Notre Dame hockey capsule, Jan. 18
WHO: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-8-1, 5-6-0-0 Big Ten) vs. Wisconsin Badgers (8-9-3, 4-3-3-1 Big Ten)
WHEN/WHERE: Friday at 9 p.m. EST in Kohl Center (15,359), Madison, Wis.; Sunday at 7:30 p.m. EST in United Center (19,717), Chicago.
TV: Friday, ESPNU; Sunday, Big Ten Network.
RADIO: WZOC-FM (94.3) and UND.com.
RANKINGS: Notre Dame is No. 12 in the USCHO.com (media) and No. 13 in USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (coaches) polls. … Wisconsin receiving votes in media poll. … In latest NCAA Tournament Pairwise Comparison Ratings, Notre Dame is 13th and Wisconsin is 28th.
RECAPS: Notre Dame’s Big Ten losing streak stretched to four with 5-1, 2-1 setbacks to visiting Minnesota last weekend. … Wisconsin dropped 6-2 decision to U.S. National Under-18 Team Saturday.
RIVALRY: Last season, Irish swept Badgers at Kohl Center 3-2 and 6-2 and won on Lefty Smith Rink at Compton Family Ice Arena 4-2 before dropping 5-0 decision at United Center Jan. 21, 2018 to end school-record 16-game winning streak. … Wisconsin has 40-21 lead in 68-game series that began with 3-0 Irish victory on outdoor Badin Rink in 1921-22 season. … Teams meet again Feb. 15-16 at Notre Dame.
ICE CHIPS: On medical front, Irish coach Jeff Jackson lists leading scorer/junior right wing Cal Burke (appendectomy) and junior left wing Cam Morrison (upper body) as week-to-week and several unnamed players are playing through injuries; senior left wing Joe Wegwerth (torn knee ACL surgery) is out for season. … Burke, Morrison and Wegwerth have accounted for 23 goals. … Notre Dame averaging 2.95 goals per game and allowing 2.33; Wisconsin is 3.15 for, 3.05 against. … Dylan Malmquist (6 goals, 14 assists, 20 points) leads healthy scorers with defensemen Bobby Nardella (5-13-18) and Andrew Peeke (2-11-13) next. … Junior Cale Morris (2.30 goals-against) and sophomore Dylan St. Cyr (2.02) split netminding duties last weekend. … Irish are 21-6-2 over past two seasons on road and at neutral sites. … Despite four-game league skid, sixth-place Irish just eight points behind first-place Ohio State. … Defensemen K’Andre Miller (4-13-17) and Wyatt Kalynuk (7-9-16) lead Tony Granato’s Badgers in scoring. … Forward Sean Dhooghe has team-high 9 goals. … Goalie Daniel Lebedeff has 2.74 average. … Miller and Lebedeff are freshmen, Kalynuk and Dhooghe sophomores on Wisconsin team that is fourth youngest (behind Boston University, Boston College and Denver) in Division I at 20 years, 286 days; Irish seventh at 20-358. … Kohl Center rink is Olympic-size (200 feet by 100 feet) so Irish have practiced on Olympic rink at Compton. … United Center rink is NHL-size (200 by 85); Smith Rink is 200 by 90. … Following series, Irish play host to Michigan State Jan. 25-26.
QUOTING JACKSON: “We’ve just got to get healthy. In the meantime, we’re going to have to find a way to score goals. … We’re relying on guys to step up and put the puck in the net. … Most important thing we need is to get to the bye week (Irish are off from Feb. 2-12) but that’s three weeks away. … We need to start scoring goals to take the pressure off our goalies. … Wisconsin is a good team now, but they are really going to become a good team. … They’re young but Tony’s done a really good job recruiting.”