Notre Dame hockey: ND vs. Rochester Institute of Technology

COLLEGE HOCKEY

Who: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-0-0) vs. Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers (2-1-1)

When: Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Lefty Smith Rink in Compton Family Ice Arena, South Bend

TV: NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Chicago Plus, NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus, SNY

Radio: WZOP-FM (94.3) and UND.com

Tickets:  Mobile single-game tickets and plans available through UND.com/BuyTickets. … Face masks must be worn in Compton except when eating and drinking.

Rankings: Notre Dame No. 13 in USCHO.com (media) and No. 12 in USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (coaches) polls. … RIT is receiving votes in USCHO poll.

Recaps: Coach Jeff Jackson's Irish won 2-1 in overtime at Michigan Tech Friday and 5-2 at Northern Michigan Saturday. … Coach Wayne Wilson's Tigers beat St. Lawrence 2-1 Saturday.

Series: Tied 2-2, all games at Joyce Center. … RIT won first meeting 8-3 on Oct. 28, 1988, and Notre Dame won 3-2 (OT) following night. … Irish won 6-5 (OT) in season opener Oct. 26, 1989, but RIT won 7-3 on Oct. 27.

NCAA stats: Irish are seventh (among 53 schools) in scoring offense (4.00 goals per game), eighth in scoring defense (1.67) and fourth in scoring margin (2.33) and tied with six other schools (including RIT) in penalty-kill percentage at 1.000 (17 for 17 to RIT’s 15 for 15).

525 Foundation Drop 2 Stop: An information table will be set up inside the main entrance of Compton before Friday’s game with RIT where fans will be able to drop off expired or unneeded pills as part of the foundation’s “pill drop” program. No liquids, syringes, inhalers or EpiPens will be accepted. Irish senior captain Graham Slaggert played youth hockey with Nick and Jack Savage, who tragically lost their lives due to opioid misuse and abuse.

Shavings: Junior right wing Max Ellis (1-4-5), junior center Trevor Janicke (2-2-4) and senior Cam Burke (3-0-3) lead Fighting Irish offense. … Senior Spencer Stastney (0-3-3) and grad-transfer (Connecticut) Adam Karashik anchor defense. … Goaltending chores split by grad-transfer (Cornell) Matthew Galajda (2-0-0 record, 2.00 goals-against average, .917 saves percentage) and junior Ryan Bischel (1-0-0, 0.92 gaa, .963 saves%). … Wilson, who played defense for Jerry York's 1984 NCAA champions at Bowling Green, is 387-268-72 in 22nd season with Tigers, members of Atlantic Hockey.  … Forwards Will Calberley (3-0-3), Andrew Rinaldi (3-0-3) and Nick Bruce (0-3-3) lead offense, Aiden Hansen-Bukata anchors defense and Kolby Matthews, who is 2-0-1 in three games, has a 1.95 average and .942 saves percentage.

Quoting Adam Karashik: “I weighed my opportunities after graduating UConn. When I went into the (transfer) portal, Notre Dame was one of the schools that approached me, and it was kind of a no-brainer for me.” 

(Being UConn captain and now being one at ND) “It’s special; I’m definitely honored. A great bunch of guys who made me feel comfortable right away – I didn’t feel like a new guy that long. They welcomed me and made me feel part of their brotherhood.” (This year’s team) “What has impressed me is our fight – we compete up and down the line. We have a lot of players who can play a hard, skilled game. There are a lot of guys who can score and make plays at any given time.”

– John Fineran, Tribune Correspondent

BIG TEN STANDINGS (OVERALL)

Michigan 4-0-0, 1.000, 21-8; Notre Dame 3-0-0, 1.000, 12-5; Michigan State 3-1-0, .667, 12-6; Minnesota 3-1-0, .750, 17-12; Ohio State 3-1-0, .750, 15-6; Penn State 3-1-0, .750, 14-9; Wisconsin 2-2-0, .500, 8-11.

Schedule

Thursday: RIT at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m.; Niagara at Penn State, 7 p.m.

Friday: RIT at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m.; Niagara at Penn State, 7 p.m.; Michigan State at UMass Lowell, 7:15 p.m.; Western Michigan at Michigan, 7:30 p.m.; Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota, 8 p.m.; Wisconsin at St. Cloud State, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday: Michigan State at UMass Lowell, 6:05 p.m.; Wisconsin at St. Cloud State, 7 p.m.; Michigan at Western Michigan, 7:05 p.m.; Minnesota at Minnesota Duluth, 8 p.m.

