Notre Dame hockey: Irish set to face Michigan in Big Ten Tournament semifinal

These two teams were bound to meet again.

When Notre Dame put the finishing touches on a regular season sweep of Michigan at Compton Family Ice Arena two weeks ago, there was a sense the Irish’s undefeated record against the Wolverines was going to be on the line sometime soon.

Sure enough.

No. 3 seed Notre Dame (27-10-0) and No. 2 seed Michigan (27-9-1) will go head-to-head for a fifth time with a berth in the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game on the line. Puck drop at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich., is slated for 6:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network. Notre Dame has won seven straight games in Ann Arbor, including a pair of overtime victories in November.

“We’ve played well, but I also think we were fortunate in ways,” Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson said. “We had good goaltending, we defended well and did some good things in transition offensively. But I think we probably could have possessed the puck more coming out of our zone and through the neutral zone.”

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Keeping the puck away from the Wolverines is always priority No. 1 when Notre Dame faces Michigan. The Wolverines are as skilled as any team in the country. NHL Draft picks and Olympians galore. Give too many opportunities to a team like that, and it doesn’t normally end well. The Irish have done a good job controlling game flow against the Wolverines this season, and the 4-0 record reflects that.

The four previous times these teams met this season, Notre Dame had NCAA Tournament implications on its mind while Michigan had its eyes on the Big Ten regular season standings. Notre Dame was never truly in a position to contend for a top spot in the latter. But the Irish needed resumé boosting victories, and they got them. Subsequently, they kept the Wolverines from the top spot in the conference.

Those things are behind both teams. The Irish are firmly in the NCAA Tournament, and Michigan is not going to be able to host the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game because of its No. 2 seed (unless Penn State upsets No. 1 seed Minnesota, which is unlikely). This game is about bad blood, a chance to play for a trophy and simply peaking at the right time.

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Throw all the numbers out the window. Three periods — or more, if needed — to determine which team moves on and plays a week from today for the conference crown. For Jackson, it all goes back to puck possession. A 60-minute game of keep away, if you will. Michigan can’t score when it doesn’t have the puck. That mentality held the Wolverines to two goals in six periods two weeks ago. If Notre Dame keeps the opposition at that same rate, it has to like its chances of moving on.

“When you’re playing at this point in the season against the top teams, possessing becomes harder because you’re playing other teams that are like-minded and do the same thing,” Jackson said. “We may not have the overall skill that Michigan has, but we can certainly possess the puck collectively. And that’s how we haver to play against teams like Michigan or Minnesota.

“Or once you get to the NCAA Tournament, everyone has that same level of mobility. It’s about making good plays with the puck. Good puck decisions. Trying to avoid turning the puck over in your own en or in the neutral zone and certainly in the offensive zone. You want to possess the puck. You have to show some patience sometimes instead of forcing plays. You have to show patience and poise.”

If there was ever a weekend for that to occur for Notre Dame, it’d be this one.