SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey team returns to the road this weekend after three weeks in South Bend as they head East to face off against the Penn State University Nittany Lions. The two teams will close out the regular season series with a Friday-Saturday tilt with the first of the two getting underway at 7p.m. on B1G+. Game two of the weekend series is slated for a 6p.m. puck drop, also on B1G+.
The two teams previously met in a historic series earlier this season where they clashed under the lights of Wrigley Field as part of the 2025 Frozen Confines series, hosted by the Big Ten Conference.
SERIES OVERVIEW
Opponent: Penn State Nittany Lions | Feb. 14-15
Location: State College, Pa. | Pegula Ice Arena
Schedule: 7p.m. (Fri.) | 5p.m. (Sat.)
TV: B1G+
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Radio: fightingirish.com/radioaffiliates/
Game Notes: Notre Dame
QUICK HITS
- The Irish hit the road again following three weeks at home as they head to State College, Pa. for a pair of tilts with Penn State.
- The two teams previously met to open the 2025 calendar year where the Irish went 0-1-1, including a shootout victory at Wrigley Field.
- The team’s most recent road trip saw a weekend split at No. 3/3 Minnesota. The Irish fell to the home team 5-2 Friday night despite holding the Golden Gophers scoreless in the final 40 minutes before rebounding Saturday with a 4-3 overtime win.
- Blake Biondi net the game-winning tally, his first with the Irish, at 3:46 of overtime after Notre Dame kept the Gophers from possessing the puck for the duration of OT.
- The team’s top two line centers each registered a faceoff win in the extra session to maintain possession before Biondi buried the game-winner off a feed from Cole Knuble. The assist, Knuble’s second point of the night, put him at 25 points on the season and extended his point streak to four games (2-5-7).
- In 102:12 played in goal at Minnesota, Owen Say stopped 52 of 55 shots faced, including all 22 shots in the second and third period Friday night after coming in for relief to start the middle period.
- The Irish defeated Michigan 7-4 to split the weekend series in their last home conference weekend. Partway through the second frame, Notre Dame scored three goals in a span of 32 seconds. The three goal sequence in 32 seconds set a program record.
- With five points on the night, including his first career hat trick, Janicke became the first Irish skater to boast five points in a single game since Bobby Nardella in the 2018-19 season.
- Danny Nelson was on the ice for six of the team’s seven goals Saturday night against Michigan for a +6 on-ice rating which set a Big Ten Conference record. The sophomore center appeared on the box score three times that night with a goal and two assists.
- In game one of the series against Michigan, Cole Knuble had a hand in all three Irish goals, picking up a goal and two assists. The team leader in points became the first Irish player to 20 points this season and now sits at 22 points in 18 games played thus far (8-14-22).
- Justin Janicke’s six point weekend (3-3-6) also escalated him to 20 points and Big Ten Second Star of the Week honors.
- The opening contest of 2025 marked Notre Dame’s fourth-ever appearance in an outdoor contest, having previously played at Soldier Field (2013), Fenway Park (2014) and Notre Dame Stadium (2019).
- The Irish and Nittany Lions went to an eight-round shootout, the team’s first shootout of the season, Friday night. After the Nittany Lions scored in the first round of the shootout, Hunter Strand evened it up in round two. Nicholas Kempf proceeded to stop seven straight shots in the shootout to clinch the victory after Ryan Helliwell scored in the eighth round to give the Irish the advantage.
- The Irish wore a new jersey for Friday’s contest with the design meant to replicate those of the iconic Chicago flag and the Chicago Cubs (MLB).
- Notre Dame’s signature leprechaun could be seen on the front of the white jersey inside the “C” of the Cubs organization while the striping on the sleeves takes an Irish twist on the city’s flag, replacing the notable red stars with gold shamrocks.
- The teams closed out the weekend on Sunday with the first game at Compton Family Ice Arena of the new year where the Irish fell 3-0 to Penn State.
NOTRE DAME vs. PENN STATE
- The Irish and Nittany Lions close out their regular season series with a pair of games at Pegula Ice Arena, Feb. 14-15.
- In 41 all-time meetings between the two teams, the Irish hold a 24-10-7 record, of which the Irish are 9-4-5 while visiting State College.
- Earlier this year the two teams met in their first-ever neutral site contest when they faced off at Wrigley Field as part of the 2025 Frozen Confines, hosted by the Big Ten.
- The teams skated to a 3-3 tie with Ryan Helliwell netting the shootout winner in an eight round battle.
- Unofficially, Chicago native Nicholas Kempf finished with 46 saves in the contest after making seven saves in the shootout en route to the victory in his hometown.
- Carter Slaggert scored his first goal of the season to tie things up for the Irish in the third period and force the overtime session.
- Jack Larrigan’s assists on the first and third goals in the outdoor contest was a career best for the rookie as he posted his first collegiate multi-point game.
- Hunter Strand scored in the second round of the shootout to even things up before Kempf backstopped the Irish with seven consecutive saves to clinch the extra conference point following Ryan Helliwell’s eighth-round dagger.
- Last season the two teams skated to a pair of ties at Pegula Ice Arena with each team taking one of the shootouts.
- Then-freshman Maddox Fleming tied it up in game one of the season series to record his first collegiate goal. Classmate Cole Knuble then scored the ultimate game-clincher in round three of the shootout for his first unofficial goal with the Irish.
- With six points in last season’s meetings with the Nittany Lions, Danny Nelson led the team. His last outing against the Nittany Lions came Jan. 20, 2024 in which he recorded his first multi-goal game.