Tonight at Mariucci Arena, the No. 1 ranked Gophers face off against the No. 2 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The Gophers are coming off an 8-1 win Dec. 30 against Boston College to win the Mariucci Classic and overtake the Eagles for No. 1 in the nation. Notre Dame has not played in 24 days and once since Dec. 8. The Irish has won six in a row.
The game will also feature Don Lucia going up against his son, Notre Dame freshman Mario Lucia, for the first time. Here is the feature I wrote on them today.
Lucia, Gophers assistant coach Grant Potulny are just back from Russia, where they won gold with the U.S. at the world juniors. The team will be honored before the game.
Don Lucia flirted with not dressing defenseman Mike Reilly, but he is listed as an extra skater on the line chart. So I'd assume that means Lucia monitors his ice time and energy level.
Erik Haula is out with a finger injury. Nate Condon takes his spot.
Here are the lines
Gophers
