- As the No. 4 seed (based on conference winning percentage), Notre Dame will play fifth-seeded Penn State for the third consecutive game at noon on Sunday, March 14 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
- It will mark Penn State’s fifth consecutive game against the Irish.
- The winner will play top-seeded Wisconsin at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, March 15 as there is no re-seeding at the 2021 Big Ten Tournament (see page 22 for the bracket).
- The teams have met twice previously in the Big Ten Tournament at Compton Family Ice Arena.
- In 2018, Notre Dame’s first season in the league, the Irish eliminated the Nittany Lions with a 3-2 semifinal win as Jack Jenkins scored the game winner with 31 seconds left in the third (current NHL defensemen Jordan Gross and Andrew Peeke also scored for the Irish in that win).
- Current seniors Matt Hellickson (one assist) and Colin Theisen played in that game, while Dylan St. Cyr was on the bench with Cale Morris getting the start.
- Then in 2019, the teams met in the championship game with the Irish once again posting a 3-2 win.
- Spencer Stastney opened the scoring in that game with his first career goal, while Theisen and Graham Slaggert added assists.
- The Fighting Irish are 7-2-0 all time in Big Ten Tournament games (6-0-0 at Compton Family Ice Arena) and captured the 2018 and 2019 Big Ten Tournament Championships.
- Notre Dame carries a five-game unbeaten streak into the tournament (4-0-1), tied for the fourth-longest active unbeaten streak in the country.
QUICK HITS
- Senior goaltender Dylan St. Cyr was named the Big Ten’s Second Star of the Week for the second consecutive week after helping the Irish sweep Penn State to close out the regular season.
- St. Cyr led Notre Dame to wins of 5-2 and 7-1 as the Irish improved to 14-12-2 on the year. For the weekend, St. Cyr stopped 75 of the 78 shots he faced for a .962 save percentage to go along with a 1.56 goals against average.
- St. Cyr has started 14 of Notre Dame’s last 15 games dating back to the 2-1 win at Minnesota on Jan. 16 while posting a 2.00 goals against average and a .939 save percentage during that span.
- Notre Dame finished the regular season tied with Wisconsin, Bowling Green and Michigan Tech for the most games played at 28 (both Notre Dame and Wisconsin were able to play each game on their schedules).
- Alex Steeves leads the Irish with 15 goals and 31 points and has at least one point in 21 of 28 games this season.
- Steeves’ 15 goals rank tied for fifth nationally, while his 14 goals in Big Ten play rank second to Cole Caufield (24).
- Steeves’31 points rank sixth nationally.
- Steeves enters the tournament with a six-game point streak (5-4-9), as does Landon Slaggert (3-6-9).
- Graham Slaggert leads the Irish with 18 assists and ranks second on the team with 25 points while his 18 assists ranks tied for ninth in the country.