The Irish take to the road for the first time in 2025 for a series with the Gophers
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team played to another series split last weekend against the Michigan Wolverines. This weekend they head out on the road for a series with the Minnesota Gophers, who are ranked #3 in the country and are currently second in the Big Ten conference.
Where, When, How to Watch
- Where: 3M Arena at Mariucci, Minneapolis, MN
- When: Friday, January 17, 8pm ET; Saturday, January 18, 6pm ET
- How to Watch: Both games streaming on B1G+
Notre Dame split a home series with the Michigan Wolverines last weekend in two high scoring affairs. The Irish offense showed up over two games, but the defense/goaltending was uncharacteristically porous. This ended up in a series where Notre Dame outscored Michigan 10-9. The Irish offense hasn’t proven it can consistently score at that rate, but it is an encouraging sign nonetheless that they have that ability. The defense will need to get back to form, but if the defense can do that without the offense regressing that can help power a run from this team.
Notre Dame and Minnesota have met earlier this season, just before Thanksgiving. That series was in South Bend and Minnesota won both games in fairly non-competitive fashion. The Irish were able to score that series as well, slightly above their season average at least. The issue again was their defense. Any team will struggle against this Minnesota offense though, with the top four point getters on their team all better than anybody on the Irish roster. They are led by junior Jimmy Snuggerud who has 30 points on the season, but is far from their only threat. They are a team loaded with talent and are ranked #3 in the country for a reason, and the Irish will need to slow them down to have any chance this weekend.
Last weekend Notre Dame was powered by a career day from Justin Janicke, who had a hat trick and 5 points in their game two win. He now trails only Cole Knuble in points and is making a charge to catch up to his teammate. The return of Danny Nelson also helped as he had 3 points of his own in their win last week. Consistent scoring from other top players like those two is another key to making a late season push for Notre Dame.
What will need to improve from last weekend for Notre Dame is their goaltending. Nicholas Kempf got the start on Friday and endured this worst of the weekend in the game one loss. Both he and Owen Say, who started and won game two, performed below their season averages against Michigan. The tandem has been good if not great, although Say was named to the Mike Richter Award Initial Watchlist earlier this week. To play even at their season averages would’ve allowed a rather easy sweep last weekend. Combine that with increased scoring and the Irish may just be turning the corner.
Prediction
Going on the road against the number 3 team in the country is no easy task. Notre Dame has already lost to Minnesota twice at home and they do not match up well. The Irish are facing the distinct possibility of being swept this weekend and, depending on other results, falling into last place in the Big Ten. Managing a split would be a huge win for this team but will not be easy.