Gophers go for sweep against No. 1 Notre Dame

Good evening, hockey fans. Back at it at 3M Arena at Mariucci for the series finale of Gophers vs. No. 1 Notre Dame (7 p.m., FSN Plus). On Friday night, the Gophers finally got a puck past Fighting Irish goalie Cale Morris when Casey Mittelstadt scored with 1:25 left in overtime for a stirring, 1-0 victory. Minnesota outshot Notre Dame 33-25 and had a 58-40 edge in shots attempted in a fast-paced contest.

“No one should be complaining about Big Ten hockey after a game like that,’’ Gophers coach Don Lucia said afterward.

The big question is: Will the Gophers put together back-to-back outstanding efforts to get the sweep?

Minnesota (16-12-1 overall) improved to 7-9-1-1 for 23 points in the Big Ten standings and entered Saturday in a three-way tie for fourth place with Wisconsin and Penn State, who play each other at 7 p.m. in Madison. Notre Dame (19-5-1, 13-2 Big Ten) is well on its way to winning the Big Ten regular-season title and a bye into the conference semifinals. The teams in second through fourth place will be hosts to a best-of-three quarterfinal series, so the Gophers are in the mix for one of those spots – they’re one point behind third-place Michigan and five behind second-place Ohio State – with seven conference games remaining.

Friday’s win also helped the Gophers maintain their No. 9 position in the PairWise Rankings, which mimic the mathematical formula that the NCAA uses to fill its 16-team tournament field. That would make the Gophers a No. 3 seed in a regional. North Dakota, No. 11 in the PairWise entering Saturday, also is in the No. 3 seed band and is the host school for the West Regional in Sioux Falls, S.D., so Minnesota would not be placed in the West if it is in the same seeding band as the Fighting Hawks.

Mat Robson, who had a 25-save shutout Friday, will start in goal for the Gophers. He’ll try to make it three victories this month against No. 1-ranked teams. On Jan. 7, he had a 34-save shutout in a 2-0 win over then-No. 1 St. Cloud State.

Here are line combinations and defensive pairings:

GOPHERS

Rem Pitlick-Casey Mittelstadt-Brannon McManus

Brent Gates Jr.-Tommy Novak-Tyler Sheehy

Leon Bristedt-Mike Szmatula-Scott Reedy

Tyler Nanne-Darian Romanko-Jack Ramsey

Ryan Lindgren-Jack Sadek

Steve Johnson-Ryan Zuhlsdorf

Clayton Phillips-Jack Glover

NOTRE DAME

Cam Morrison-Jake Evans-Colin Theisen

Dylan Malmquist-Andrew Oglevie-Jack Jenkins

Dawson Cook-MIke O'Leary-Bo Brauer

Joe Wegwerth-TBD-Matt Steeves

Jordan Gross-Andrew Peeke

Dennis Gilbert-Justin Wade

Bobby Nardella-Tory Dello

Cale Morris in goal.