Chicago Blackhawks prospect Dennis Gilbert and Notre Dame advanced to their second straight Frozen Four with a 2-1 win over Providence on Saturday.
The No. 1-seeded Fighting Irish will play No. 2 seed Michigan at 8:30 p.m. April 5 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Fellow No. 1 Ohio State, who defeated reigning champion Denver 5-1 in the Midwest Regional final, will play No. 3 seed Minnesota-Duluth in the other semifinal at 5 p.m. Both games will be televised on ESPN2. The winner of each game will meet in the national title game at 6:30 p.m. April 7.
Gilbert, a 2015 third-round pick, blocked a team-high five shots and had two shots in Notre Dame’s win over Providence. The defenseman had four blocked shots and one shot in the Irish’s 4-3 overtime win over Michigan Tech in the regional semifinal round.
Gilbert is the only one of eight Chicago prospects in the NCAA tournament to make the Frozen Four. Defenseman Blake Hillman and Ian Mitchell (Denver) and Chad Krys (Boston) fell one game short of the national semifinal.
Mitchell had four assists for the Pioneers in two games. He had three helpers against Penn State in the opening round and one against Ohio State. Krys had an assist in BU’s 6-3 loss to Michigan in the Northeast Regional final.
Thursday, April 5
Semifinal 1: Minnesota-Duluth vs. Ohio State, 5 p.m., ESPN2
Semifinal 2: Notre Dame vs. Michigan, 8:30 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday, April 7
Championship: Semifinal winner 1 vs. Semifinal winner 2, 6:30 p.m. ESPN2