The Irish are hoping the good start on the road last weekend will help jumpstart the rest of their season.
After opening the season with a split on the road against Ohio State, the Irish will face CCHA opponent Bowling Green in a home-and-home series.
Notre Dame will face the Falcons at the Joyce Center tonight and then take on Bowling Green on the road Saturday.
Tonight's game will be the home opener for the Irish (1-1, 1-1 in the CCHA) this season.
Notre Dame defeated Ohio State last Friday by a score of 5-2, paced by a Rob Globke hat trick. The Buckeyes came back to split the series however, defeating the Irish 3-1 the next day.
"I think that the thing we most need to improve on is the off-ice preparation for the second game of a series," coach Dave Poulin said. "It's up to them as individuals to prepare themselves.
"We talked about it after the game and they agreed that they prepared differently the second day, for whatever reason."
Notre Dame played the Ohio State series without their top goaltender, junior Morgan Cey, who was sidelined as he recovers from off-season surgery.
Sophomore Rory Walsh, who collected the win last Friday, and freshman David Brown, who stopped 36 saves in the loss to the Buckeyes filled in for Cey.
"Going into last weekend, [goaltending] was our question mark," Poulin said. "They both did a very good job last weekend. The team played well in front of both of them.
"It's put us at an extremely deep situation in goal, and that's a great positive for us."
Globke, a senior forward, was the team's leading goal scorer last season and came into this year with high expectations.
It didn't take him long to answer some of those expectations, as he scored the first Irish hat trick in an opening game since 1995.
"It's one thing to say someone's supposed to be the offensive guy, and it's another to have someone go out and do it," Poulin said. "He'll get his opportunities; he is a dominant player in this league and in this country."
Cey will remain sidelined this weekend as the Irish take on the Falcons (0-2, 0-2), whom Notre Dame defeated in all four meetings between the teams last year. The Irish have a 16-3-2 record against the Falcons since the start of the 1996-97 season.
Bowling Green opened its season last weekend at Northern Michigan, dropping 2-1 and 6-3 decisions. The Falcons' goals were all scored by different players.
Bowling Green is led in net by Jordan Sigalet, who has a 3.56 goals-against average and .865 save percentage so far this season. The Falcons expect to be led offensively by forwards D'Arcy McConvey (six goals, 23 assists last year) and Mark Wires (13 goals, 15 assists last season).
The Irish face the Falcons at the Joyce Center tonight at 7:35 p.m.
Notre Dame then travels to Bowling Green, Ohio, to play the Falcons in the second game of the series at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.
