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Michigan vs. Notre Dame hockey

Staff reports

ND Insider

WHO: Michigan Wolverines (12-11-6, 8-7-4-2 Big Ten for 30 points) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-10-3, 7-8-2-2 Big Ten for 25 points)

WHERE: Lefty Smith Rink at Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022), South Bend.

WHEN: Tonight at 7:30 p.m.

TV: SNY.

STREAMING: NBCSports.com and NBC Sports App.

RADIO: WZOC-FM (94.3) and UND.com.

RANKINGS: Jeff Jackson’s Irish are No. 15 in USCHO.com (media) poll and receiving votes in USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (coaches) poll. … Mel Pearson’s Wolverines are receiving votes in USCHO.com (media) poll.

PAIRWISE: Notre Dame tied for 18th and Michigan tied for 21st in Monday’s USCHO.com Pairwise Rankings that mimic the NCAA Selection Committee rankings for upcoming 16-team NCAA Tournament.

RECAPS: Notre Dame was swept at Ohio State 4-2 and 2-0 Feb. 1-2, was idle last weekend and fell to fifth in Big Ten standings. … Michigan beat Michigan State 5-3 Friday and 5-2 Saturday at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena to move into second place.

RIVALRY: Teams have played three times this season, splitting series in Ann Arbor Nov. 9 (Michigan 2-1) and Nov. 10 (Notre Dame 6-2) and Michigan winning 4-2 Jan 5 outdoors in Notre Dame Stadium. … This will be 144th meeting dating back to 3-2 OT victory by Notre Dame during 1921-22 season at Ann Arbor’s Weinberg Coliseum. … Michigan leads series 78-60 with five ties.

SHAVINGS: Sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes, a first-round NHL draft pick for Vancouver, leads Michigan in scoring (4 goals, 25 assists, 29 points). … Senior blueliner Bobby Nardella (7-19-26) paces Irish. … Cal Burke, healthy again after appendectomy, leads Irish with nine goals; Dylan Malmquist, Cam Morrison and Michael Graham all have eight. … Will Lockwood paces Michigan with 13 goals and fellow forwards Jake Slaker, Nick Pastujov and Josh Norris have 10 each. … Michigan is 6-7-2 away from Yost Ice Arena. … Notre Dame, which plays host to Wisconsin Friday and Saturday, is 6-6-1 at home.

QUOTING JACKSON: “We played pretty well at Ohio State; they remind me a little of us last year with their timely scoring. We just had a hard time generating enough offense to beat them. Against teams with good goaltenders and defensemen we have hard time finishing. We have to find a way to get over that hump.”

(On Pairwise Rankings and postseason) “All we have left are Big Ten games. We need to find a way over the next seven games to win as many games as possible. It’s a long shot probably to catch Ohio State, but it would be nice to play the first two rounds of the (Big Ten) playoffs at home.”