WHO: #12/13 Notre Dame (12-8-1, 5-6-0-0 B1G) at Wisconsin (8-9-3, 4-3-3-1 B1G)
WHEN: Friday, January 18 – 9 p.m. ET | Sunday, January 20 – 7:30 p.m. ET
WHERE: Friday – Kohl Center | Sunday – United Center
WATCH: Friday – ESPNU | Sunday – Big Ten Network
LISTEN: Friday Radio Broadcast | Sunday Radio Broadcast
TICKETS: Click here (Sunday game)
THE SERIES VS. WISCONSIN
- Former opponents in the WCHA, Notre Dame and Wisconsin have met 68 times in program history with Wisconsin leading the all-time series 40-21-7.
- The first meeting between the two teams came during the 1921-22 season when the Irish skated away with a 3-0 victory at Badin Rink (outdoors at Notre Dame).
- The teams met once more, in 1925-26, before taking a 40 year hiatus and returning to competition when Notre Dame earned varsity status.
- The Irish and Badgers played the first hockey game in the Kohl Center on Oct. 3, 1998, with Notre Dame posting a 2-1 win.
- In Madison, Wisconsin leads all-time series 20-10-2
- Since Notre Dame joined the Big Ten prior to the start of last season, the Irish lead the series with Wisconsin 3-1-0 (the Irish outscored the Badgers 13-11 during those four games).
- Notre Dame’s returning offensive leaders against the Badgers include Cal Burke (4 GP, 3-1-4), Dylan Malmquist (4 GP, 2-2-4), Cam Morrison (4 GP, 0-3-3), Colin Theisen (4 GP, 0-3-3), Mike O’Leary (4 GP, 1-1-2) and Andrew Peeke (4, 1-1-2).
- In net, Cale Morris played all four games against Wisconsin last season, posting a 3-1-0 record to go along with a 2.75 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
- Last season on Dec. 8-9 at the Kohl Center, the Irish put together a weekend sweep of the Badgers to extend their winning streak to 13 games.
- In game one of that series, behind two goals from Dylan Malmquist and a Dawson Cook tally, the Irish erased a 2-0 third period deficit for a 3-2 win.
- In game two, Cal Burke recorded his first career hat trick en route to a 6-2 Notre Dame victory.
- That winning streak eventually reached a program-best mark of 16 before Wisconsin defeated the Irish at the United Center on Jan. 21 by a score of 5-0.
- This season’s meeting at the United Center will mark the seventh neutral site game between the two teams, with the Badgers leading 5-1-0.
- As a head coach, Jeff Jackson is 4-3-0 all-time against the Badgers (1-1-0 at Lake Superior State).
- The one win Jackson had over the Badgers at Lake Superior State came on April 4, 1992, in Albany, New York, as the Lakers defeated Wisconsin 5-3 to win the NCAA Championship (the first of Jackson’s two NCAA Championships at Lake State).
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- 308 – In his 14th season, head coach Jeff Jackson now has 308 career wins at Notre Dame (308-185-55), breaking Lefty Smith’s longtime record of 307 wins behind the Irish bench.
- 50 – Notre Dame is in the midst of its 50th season of varsity hockey at the University.
- 40 – Over the last two seasons to date, the Fighting Irish have racked up 41 wins, which ranks tied for second in the NCAA with St. Cloud State and trails only Minnesota State’s 47 (through Jan. 16 games).
- 19 – Former Fighting Irish goaltender Cal Petersen, who led Notre Dame to the 2017 Frozen Four, made his NHL debut for Los Angeles on Nov. 13, becoming the 19th player to reach the NHL after skating for Jeff Jackson at Notre Dame.
- 9 – On Jan. 4, former Notre Dame All-American Erik Condra made his season debut for the Dallas Stars, becoming the ninth former Irish player to appear in the NHL this season.
- 7.7 – At 7.7 penalty minutes per game, the Irish are the second-least penalized team in the country behind only Princeton (6.1).
- 7 – With the 2018 Big Ten tournament and regular season-titles, Notre Dame has now won seven conference championships in program history, each under Jeff Jackson (three regular-season).
- 2 – Against Mercyhurst on Oct. 12, junior Cal Burke notched a third period hat trick – the second of his career. He became the first Irish player since Anders Lee with multiple career hat tricks.
OTHER TIDBITS
- Over the last two seasons, the Irish are 17-4-1 in road contests (21-6-2 over the past two seasons in road and neutral site games combined).
- In a season-plus now of Big Ten conference road games, Notre Dame is 13-4-1 (9-2-1 in 2017-18)
- The Irish took zero penalties in game one of their recent series versus Minnesota (Jan. 11), marking their first penalty-free game since December 2, 2017 at Michigan State (W, 2-0).
- The Fighting Irish are set to play at the United Center for a third consecutive season.
- Home to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Irish played at the United Center in the national semifinals at the 2017 Frozen Four (6-1 loss to eventual 2017 NCAA Champion Denver).
- Last season, Wisconsin snapped Notre Dame’s program record 16-game winning streak with a 5-0 win in the United Center game (Jan. 21).
- Last season the United Center game replaced a Notre Dame home game, while this season it replaces a Wisconsin home game.
- Notre Dame has played seven games this season in which the Irish and their opponent have both been ranked inside the top-10 at the time of puck drop (ND is 3-4-0 in those contests).
- All told, the Irish are 4-5-0 against ranked opponents this season.
- The Irish enter the Wisconsin series with the 10th-hardest strength of schedule in the country (College Hockey News).