SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A pair of last minute goals from Ohio State Friday night sealed Notre Dame hockey’s fate in 5-1 loss to open February.

After surrendering the first three shots to the Buckeyes, the Irish bounced back to post a 9-4 edge in shots on target to cue the first media timeout of the night.

The Irish were whistled for the first penalty of the night after a cross-checking call in the Notre Dame crease at 12:59 of the opening frame. Notre Dame successfully killed off the infraction, allowing just two shots on goal during the penalty to keep it scoreless in the first.

Ohio State was called for a trip late in the first period and the Irish saw their first powerplay opportunity of the night. It took the home team just 42 seconds to convert on the man advantage as Blake Biondi opened the scoring at 17:31.

The Buckeyes would counter though less than a minute later to make it a 1-1 game through the first 20 minutes played.

Ohio State broke the stalemate with 3:18 to play in the second after a blocked shot by the Irish rebounded right back onto the stick of the Buckeyes’ Ryan Gordon to make it a 2-1 game in favor of the visitors. The Buckeyes would net one more before the end of the period to make it 3-1 in their favor heading into the third period.

After a Owen Say froze the puck early in the third period a Buckeyes skater was called for a penalty and the Irish powerplay unit returned to the ice. Danny Nelson looked to have scored just seconds into the man-advantage but the official was quick to wave it off as it rang off the crossbar.

Ohio State was called for another slash shortly after to give Notre Dame the five-on-three edge for 54 seconds. The Buckeyes managed to kill off both infractions and the Irish continued to trail by two with four minutes gone in the final frame.

The Irish saw their fourth powerplay chance of the night with 8:29 to play in regulation as Henry Nelson drew a hooking call in the neutral zone as he skated through the zone.

With just over five minute to play in the third, the Irish were called for their second penalty of the night and were tasked with the kill while trailing by two goals late. The Irish were called for another infraction with just 133 seconds to play which put Notre Dame on the penalty kill for nearly the remainder of the contest.

The Buckeyes were called for roughing soon after the Notre Dame penalty and with the face off in their offensive end, the Irish opted for the extra attacker. Ohio State capitalized on the empty net to make it a 4-1 game.

Ohio State added one more to their tally before the end of the night for the 5-1 final.

GOALS

• Cole Knuble won the draw for Notre Dame at the far circle, setting up the opening goal sequence. The sophomore sent the puck back to classmate Paul Fischer at the blue line who ripped a puck towards net but went just wide and onto the stick blade of Knuble. The team’s leading scorer then fed a pass to the slot where Blake Biondi one-timed it into the back of the net for the 1-0 tally.

KEY STATS

• With their assists on the opening goal, Knuble and Fischer extended their point streaks to seven and three games, respectively. The seven-game point streak is a career best for Knuble who boasts two goals and eight assists in that span.
• Biondi’s first period goal was his 10th of the season, tying that of Justin Janicke and Danny Nelson for a team best.
• Zach Plucinski’s two blocked shots on the night brings his career total to 192. His partner on the blueline, Paul Fischer, blocked four shots on the evening as the duo combined to stop six shots before they reached the crease.
• The Irish boasted a 57.1-percent edge in face-offs Friday night with Hunter Strand boasting the highest percentage with 10 wins on 15 attempts. Danny Nelson’s 14 face-off wins was the most among either team.
• Killing off all three penalties faced Friday night, the Irish extend their streak to 14-consecutive kills and have held their opponents scoreless on the man-advantage for the past five games.

UP NEXT

The Irish and Buckeyes close out the regular season series Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 6:05pm for Chicago Blackhawks night.