Here's how Notre Dame hockey matches up against Michigan in Big Ten Tournament semifinal

Big Ten hockey semifinal

Who: Third-seed Notre Dame (27-10-0) vs. second-seed Michigan (27-9-1) 

When: Saturday at 6:30 p.m. EST

Where: Red Berenson Rink at Yost Ice Arena (5,800), Ann Arbor, Michigan

TV: Big Ten Network 

Radio: WZOC-FM (94.3) and UND.com

► More on Irish hockey:Stastney sets up Janicke’s winner in final minute, No. 7 Irish icers survive to even series

Tourney tidbits: Coach Jeff Jackson’s Fighting Irish won best-of-three series against sixth-seed Wisconsin, losing 3-1 Friday before winning 3-2 Saturday and 4-2 Sunday at Lefty Smith Rink in Compton Family Ice Arena. … Coach Mel Pearson’s Wolverines swept seventh-seed Michigan State 4-1 Friday and 8-0 Saturday at Yost. … Other semifinal Saturday at 9 EST has fifth-seed Penn State (17-19-1) visiting first-seed Minnesota (23-11-0). … Winners meet for Big Ten Championship on Saturday, March 19 at the highest remaining seed and champion will receive automatic bid to 16-team NCAA Tournament field which will be announced on Selection Sunday, March 20.

Rankings: Notre Dame No. 8 in both USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (coaches) and USCHO.com (media) polls. … Michigan No. 4 in both USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (coaches) and USCHO.com (media) polls. … Michigan No. 2 and Notre Dame No. 9 in latest NCAA Tournament Pairwise Comparison Ratings. 

Rivalry: Michigan leads 82-69-5 but Notre Dame swept all four regular-season games – winning 3-2 and 5-4 overtime games at Yost on Nov. 19-20 and sweeping 4-1 and 2-1 at Compton Feb. 25-26. … Irish, who are 8-2 in their last 10 games against Michigan, have won their last seven games at Yost starting with 6-2 victory on Nov. 10, 2018.

Scouting Fighting Irish: Notre Dame is 10-4 away from home this season, 19-1 when scoring first and 23-1 when scoring at least three goals. … Irish are 15-5 since 2022 began, including 10-2 in its last 12 games. … Graduate-transfer (Cornell) goaltender Matthew Galajda has started eight straight games, recording 7-1 record. … Galajda has lowered his goals-against average to 1.98 and raised his saves percentage to .930 and has 17-6-0 record with two shutouts. … Defenseman Spencer Stastney (7-20-27) has 18 points (5 goals, 13 assists) since New Year’s Day. … Right wing Trevor Janicke (10-5-15) is next followed by linemates Graham Slaggert (6-8-14) and Landon Slaggert (6-8-14). … Despite missing six games in a row (Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin series in January and February), defenseman Nick Leivermann is 1-11-12 in last 14 games. … Another line to watch is grad-transfer (Providence) Jack Adams (4-5-9) and freshmen Hunter Strand (4-4-8) and Justin Janicke (2-5-7). … Defensemen Adam Karashik (87) and Stastney (62) are first and third in Big Ten in blocked shots. … Jackson is one of three finalists for Big Ten Coach of the Year (Minnesota’s Bob Motzko and Ohio State’s Steve Rohlik are the others). … NCAA team statistics (out of 59 teams): Scoring offense, 3.38 goals per game (8th); scoring defense, 2.11 goals per game (6th); scoring margin, 1.27 goals per game (7th); faceoff-win percentage, 0.541 (1,152-976) (7th); power-play percentage, 0.194 (24 of 124) (29th); power-play goals scored, 24 (28th); penalty-kill percentage, 0.903 (121 of 134) (2nd); shorthanded goals scored, 7 (2nd); penalty minutes per game, 10.43 (36th).

►Hockey:Karashik’s blocks speaking volumes for No. 8 Notre Dame

Scouting Wolverines: Since Jan. 8, Michigan is 13-3, losing 2-1 at Minnesota Jan. 21 to end four-game winning streak and then winning seven straight before being swept by Irish Feb. 25-26. … Wolverines are 16-5-1 at home, including 10-0-1 since 5-1 loss to visiting Minnesota Dec. 3. … Michigan had four players in the recent Beijing Winter Olympic Games – center Matty Beniers (18-20-38) and right wing Brendan Brisson (17-16-33) for Team USA and defenseman Owen Power (3-24-27) and left wing Kent Johnson (7-26-33) for Team Canada. … All four are first-round choices in recent NFL Drafts as are defenseman Luke Hughes (17-19-36), center Johnny Beecher (6-13-17) and right wing Mackie Samoskevich (9-17-26). … Michigan has 12 future NHL players, including 6-foot-6 Swedish-born goaltender Erik Portillo (27-9-1 record, 2.06 goals-against average, .929 saves percentage, three shutouts and three assists. … NCAA team statistics (out of 59 teams): Scoring offense, 3.97 goals per game (3rd); scoring defense, 2.16 goals per game (8th); scoring margin, 1.81 goals per game (4th); faceoff-win percentage, 0.501 (1,122-1,119) (29th); power-play percentage, 0.261 (36 of 138) (5th); power-play goals scored, 36 (7th); penalty-kill percentage, 0.837 (118 of 141) (16th); shorthanded goals scored, 7 (2nd); penalty minutes per game, 15.00 (2nd).

Quoting Jeff Jackson: “We’ve played (the Wolverines) well (last month), but they did some scary stuff when we played them here. They are very skilled, a very talented team. I’m sure they’re going to be highly motivated for us. … The two games at Michigan were a little different than the two games at our place. We played well, but they’ve certainly had opportunities to win those games as well. … Michigan and Minnesota are the most skilled teams in the league, so you have to play well with the puck.”

— John Fineran, Tribune Correspondent

BIG TEN TOURNAMENT

Number in parentheses is seed from regular season. All games are on Big Ten Network.

SEMIFINALS / Single-game elimination

Saturday, March 12

(3) Notre Dame (27-10-0) at (2) Michigan (27-9-1), 6:30 p.m. 

(5) Penn State (17-19-1) at (1) Minnesota (23-11-0), 9 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP / Single-game elimination

Saturday, March 19

Lowest remaining seed at Highest remaining seed, TBD