final CCHA tournament.
- In Notre Dame’s inaugural season in the Big Ten (2017-18), the Irish and Wolverines met five times, with the Irish claiming three victories, including a last second win at the 2018 NCAA Frozen Four.
- As time ran down in the 2018 NCAA Frozen Four semifinal (April 5), Cam Morrison slid the puck back to Jake Evans in the slot, who shot it five-hole for the game-winner with five seconds remaining – sending Notre Dame to the national championship.
- Notre Dame and Michigan’s other Frozen Four meeting came at the 2008 Frozen Four (Denver, Colorado) when the Irish posted a 5-4 overtime win to advance to the NCAA championship game for the first time in program history.
- Calle Ridderwall scored the game-winning goal in that contest at the 5:44 mark of overtime.
- Head Coach Jeff Jackson is 35-34-8 all-time against Michigan (including his time at Lake Superior State), while he is 12-6-0 all-time against the Wolverines in the playoffs.
- Jackson named current Michigan head coach Mel Pearson as one of his Team USA assistant coaches for the 1997 IIHF World Junior Championship.
- Jackson and Pearson helped lead USA to the silver medal in that tournament in Switzerland.
- Notre Dame leads the series 9-8-0 since joining the Big Ten.
- Notre Dame has a five-game winning streak at Yost Ice Arena, having swept a weekend series last season as goaltender Ryan Bischel led the Irish to a weekend sweep at then No. 4/3 Michigan on Nov. 27 (W, 3-2) and Nov. 28 (W, 2-1).
- Bischel stopped 55 of 58 shots he faced in the series for a .948 save percentage to go along with a 1.50 goals against average.
- Notre Dame goal scorers in that series included Nick Leiveramann, Nate Clurman, Grant Silianoff (GWG), Spencer Stastney and Alex Steeves (GWG).
- For the past two seasons, the teams have each posted road sweeps and are even at 4-4-0 in that stretch.
- During the 2018-19 season, the teams split the season series, going 2-2-0 against each other (with each team earning a home and road win), including the January 5, 2019 outdoor game at Notre Dame Stadium, as the two teams utilized the same ice as the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins of the NHL for the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.
- The Let’s Take This Outside game featured the largest crowd to attend a home hockey game for the Irish (23,422) but Michigan claimed the 4-2 win over the Irish.
- Notre Dame’s active career offensive leaders against Michigan include Graham Slaggert (12 GP; 1-5-6), Jake Pivonka (12 GP; 1-4-5) and Spencer Stastney (12 GP; 2-1-3).
- Ryan Bischel had the two starts last season at Yost, going 2-0-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average to go along with a .948 save percentage.
STEPPING UP
- Several Fighting Irish skaters have increased their point totals already this season over the past few years.
- Junior Max Ellis leads the team with 14 points (7-7-14) in 11 games.
- As a sophomore, Ellis had 16 points in 24 games (5-11-16) while he skated in eight games as a freshman and scored one goal.
- Solag Bakich has a career-high 10 points (3-7-10) in 11 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 two goals and seven assists for nine points in 11 games as a sophomore.
- Defenseman Jake Boltmann joined the Irish for the second semester, skating in 19 games (0 points).
- This season, Boltmann has a goal and five assists for six points.
— ND —