Michigan to Host Notre Dame in Final Home Weekend of Regular Season

Promotions

• Feb. 23: Fan Appreciation Night and Beach Party -- Michigan Hockey wants to show appreciation to all fans! Free cooler bag presented by Michigan Medicine to the first 3,000 fans in attendance.
• Feb. 24: Senior Night -- The Michigan Hockey senior class will be honored on the ice following the conclusion of the game.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team (15-12-3, 8-10-2 Big Ten) hosts Notre Dame (15-15-2, 9-11-2 Big Ten) on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 23-24) for the final two regular-season home games of the season at Yost Ice Arena. Puck drops at 8 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 23) and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 24) with both games airing on Big Ten Network. Saturday marks Senior Day as the program honors its seniors at the conclusion of the game.

Notes

• The Wolverines are in fifth place in the Big Ten with 28 points but have two games in hand over fourth-place Notre Dame, who has 31 points. This weekend is the final weekend the Fighting Irish have a chance to get points with their league bye week next weekend when Michigan is at third-place Minnesota. A sweep by the Wolverines this weekend would give them 34 points and move them ahead of Notre Dame into one of three first-round hosting spots.

• Michigan split on the road last weekend at Penn State, taking a 5-3 win on Friday (Feb. 16) before calling 4-2 on Saturday (Feb. 17). Gavin Brindley led the team with four points, scoring once and adding three assists.

• Michigan leads 86-70-6 in the all-time series with Notre Dame. The Wolverines are 45-33-4 against UND when playing in Ann Arbor, but the Fighting Irish have gone 7-2-1 in their last 10 games at Yost.

• Both Michigan and Notre Dame are strong at the dot, with Notre Dame ranked fifth in the nation at 54.6 percent and Michigan 12th at 53.2 percent. T.J. Hughes and Frank Nazar III are both tied as the leaders for the Wolverines in that category with 307 wins apiece.

• Michigan ranks sixth in then nation in penalty minutes, with a total of 214. Four Big Ten teams are among the top 10 in penalty time (Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame).

• Six players are averaging more than a point per game, as they continue to jockey as the team's leading scorer. Brindley is first with 39 points, followed by two-time National Player of the Month Rutger McGroarty, who has 38 points. Hughes, Dylan Duke, Nazar and Seamus Casey all follow with 35 points or more. In the last 25 years, no Michigan team has finished with more than four players averaging a point per game.

• The Wolverines power play continues to sit first in the nation, converting on 35.4 percent of their chances. The team has scored on 40 of 113 opportunities. Michigan has scored three power-play goals or more in five games this season. Dylan Duke leads the team in power-play goals with 10 and picked up his first career short-handed goal last weekend in State College.

• The Wolverines are scoring an average of 4.37 goals per game, ranking second nationally behind Denver. The Maize and Blue has 131 goals in 30 games; the program record for goals in a season is the 1976-77 squad that tallied 260.