COLLEGE HOCKEY POLLS

USCHO.com (MEDIA)

1. Michigan (Big Ten) (4-0-0) 988 points (3 Last Week); 2. Minnesota State (CCHA) (4-2-0) 926 (1 LW); 3. St. Cloud State (NCHC) (4-2-0) 887 (2 LW); 4. Minnesota (Big Ten) (3-1-0) 843 (4 LW); 

5. Minnesota Duluth (NCHC) (3-1-0) 784 (5 LW); 6. North Dakota (NCHC) (3-1-0) 675 (7 LW); 7. Quinnipiac (ECAC) (2-0-1) 659 (8 LW); 8. Denver (NCHC) (4-0-0) 656 (11 LW); 9. Massachusetts (Hockey East) (2-2-0) 580 (9 LW); 10. Boston College (Hockey East) (2-1-1) 576 (6 LW); 

11. Omaha (NCHC) (5-1-0) 462 (13 LW); 12. Providence (Hockey East) (3-2-0) 388 (10 LW); 13. Notre Dame (Big Ten) (3-0-0) 382 (17 LW); 14. Harvard (ECAC) (0-0-0) 306 (14 LW); 15. Cornell (ECAC) (0-0-0) 269 (15 LW); 

16. Boston University (Hockey East) (2-2-0) 267 (12 LW); 17. Western Michigan (NCHC) (2-0-0) 181 (19 LW); 18. Michigan Tech (CCHA) (2-1-0) 166 (16 LW); 19. Bemidji State (CCHA) (1-3-0) 149 (20 LW); 20. Northeastern (Hockey East) (2-2-0) 80 (18 LW).

Others receiving votes: Colgate (ECAC) (4-1-0) 59, Clarkson (ECAC) (1-1-0) 41, Wisconsin (Big Ten) (2-2-0) 32, Ohio State (Big Ten) (3-1-0) 30, Penn State (Big Ten) (3-1-0) 19, Arizona State (Independent) (3-3-0) 13, Northern Michigan (CCHA) (2-1-0) 13, Lake Superior State (CCHA) (3-3-0) 9, Maine (Hockey East) (0-2-0) 9, UMass Lowell (Hockey East) (1-1-0) 8, Canisius (Atlantic) (1-2-0) 7, AIC (Atlantic) (0-3-0) 5, Bowling Green (CCHA) (1-0-1) 5, Bentley (Atlantic) (2-2-0) 4, Brown (ECAC) (0-0-0) 2, Connecticut (Hockey East) (2-3-0) 1, RIT (Atlantic) (2-1-1) 1.

USA TODAY/USA HOCKEY MAGAZINE (COACHES)

1. Michigan (Big Ten) (4-0-0) 510 (3 Last Week); 2. Minnesota State (CCHA) (4-2-0) 462 (1 LW); 3. St. Cloud State (NCHC) (4-2-0) 441 (2 LW); 4. Minnesota (Big Ten) (3-1-0) 402 (4 LW); 5. Minnesota Duluth (NCHC) (3-1-0) 369 (5 LW); 

6. North Dakota (NCHC) (3-1-0) 300 (6 LW); 7. Quinnipiac (ECAC) (2-0-1) 289 (8 LW); 8. Denver (NCHC) (4-0-0) 258 (11 LW); 9. Massachusetts (Hockey East) (2-2-0) 256 (9 LW); 10. Boston College (Hockey East) (2-1-1) 168 (7 LW); 

11. Omaha (NCHC) (4-1-0) 149 (14 LW); 12. Notre Dame (Big Ten) (3-0-0) 120 (receiving votes); 13. Harvard (ECAC) (0-0-0) 96 (12 LW); 14. Providence (Hockey East) (3-2-0) 87 (10 LW); 15. Cornell (ECAC) (0-0-0) 66 (13 LW).

Others receiving votes: Western Michigan (NCHC) (2-0-0) 31, Bemidji State (CCHA) (1-3-0) 22, Michigan Tech (CCHA) (2-1-0) 20, Boston University (Hockey East) (2-2-0) 14, Northeastern (Hockey East) (2-2-0) 7, Arizona State (Independent) (3-3-0) 5, UMass Lowell (Hockey East) (1-1-0) 3, Clarkson (ECAC) (1-1-0) 2, Colgate (ECAC) (4-1-0) 1, Lake Superior State (CCHA) (3-3-0) 1, Michigan State (Big Ten) (3-1-0) 1, Northern Michigan (CCHA) (2-1-0) 1.