Entering its final homestand of 2024, Notre Dame hockey stands at a fulcrum.
Behind the Irish lies an active five-game losing streak dating back to their last home game, a Nov. 2 loss to Wisconsin. Looming large on the horizon is next week’s trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland, for two games across the pond.
Therefore, this weekend’s series against the No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers at Compton Family Ice Arena represents a critical juncture of sorts. Struggles with injuries, puck management and a stiff schedule have sunk the Irish to the basement of the Big Ten conference in the last two weeks. Notre Dame is coming off consecutive road sweeps at the hands of No. 5 Michigan and No. 2 Michigan State. Facing its third top-5 opponent in as many weeks, Notre Dame confronts an uncomfortable situation: win this weekend, or board the eight-plus-hour flight across the Atlantic on a seven-game losing skid.
Injury bug bites Irish
Injuries will again be a significant hurdle for Notre Dame to overcome this weekend. Leading up to last weekend’s sweep at the hands of No. 2 Michigan State, veteran Irish head coach Jeff Jackson found it fruitless to attempt making line combinations early in the week, unsure of which injured players would be able to skate. Jackson faces a similar situation this weekend.
“It's been a bit of a struggle trying to keep this team out of band-aids,” Jackson said. “I get the trainer's list after every practice and there's way too many names on it. So, it has become a factor. It's disrupted our lines, disrupted our special teams.”
Notre Dame’s leading scorer, sophomore forward Cole Knuble, did not play in either of the team’s two games last weekend in East Lansing. Sophomore defenseman Henry Nelson and forward Jayden Davis were also among the absences. But absences are only the most visible part of the story.
“We've got several guys that are playing injured right now, and they're not 100%,” Jackson said. “It's kind of the worst stretch that I can remember in quite a while.”
Puck management predicaments
Given the state of Notre Dame’s health, Jackson was pleased with his team’s effort in last Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Spartans. The Irish will have to put forward a similar effort, with better puck management, in order to pick up a win this weekend against the Gophers.
“I don't think we're defending poorly, but when you don't manage the puck very well or you make mistakes with the puck, that's when teams break you down and they get odd man rushes, [or] they go the other way with some speed.”
The Irish have been consistently burned in transition over the last two weekends. Michigan State scored six of their 12 goals against the Irish last week on line rushes or transition plays.
For Jackson, the responsibility of improvement lies on the team as a whole. An area to watch for this weekend will be how Notre Dame’s defense manages puck decisions on breakouts, and how its forwards manage puck support and decisions in the neutral zone.
Minnesota flying high
The Golden Gophers arrive in South Bend fresh off their second loss of the season. Bemidji State provided a jolt to the Gophers system last weekend, snapping Minnesota’s nine-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory in Bemidji.
Prior to last Saturday’s loss, Minnesota had strung together two wins each against Minnesota Duluth, St. Thomas, Penn State and Wisconsin. The Gophers also beat the Beavers on night one of the series, bringing their win total to 10 and placing them firmly among the leaders of the Big Ten.
Two transfers have been key to the Gophers success this season. Junior forward Matthew Wood, a Nashville Predators first-round selection and Connecticut transfer, leads the team with eight goals. Meanwhile, netminder Liam Souliere came over from conference foe Penn State and has posted a .940 save percentage in six starts. Souliere has split time in net with sophomore Nathan Airey. Neither goaltender has started back-to-back nights, and veteran head coach Bob Motzko so far has had little reason to deviate from that.
Expect a barrage of pucks on the Irish net this weekend, too. Minnesota ranks second nationally in shots per game (36.3) while the Irish have developed an unhealthy penchant for allowing shots in high volume. Notre Dame is currently allowing 35.5 shots against per game, the fifth-most shots nationally.
Emerald Isle awaits
After this weekend’s series against Minnesota, Notre Dame will depart for the Friendship Four, to be held Nov. 29-30 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Irish will board their flight to Dublin on Sunday, and spend Monday there.
The team will leave Tuesday for Belfast, where it will practice, sightsee and prepare for its first game Friday, Nov. 29, against Harvard. After last year’s 7-19-6 debacle, the Crimson have started the season with notable wins over Princeton, No. 18 Quinnipiac and a tie with No. 8 Cornell.
The winner of the Notre Dame/Harvard match will play for the BelPot Trophy against the winner of No. 13 Boston University and Merrimack on Saturday, Nov. 30. The losers will also play each other for third place.
This will be Notre Dame’s first appearance in the Friendship Four. Originally conceived as a part of the sister city agreement between Boston and Belfast, the goodwill tournament has been running since 2015.
