Buckeyes Wrap Up Regular Season vs. Notre Dame

Thursday, March 5

Columbus, Ohio

6:30 p.m.

Ohio State

Notre Dame

Buy Tickets

Buckeyes Wrap Up Regular Season vs. Notre Dame

3/3/2026 6:59:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Ohio State PDF Notes

Teams will meet Thursday and Friday in Columbus

The Basics

The Ohio State men's hockey team wraps up the regular season with two games against Notre Dame this week in Columbus.
The Buckeyes and Fighting Irish will meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday in the Schottenstein Center.
Both games will be streamed through B1G+.
Ohio State Radio will carry the action (1460 AM Columbus, WBNS-FM-HD2, streamed on espncolumbus.com and OhioStateBuckeyes.com and on the Ohio State Buckeyes app).
Live stats can be linked from the schedule page on OhioStateBuckeyes.com for both games.
Game one features Script Ohio on Ice during the first intermission and it is Dollar Dog night with $1 hot dogs.
Game two is Senior Night, with the Class of 2026 – Davis Burnside, Jake Dunlap, Adam Eisele and Ethan Straky – recognized pregame.
Ohio State is 12-18-2 on the year (8-13-1, 27 points Big Ten) and is coming off a win and a tie at then-No. 1 Michigan State (W 5-1, T OT 3-3/SL). Notre Dame has a 7-22-5 overall mark (3-17-2, 12 points B1G) and had a tie and overtime loss vs. then-No. 5 Penn State last week (T OT 3-3/SL, L OT 3-4).

Buckeye Notes to Know

Ohio State and Notre Dame split a series on Irish home ice Jan. 23-24 (OSU 4-2, ND 6-1).
With two games to go in the regular season, the Buckeyes are in fifth place in the Big Ten with 27 points, two points ahead of Minnesota and six back of fourth-place Wisconsin. The No. 1 seed earns a quarterfinal bye in the B1G Tournament, with seeds 2-4 hosting a quarterfinal single elimination game next Wednesday. The semifinals will be at the highest remaining seeds March 14, with the final March 21.
Goalie Kristoffer Eberly was named Big Ten First Star of the Week, with forward Max Montes selected the Big Ten Third Star of the Week, after the Buckeyes' series at Michigan State.

Buckeyes By the Numbers

The Buckeyes are scoring 3.09 goals per game this season, allowing 3.59 a contest.
The power play is 16th nationally, converting 22.8 percent of its chances. The penalty kill has stopped 71.5 percent of its opponents' opportunities. Ohio State averages 11.41 penalty minutes a game. The Buckeyes have won 51.3 percent of their faceoffs.
Jake Karabela and Davis Burnside lead the team with 28 points, followed by Max Montes with 26, Felix Caron with 25 and Riley Thompson with 22.
Montes has a team-best 14 goals. Burnside has 12, while Karabela and Caron each have 11 and Thompson and Adam Eisele have 10.
Karabela is first with 17 helpers. Broten Sabo and Burnside are next with 16 each and Ryan Gordon has 15.

Buckeyes vs. Irish

All-time, the series between Ohio State and Notre Dame is tied, 50-50-12 (according to the Buckeye record book), with the first game Feb. 13, 1965.
The Buckeyes lead in games in Columbus, 26-22-7. The Irish are ahead in Big Ten regular season games, 17-15-2.
The teams last met in Columbus Dec. 13-14, 2024, when Ohio State won 2-1 in overtime and 3-1. The squads faced off in Notre Dame Jan. 23-24, with a 4-2 Ohio State win and 6-1 Irish victory.
Ohio State and Notre Dame skated as members of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association until 2012-13 when the league was disbanded. Ohio State was a founding member of the conference in 1971-72 and played for two years before leaving for three seasons (1973-74, `74-75, `75-76) and skating as an independent. Ohio State then rejoined the CCHA for the 1975-1976 campaign and remained until 2013. The Irish were in the league in 1981-82 and `82-83 and then rejoined in 1992-93. The Buckeyes and Irish last met as CCHA foes March 23, 2013 in the CCHA Tournament semifinals, a 3-1 ND win at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Notre Dame is scoring 2.74 goals a game and allowing 4.06 per contest. The power play is fifth in the nation (.282) and the penalty kill has stopped 77.1 percent of its opponents' chances. Notre Dame averages 15.62 penalty minutes a night and ranks 17th in faceoff winning percentage (.519).
Davis Burnside has played a team-high 14 games against Notre Dame and leads the current Buckeyes with four goals, eight assists and 12 points vs. the Irish. Max Montes (2g, 1a, 3p), William Smith (1g) and Thomas Weis have skated in 10 games each vs. Notre Dame. In seven games Ryan Gordon has a 1-2-3 line and Riley Thompson has three goals in six games vs. the Irish.

