Hockey: What you need to know when No. 2 Michigan visits No. 8 Notre Dame this weekend

College hockey

Who: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (23-9-0 overall, 15-7-0 Big Ten for 41 points and fourth place) vs. Michigan Wolverines (25-7-1 overall, 16-6-0 Big Ten for 51 points and first place)

When: Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m. EST

Where: Lefty Smith Rink in Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022), South Bend

TV/Streaming: Peacock

Radio: WZOC-FM (94.3) and UND.com

► More:Trevor Janicke’s goal spree has others taking notice at Notre Dame

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

Recaps: Both teams coming off weekend sweeps. … Coach Jeff Jackson’s Irish stretched their winning streak to three games with 2-1 and 4-2 victories at Michigan State. … In the Friday victory, sophomore left wing Landon Slaggert had the game-winning goal at 4:23 of the third period, freshman center Hunter Strand had a goal and an assist and senior defenseman Nick Leivermann had two assists while grad goaltender Matthew Galajda made 36 saves. … In the Saturday victory, Notre Dame jumped to a 3-0 lead early in the second period behind goals by Justin Janicke, Jack Adams and Chase Blackmun; Janicke, Adams and senior defenseman Spencer Stastney each had a goal and an assist, and Galajda made 27 saves. … Coach Mel Pearson’s Wolverines have won seven straight games (and 11 of their last 12 since 2022 began) after sweeping visiting Ohio State 5-3 and 3-0 last weekend.

Rankings: Notre Dame No. 8 in USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (coaches) poll and No. 9 in USCHO.com (media) poll. … Michigan No. 2 in both polls. … In the latest NCAA Tournament Pairwise Comparison Ratings as of Thursday, Michigan is No. 1 and Notre Dame is No. 11.

Rivalry: Michigan leads series 82-67-5, including 30-29-2 in South Bend. … During last three seasons, the visiting team has swept five previous series. … Earlier this season in Ann Arbor, Ryder Rolston scored two goals, the second in overtime, as Irish rallied for 3-2 victory on Nov. 19. … The next night, Notre Dame again rallied from early 2-0 deficit to win 5-4 with Max Ellis scoring three straight goals, the last at 3:29 in overtime. … In 2019-20 season, Michigan swept at Notre Dame 3-0 and 3-1 in January, but Irish returned favor at Michigan 2-1 and 3-0 in February. … Last season, Irish won 3-2 and 2-1 in Ann Arbor in November, but Wolverines scored 5-1 and 3-1 victories in January at Compton.

Scouting Fighting Irish

Graduate goaltender Matthew Galajda (13-5-0 record, 2 shutouts, 2.02 goals-against average, .927 saves percentage) was the Big Ten’s Second Star of the Week after allowing just three goals and making 63 saves in two victories at Michigan State. … Galajda has shared goaltending duties with junior Ryan Bischel (10-4-0, 2 shutouts, 2.08 average and .924 saves percentage). … Irish have 16 players with 10 or more points, five with 20 or more points and another five within three points of 20. … Junior right wing Max Ellis (16 goals, 12 assists, 28 points) continues to pace team in scoring followed by sophomore right wing Ryder Rolston (10-15-25), senior defenseman Spencer Stastney (6-18-24), sophomore left wing Landon Slaggert (10-12-22), senior defenseman Nick Leivermann (6-14-20) and junior right wing Trevor Janicke (12-7-19). … Graduate defenseman Adam Karashik (1-13-14) has blocked a Big Ten-leading 72 shots (tied for fifth nationally). … Notre Dame is 13-5 at home this season and is 16-1 when scoring first. … NCAA team statistics (out of 59 teams): Scoring offense, 3.47 goals per game (8th); scoring defense, 2.16 goals per game (7th); scoring margin, 1.31 goals per game (6th); faceoff-win percentage, 0.529 (973-866) (11th); power-play percentage, 0.198 (20 of 101) (29th); power-play goals scored, 20 (34th); penalty-kill percentage, 0.915 (108 of 118) (2nd); shorthanded goals scored, 6 (3rd); penalty minutes per game, 10.59 (32nd).

Scouting Wolverines

Scouting Wolverines: Michigan’s four Olympians — center Matty Beniers (16-20-36) and right wing Brendan Brisson (17-15-32) of Team USA and left wing Kent Johnson (6-24-30) and defenseman Owen Power (3-23-26) of Team Canada – will be in action this weekend. … Michigan was 7-1 in their absence. … Freshman defenseman Luke Hughes (16-16-32) won Big Ten First Star of the Week honors after scoring three goals in sweep of Ohio State. … The Wolverines have five players who were taken in the first round of the July 2021 NHL Draft – Powers (No. 1 Buffalo), Beniers (No. 2 by Seattle), Hughes (No. 4 by New Jersey), Johnson (No. 5 by Columbus) and right wing Mackie Samoskevich (No. 24 by Florida) – and Brisson was taken No. 29 in first round of 2020 NHL Draft by Vegas. … Nine Wolverines have scored 21 or more points, including four players with 30 or more points. … Sophomore goalie Erik Portillo earned his third shutout of the season and is now 25-7-1 with a 2.12 goals-against average and .927 saves percentage. … NCAA team statistics (out of 59 teams): Scoring offense, 4.03 goals per game (3rd); scoring defense, 2.21 goals per game (8th); scoring margin, 1.82 goals per game (4th); faceoff-win percentage, 0.504 (1,014-999) (27th); power-play percentage, 0.258 (31 of 120) (7th); power-play goals scored, 31 (7th); penalty-kill percentage, 0.832 (104 of 125) (20th); shorthanded goals scored, 6 (3rd); penalty minutes per game, 14.61 (2nd).

Quoting

Jackson on Michigan: “You can’t give them power-play opportunities; they’ve just got too much offensive depth. … They play the game the right way and they’re a good transition team. … They bring energy into the building because it’s Michigan. … It’s a good way to finish the regular season, playing maybe the best team in the country.” 

On the horizon

First round of the Big Ten Postseason Tournament March 4-6. … A best-of-three series, Notre Dame will be a first-round host against either Wisconsin, Penn State or Michigan State. … Tickets are available.

— John Fineran, Tribune Correspondent

BIG TEN STANDINGS

(Conference)

Pts, GP, W-L-T, SOW, OW-OL, GF-GA

Michigan 51, 22, 16-6-0, 0, 0-3, 89-53

Minnesota 49, 22, 16-6-0, 0, 1-2, 77-50

Ohio State 42, 24, 13-9-2, 1, 1-1, 76-59

Notre Dame 41, 22, 15-7-0, 0, 5-1, 68-53

Wisconsin 20, 22, 6-15-1, 0, 1-2, 53-83

Penn State 17, 22, 5-16-1, 1, 1-1, 57-87

Michigan State 14, 22, 5-17-0, 0, 1-0, 46-81

(Overall, W-L-T, .Pct, GF-GA)

Michigan 25-7-1, .773, 133-73; Minnesota 21-11-0, .656, 111-77; Ohio State 21-11-2, .647, 118-79; Notre Dame 23-9-0, .719, 111-69; Wisconsin 9-20-3, .328, 69-111; Penn State 14-17-1, .453, 101-107; Michigan State 11-20-1, .359, 70-101.

Friday, Feb. 25

Michigan at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m.

Penn State at Michigan State, 7 p.m.

Wisconsin at Minnesota, 9 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 26

Michigan at Notre Dame, 6 p.m.

Penn State at Michigan State, 6 p.m.

Wisconsin at Minnesota, 8 p.m.