Previewing ND at Ohio State this weekend
Setting the table for Notre Dame hockey's weekend series at Ohio State:
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-10-2) vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (8-8-4)
When/Where: Friday, Jan. 12 and Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. in Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center (18.809) in Columbus, Ohio.
Radio: WZOC-FM (94.3) and UND.com.
TV/Streaming: Big Ten Plus (Friday) and Big Ten Network (Saturday).
Coaches: Notre Dame, Jeff Jackson (402-257-73 in 19th season) … Ohio State, Steve Rohlik (191-151-43 in 11th season).
Recaps: Irish were swept in home Big Ten series last Friday and Saturday by No. 3 Wisconsin, 2-1 and 7-4. … Buckeyes swept non-conference series with Bowling Green, winning 6-2 Friday in Columbus and 4-2 Saturday at Bowling Green.
Rivalry: Notre Dame swept visiting Ohio State in Nov. 10-11 series 4-1 and 3-0 and holds 46-42-12 edge in series which began with 7-1 Irish victory at the OSU Ice Arena on March 1, 1969. … Buckeyes hold 22-20-7 edge in games played in Columbus.
Rankings: Notre Dame is receiving votes in USCHO.com media and USA Hockey-The Rink Live coaches' polls. … Notre Dame is No. 21 and Ohio State No. 26 in latest PairWise Rankings which attempt to mimic method used by NCAA Selection Committee to determine participants in 16-team postseason tournament.
Scouting Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Freshman center Danny Nelson returns after missing four games while helping Team USA win gold medal at the World Juniors Championships in Sweden. … In seven games, the 6-foot-2, 212-pound Nelson tallied one goal and one assist, had +3 plus/minus rating and was 44-42 in faceoffs. … Notre Dame has lost five straight league games since 6-1 victory over visiting Michigan Dec. 1. … Senior captain and left wing Landon Slaggert leads Irish in scoring with 13 goals, five assists and 18 points. … Nelson (3-11-14), graduate defenseman Ryan Siedem (1-12-13), senior defenseman Drew Bavaro (4-8-12) and junior center Hunter Strand (3-9-12) follow in scoring. … Freshman center Cole
Boston College forward Cutter Gauthier (19) and Notre Dame forward Danny Nelson (11) on the face-off during the Boston College-Notre Dame game on Nov. 24 at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Indiana.
Knuble (218) and Nelson (213) are 12th and 14th nationally in faceoffs won. … Siedem's +11 plus-minus rating leads team and his 36 blocked shots are second to junior defenseman Zach Plucinski's 39. … Three of four goals scored by Irish last Saturday against Wisconsin were by freshmen: Carter Slaggert (2-3-5), Maddox Fleming (2-8-10) and Brennan Ali (3-6-9). … One of graduate goaltender Ryan Bischel's three shutouts (second nationally) came against Buckeyes. … Bischel's goals-against average slipped to 2.43 (22nd) and his saves percentage dropped to .926 (fourth). … ranked): Scoring offense, 2.73 goals per game (40th); scoring defense, 2.64 goals per game (18th); scoring margin, 0.09 goals per game (27th); power-play percentage, 0.176 (13 of 74) (42nd); penalty-kill percentage, 0.818 (63 of 77) (24th); faceoff-win percentage, 0.540 (732-623) (8th); penalty minutes per game, 10.41 (31st).
NCAA statistics (64 teams Scouting Ohio State Buckeyes
Following 1-1 tie (and shootout victory) against visiting Minnesota Dec. 9, Ohio State has three straight victories
against Mercyhurst (5-3) and Bowling Green (6-2, 4-2). … Sophomore center Stephen Halliday (5-14-19) leads Buckeyes in scoring followed by fifth-year senior defenseman Scooter Brickey (8-7-15), sophomore left wing Davis Burnside (4-11-15), junior right wing Cam Thiesing (7-6-13), freshman defenseman Theo Wallberg (1-12-13), senior center Patrick Guzzo (6-3-9) and graduate center Dalton Messina (3-6-9). … Brickey, a 6-foot-4, 214-pound defenseman in his second season after transferring from Western Michigan, earned Big Ten Third Star weekly honors for scoring three goals and blocking four shots in sweep of Falcons. … Freshman Kristoffer Eberly (1.98 goals-against average, .918 saves percentage, 2-1-1 record) and junior Logan Terness (3.24 average, .901 saves percentage, 6-7-3 record, one shutout) split netminding chores last weekend against Bowling Green. … Irish associate head coach Paul Pooley played with twin brother Perry for Buckeyes from 1980-84, totaled 114 goals and 270 points (both school records), had his uniform No. 22 retired and is a member of Ohio State Athletic Hall of Fame. … NCAA statistics (64 teams ranked):
Scoring offense, 2.75 goals per game (39th); scoring defense, 3.25 goals per game (46th); scoring margin, -0.50 goals per game (46th); power-play percentage, 0.220 (18 of 82) (18th); penaltykill percentage, 0.768 (53 of 69) (49th); faceoff win percentage, 0.491 (611-634) (44th); penalty minutes per game, 11.50 (20th).
Quoting Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson
On Ohio State: “Just like with us, they're a team that has been beat up a bit in the Big Ten. To me it's a matter of two teams finding their footing back in the conference. Ohio State is a team that is always disciplined in the way they play. They've found their footing since Christmas break. They are always a challenge, especially in their building.”
Up next
Notre Dame returns home for Big Ten series with Penn State on Friday, Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 20 at 6 p.m.