Buckeye This and That

Ohio State has played nine overtime games this season and is 1-6-2 in the outings. Ohio State's overtime win came vs. Minnesota Dec. 5, with ties against Bowling Green Jan. 3 and Michigan State last Saturday. Ohio State dropped overtime games to Sacred Heart, Wisconsin, Arizona State (twice), Michigan and Penn State. Last year, Ohio State had 10 games go into overtime, with a 5-3-2 mark.
The Buckeyes are second in the NCAA in overtime games, behind Army with 11, and lead the country in overtime losses.
The 13-round shootout between the Buckeyes and Spartans last Saturday, won by Michigan State 3-2, was the longest in Big Ten history and the third-longest in NCAA history. Ohio State has been involved in four of the Top 10 longest shootouts all-time.
The Buckeyes have played in 13 one-goal games this campaign, with a 4-9 record in the contests.
On the power play, the Buckeyes are 26-for-114 (.228), ranking 16th in the NCAA. Last time out at Michigan State, Ohio State was 2-for-8 in game one (with four of the chances late in the third) and 0-for-2 in game two. Jake Karabela and Max Montes tallied with the man advantage vs. the Spartans.
Felix Caron leads the Buckeyes with seven power play goals, followed by Riley Thompson with six and Karabela with four. Davis Burnside has three PPG, Montes has scored twice and Adam Eisele, Nathan Lewis, Ryan Gordon and Thomas Weis have also tallied with the man advantage. Caron (7g, 7a) paces the Buckeyes with 14 power play points, followed by Burnside (3g, 9a) and Karabela (5g, 7a) with 12 each. Broten Sabo has a team-high 10 assists with the man advantage.
Ohio State has a .513 faceoff winning percentage (1036-983) to rank 23rd in the nation. Max Montes leads the Buckeye squad with 268 wins, while Jake Karabela has 234 and Ryan Gordon has 224. Among Buckeyes with more than 40 faceoffs, Montes is first with a .547 winning percentage (268-222).
Ohio State is averaging 3.09 goals a game, with three or more goals in 19 games, including each of the last five.
The Buckeyes are allowing 3.59 goals per game and have allowed three or fewer in nine of 16 games since January.
Ohio State is 88-for-123 (.715) on the penalty kill this season. Against Michigan State last week, the Buckeyes allowed two power play goals on six total chances.
James Hong set up Max Montes for the Buckeyes' first shorthanded goal of the season at Penn State Feb. 22.
The Buckeyes are averaging 32.38 shots a game this year. The squad has 31 or more in each of the last four games.
Twenty-two Buckeyes have posted at least one point this season, with 20 scoring a goal and 22 notching at least one assist.

The Schedule Ahead

The Big Ten Tournament begins next week with a new format featuring single elimination games in all three rounds.
The quarterfinals will be held next Wednesday, March 11, with the semifinals Saturday, March 14 and the final Saturday, March 21.
The No. 1 seed receives a first round bye, with seeds 2-4 hosting the quarterfinal games. The highest remaining seeds will host the semifinals and then the final.
Michigan and Michigan State (both still in contention for the top seed) and Penn State have secured Top 3 finishes. Wisconsin or Ohio State will host the No. 4 vs. No. 5 game, with Ohio State holding the tiebreaker should the teams end the season tied in the standings.