All you need to know about Notre Dame hockey's weekend series at Ohio State
COLLEGE HOCKEY
Who: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (15-6-0 overall, 8-4-0 Big Ten for 22 points) vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (15-6-1 overall, 7-4-1 Big Ten for 23 points)
When: Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m.
Where: Value City Arena at Schottenstein Center (18,809), Columbus, Ohio
TV/Streaming: Friday streamed on Big Ten Plus; Saturday on Big Ten Network. Radio: WZOC-FM (94.3) and UND.com.
Recaps: Both teams coming off five-point weekends on the road. … Coach Jeff Jackson’s Irish beat Penn State 4-2 Friday behind two goals by Max Ellis and won in overtime 5-4 Saturday with 0.2 of a second on Ellis’ game-winner. … Coach Steve Rohlik’s Buckeyes beat Wisconsin 5-3 Saturday and then won the shootout 2-1 Sunday after the teams battled to 2-2 overtime tie.
Rankings: Notre Dame remained No. 13 in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (coaches) and DCU/USCHO.com (media) polls. … Ohio State moved up to No. 15 in the coaches’ poll and No. 16 in the media poll.
► More:Center Cam Burke doing some of his best work on the road for Irish skaters
Rivalry: Notre Dame leads 41-40-11 in series which began with 7-1 Irish victory at the OSU Ice Arena on March 1, 1969. … Teams split series Dec. 3-4 at Lefty Smith Rink in Compton Family Ice Arena. … Buckeyes won 4-2 Friday behind 34 saves by Jacob Dobeš and goals by Travis Treloar, Will Riedell, Kamil Sadlocha and Georgii Merkulov. … Irish rebounded with 5-1 victory Saturday as Ryan Bischel stopped 24 shots and Ryder Rolston and Nick Leivermann each had a goal and an assist. … In games played in Columbus, Buckeyes lead 20-18-7 but Irish swept 6-1 and 8-1 last Feb. 5-6.
Scouting Fighting Irish: Junior right wing Max Ellis and grad-transfer goalie (from Cornell) Matthew Galajda have been named to the Hobey Baker Award’s Phase One Fan Ballot (to vote, go to website www.hobeybaker.com/vote). … Ellis continues to pace Irish in scoring with 14 goals, 10 assists and 24 points. … He is followed by sophomore right wing Ryder Rolston (6-11-17) and senior defenseman Nick Leivermann (6-11-17). … Ellis’ game-winner against Penn State was his second of the season, one behind Rolston and senior center Cam Burke (7-7-14), and Ellis has two shorthanded goals, one more than Burke and senior defenseman Spencer Stastney (3-10-13). … Galajda has a 9-3-0 record, two shutouts, .926 saves percentage and 1.92 goals-against average while splitting time with junior Ryan Bischel (6-3-0 record, one shutout, .932 saves percentage, 1.85 goals-against average). … NCAA team statistics: Scoring offense, 3.48 goals per game (14th of 59 teams); scoring defense, 2.00 (5th); scoring margin, 1.48 (6th); faceoffs won percentage, 0.533 (647-568) (11th); power-play percentage, 0.194 (13 of 67) (26th); penalty-kill percentage, 0.926 (75 of 81) (3rd); shorthanded goals, 4 (5th); penalty minutes per game, 11.05 (31st).
Scouting Buckeyes: Freshman center Georgii Merkulov, a native of Russia, paces Buckeyes with 11 goals, 11 assists and 22 points and is followed by 6-foot-4, 200-pound freshman defenseman Mason Lohrei (2-17-19). … Fellow freshman Cam Thiesing (5-12-17) and senior center Jake Wise (6-11-17) are next. … Freshman goalie Jacob Dobeš has a 14-5-1 record, two shutouts, .927 saves percentage and 2.14 goals-against average. … NCAA team statistics: Scoring offense, 3.68 goals per game (10th); scoring defense, 2.23 (11th); scoring margin, 1.45 (8th); faceoffs won percentage, 0.546 (718-598) (4th); power-play percentage, 0.182 (14 of 77) (33rd); penalty-kill percentage, 0.779 (53 of 68) (41st); shorthanded goals, 1 (29th); penalty minutes per game, 12.10 (21st).
— John Fineran, Tribune Correspondent