By: Connor Toomey
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Fighting Irish Hockey team skated to a 2-2 tie against the University of Minnesota on Lefty Smith Rink in front of a sold out crowd in the confines of Compton Family Ice Arena for Country Night in South Bend.
Junior Evan Werner gave Notre Dame a chance early off the opening face-off from graduate forward Sutter Muzzatti when he fired a wrist shot from the blue line, but it was deflected off the right blocker of the Minnesota tender and up out of play.
Both sides would trade possession in each other’s zones throughout the first 10 minutes of the frame. As the halfway mark approached, freshman Dashel Oliver set up senior alternate captain Axel Kumlin at the top of the Gopher zone. Kumlin let a slap shot fly from the center of the blue line, but the puck went just left of the posts and play continued in a scoreless battle.
The Gophers drew first blood in the contest as the puck snuck over the left shoulder of sophomore goaltender Nicholas Kempf off of a Minnesota one-timer just over 11 minutes into the first period to make it a 1-0 contest. Minnesota would strike again just 24 seconds later as Kempf battled a Gopher on a breakaway bout as the puck snuck past the right skate of the sprawled out netminder.
With 13:20 gone in the period, the Irish special teams got put to work after a cross checking penalty. No harm would come to Notre Dame as the penalty kill did their job to keep it a 2-0 contest late in the first.
Notre Dame closed out the first period with a series of chances, as a one-timer off the tape of Sutter Muzzatti’s stick was deflected out of play. Junior forward Brennan Ali had another opportunity shortly after Muzzatti’s attempt but his shot hit off the Minnesota keeper’s face mask and the Irish were unable to chip away at the Gopher lead as the period expired.
To open the first few minutes of the second stanza, Nicholas Kempf was put to work early as Minnesota had some early chances, but the Irish defense and its goaltender stood tall, stifling each Minnesota look to keep it a two-goal game.
The Irish had a great chance to cut into the Gopher lead with 8:13 elapsed in the second period as sophomore defenseman Jimmy Jurcev let a slap shot loose off a centering pass from Werner along the boards of the Minnesota zone, but the shot went just wide right of the post as Notre Dame trailed heading towards the game’s midway point.
As the period carried on, a series of penalties at the 9:05 mark on both teams gave the Irish their first powerplay chance of the evening. During the man-advantage, freshman forward Pano Fimis had a chance in front of the net from a pass dumped in by Brennan Ali, but his attempt was blocked, keeping the Irish off the board. After an unsuccessful first try, Notre Dame would be back on the special teams chance with a slashing penalty from Minnesota. Despite some strong passing from the Irish on their second opportunity on the man-up of the night they were unable to find the back of the net.
Despite a pair of late shot opportunities from alternate captain Cole Knuble and captain Danny Nelson, Notre Dame closed the second frame still trailing by two goals.
The third period opened with some fireworks in favor of the Irish as Brennan Ali buried a pass from Knuble into the back of the net to slice the Gopher lead in half. As play resumed a short while after Notre Dame got on the board Knuble had a breakaway opportunity to net the equalizer, but missed just right as the Irish looked for their chance to even things up.
A pair of back-to-back penalties on Notre Dame put the special teams unit back on the ice for more action in the contest halfway through the third. Kempf made a big series of saves in both special teams efforts to keep it a one-goal game as the final minutes of regulation loomed. The sophomore made a save off a close range wrister from the Minnesota attack and immediately followed up by making a butterfly stop across the crease to keep the score locked at 2-1 as the final 10 minutes approached.
The Irish found their game-tying goal off of a shot by senior Niko Jovanovic. Receiving a pass from senior forward Michael Schermerhorn through a defender, Jovanovic ripped the puck past the Gopher goalie into the back left of the net to even the tally 2-2 at 13:39 of the frame.
The score held stagnant through the last few minutes of play as Kempf made a series of stops, amassing 17 in the final frame to keep the Gophers at bay.
In overtime Notre Dame registered two shots, including a shot from Muzzatti that was blocked wide of the blocker and allowed just two chances on net for the Gophers.
Per NCAA rules the game officially ended in a tie, but Minnesota converted on two of their three shots in the shootout to clinch the extra Big Ten point.
GOALS
- Notching his seventh goal of the season, Brennan Ali got the Irish on the board in Friday’s contest. As the Irish skaters stormed the net on an offensive push, Ali found himself in front of the left post and his stick met the puck from a pass that Cole Knuble gained from junior captain Danny Nelson. The junior tapped the puck in to get the Irish within one of the Gophers early in the third period.
- Niko Javanovic’s second of the season was the equalizer in the contest that would send Notre Dame to overtime against Minnesota. The senior’s goal was set up by Michael Schermerhorn in front of the net that was initiated off of a pass from freshman forward Will Belle.
KEY STATS
- Sutter Muzzatti won the opening face-off for every period of regulation in tonight’s contest. He finished the night with 16 draw wins and a 72.7-percent success rate.
- The Irish blocked eight shots in Friday’s tie, led by Henry Nelson and Jaedon Kerr with a pair each.
- Nicholas Kempf recorded 17 saves in the final frame to force the overtime session, ending the night with 31 saves between the pipes.
UP NEXT
The Irish close out their regular season series with the Golden Gophers on Saturday, Feb. 14. Puck drop for the Valentine’s Day edition of Hockey Night in South Bend is scheduled for 6pm.