Pregame: Father-son Lucia rivalry on display this weekend at Mariucci Arena

Each year Don Lucia and Mario Lucia face off it gets a little bit easier emotionally, Don is convinced. However, in the third year of the Gophers vs. Notre Dame/father vs. son rivalry the matchup will mean more on the ice.

Notre Dame's junior forward Mario Lucia is the reigning Hockey East Player of the Month and leads the Irish in scoring. His hot start that includes a hat trick and game-winning goal has fueled Notre Dame's current six-game unbeaten streak.

Gophers coach Don Lucia is very aware of his son's scoring presence.

"We've got to do a good job of getting a body on him and preventing him from creating offense for them," Don said. "He's off to a good start."

Don was a defenseman and assistant captain at Notre Dame from 1977-1981. Here's a look at his years as a college athlete:

• NO. 1 GOPHERS vs. NO. 15 NOTRE DAME

7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday at Mariucci Arena

Gophers at a glance: The Gophers (5-1) are banged up heading into the second month of the season. Senior forward Travis Boyd will miss a month and junior forward Brady Skjei at least two weeks after the pair suffered lower-body injuries last weekend against St. Cloud State. Even senior captain Kyle Rau was nursing an upper-body injury throughout the week, but he'll play. The Gophers used the week of practice to restructure their power-play and penalty-kill units without Boyd and Skjei. They will rely heavily on the team's young talent and freshman defensemen Ryan Collins, Jack Glover and Steve Johnson to shut down one of the best offenses in college hockey.

For more on Notre Dame and TV details for Friday night, read full series preview.

• Gophers Friday lines
Forwards (left wing, center, right wing)
Leon Bristed, Kyle Rau, Hudson Fasching
Sam Warning, Justin Kloos, Taylor Cammarata
Connor Reilly, Vinni Lettieri, Seth Ambroz
A.J. Michaelson, Christian Isackson, Ryan Reilly

Defensemen (left, right)
Ben Marshall, Michael Brodzinski
Mike Reilly, Ryan Collins
Jake Bischoff, Jack Glover

Goaltenders
Adam Wilcox, Nick Lehr, Ryan Coyne