Notre Dame hockey capsule

COLLEGE HOCKEY

WHO: Sacred Heart Pioneers (1-2-0, 0-0-0 Atlantic Hockey) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-1-1, 0-0-0 Big Ten)

WHEN: Thursday and Friday nights at 7:35 p.m. ET.

WHERE: Lefty Smith Rink at Compton Family Ice Arena, South Bend.

TICKETS: Available.

TV: NBC Sports Chicago Plus. Radio: WZOC-FM (94.3).

ICE CHIPS: Coach Jeff Jackson’s Irish are coming off a 2-2 tie and 4-2 loss to the top-ranked Denver Pioneers, the defending NCAA champions, last weekend at Compton. … The 0-1-1 weekend dropped the Irish in the USCHO.com (media) rankings – from No. 4 to No. 6 – but they remained No. 6 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (coaches) poll. … It’s the third of four season-opening home series for Notre Dame, which plays host to Nebraska-Omaha Oct. 26-27 (7:35 p.m. each night) before beginning its inaugural season in the Big Ten at Ohio State Nov. 3-4. … The Irish have the nation’s best power-play unit that has converted five times in 13 attempts (38.5 percent). … Senior center and captain Jake Evans is second nationally in scoring (3 goals, 5 assists, 8 points) and he became the 52nd player in program history to reach 100 points (31-69-100). … Senior defenseman Jordan Gross (2-4-6 this season; 28-69-97) needs just three points to reach 100. … Sophomore Cale Morris and freshman Dylan St. Cyr are expected to each play a game in net this weekend. … The Sacred Heart Pioneers, members of Atlantic Hockey, scored a 3-1 victory over Connecticut last Saturday in Bridgeport following 7-3, 7-0 setbacks Oct. 6-7 at Northeastern. … Junior goalie Brett Magnus made 44 stops against UConn while sophomore Austin McIlmurray and freshmen Matt Tugnutt and Alex Bates scored the goals. … It’s the second series played between Sacred Heart and Notre Dame; the Irish swept a series back in 2008 at the Joyce Center by scores of 3-0 and 7-0. … Sacred Heart’s Executive Director of Athletics is former Major League Baseball player and manager Bobby Valentine.

Quoting Jackson: “I thought we played toe-to-toe with them (Denver) for large portions of the games. … I think Sacred Heart will be a pretty good team in the Atlantic (League).”