NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey program opened 2023 with a 2-0 victory over Alaska Sunday night to register the weekend split against the Nanooks. After dropping a nail-biter on night one, the Irish bounced back to blank the Nanooks in game two as Ryan Bischel recorded his nation-leading fourth shutout of the season.
Just over two minutes into the game the Irish were whistled for a board and saw their penalty kill unit get its first test of the night. After successfully killing the Nanooks’ man-advantage, the Irish peppered the Alaska end with multiple shots on net but were unable to break Matt Madomsky in goal.
The Irish finally broke through at 14:17 of the opening stanza when Drew Bavaro shot a laser on net for the 1-0 lead.
Through 20 minutes of play, the Irish defense had surrendered just four shots on goal while their offensive efforts had sent 10 pucks at the Alaska net, finding twine once.
Both sides were whistled for infractions in the second period but the netminders stood tall in goal, not allowing any shots to sneak past on either end. After two periods, the Irish continued to cling to their one-goal lead following Bavaro’s tally in the first.
The Irish and Nanooks continued to battle through the final period of regulation, with Notre Dame holding the narrow edge in shots on goal that period, 12-10.
With the Nanooks’ net empty late in the third frame, Trevor Janicke scored his fourth goal of the season, to seal the Irish victory and complete the weekend split. The senior picked up a cross-ice pass from Nick Leivermann before skating it across the blue line and finding the back of the net.
Ryan Bischel finished the Sunday night contest with 25 saves between the pipes to pick up his fourth shutout of the season, a nation’s best.
GOALS
- Niko Jovanovic intercepted a clearing attempt along the boards in the offensive end before sending the puck over to an open Drew Bavaro skating across the slot. The junior defenseman found an open lane atop the far circle and fired a shot off and into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
- With an empty net on the opposite end of the ice, Notre Dame found itself battling inside its defensive zone. Trevor Janicke blocked the initial Alaska shot but the Nanooks gathered the rebound and attempted to regroup. An outstretched Nick Leivermann picked off the pass attempt by the opposition inside the slot and skated up to his own blueline before finding T. Janicke in the neutral zone who skated the puck into the offensive end before firing a shot into the open net for the 2-0 tally.
KEY STATS
- With the shutout Sunday, Ryan Bischel is now tied for a nation’s-best four shutouts, and boasts six career blankings.
- Niko Jovanovich picked up his second career assist in as many games played with the lone assist on Drew Bavaro’s game-winner.
- The Irish completed the weekend with a perfect penalty kill unit, stopping all seven Nanook opportunities on the man-advantage.
- Notre Dame boasted 29 shots on goal to Alaska’s 25 in Sunday night’s victory, with five individuals tied for a team-high three shots.
- On the defensive side of the puck, the Irish jumped in front of 15 shots to keep pucks off net. Ryan Helliwell boasted a team-best four blocked shots in the contest.
UP NEXT
The Irish return to Big Ten action next weekend with a trip to Wisconsin, Jan. 6-7.
The team then hosts Minnesota to conclude the regular season series with the Gophers. Puck drop for Friday, Jan. 13, has been moved up to 7 p.m.