Gophers hockey is heavily favored to advance in first-round series against Notre Dame

Minnesota hosts Notre Dame in a best-of-three series to open Big Ten Tournament play.

Gophers' Jimmy Snuggerud against Notre Dame earlier this season. | Picture via: Sage Zipeto (University of Minnesota Athletics)

Gophers men's hockey hosts Notre Dame in a best-of-three series in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament this weekend. Minnesota heads into Game 1 on Friday night as huge betting favorites, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.

The Gophers host Notre Dame tonight for Game 1 of their best-of-three Big Ten Tournament first-round series as massive (-395/ml) betting favorites, per @DKSportsbook

Minnesota was 3-1 against the Fighting Irish in the regular season, with the only loss coming in OT.… pic.twitter.com/wWnwIoOZL3

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) March 7, 2025

The Gophers are nearly -400 moneyline betting favorites for Friday night's game, which puts their implied probability of winning at 79.8%, and they're favored to win the game by 2.5 goals. If you don't understand betting odds, they're supposed to win by a lot.

Notre Dame was the Big Ten's worst team in the regular season by a pretty wide margin. They finished 4-19-1 in conference play and 10-23-1 overall. They finished with 14 points, and Wisconsin was the second-worst team with 27. Minnesota won three of their four regular-season matchups, with the only loss coming at home in overtime. The latest PairWise rankings have the Fighting Irish at No. 45, while the Gophers are No. 3.

Minnesota swept Notre Dame 6-3 and 5-3 in their series in South Bend, Indiana, in November. When the Fighting Irish came to Minneapolis in January, the Gophers won 5-2 on Friday night before Notre Dame stole a 4-3 overtime victory on Saturday. If you combine all four games, Minnesota outscored Notre Dame 19-12 in the regular season.

The Fighting Irish have a balanced team, but Philadelphia Flyers' prospect Cole Kuble leads the team with 37 points on the season. The betting odds suggest that Minnesota should have no issues taking care of business against Notre Dame this weekend, and anything less than a sweep would be a disappointment.

First-Round Schedule:

• Game 1: Friday, March 7 at 3M Arena at Mariucci: 7:00 p.m. CT (TV: FOX9/BTN+)
• Game 2: Saturday, March 8 at 3M Arena at Mariucci: 7:00 p.m. CT (TV: FOX9/BTN+)
• Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, March 9 at 3M Arena at Mariucci: 6:00 p.m. CT (TV: FOX9/BTN+)

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800 GAMBLER.