SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 11 Notre Dame Hockey posted an exciting 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday night at Compton Family Ice Arena (4,632).
Landon Slaggert buried the game-winning goal just 32 seconds into the overtime with assists from Graham Slaggert and Spencer Stastney. Max Ellis and Trevor Janicke also scored for the Irish (18-8-0, 10-6-0-5-1-0 B1G).
Minnesota native Ryan Bischel made 24 saves in the win, while Justen Close posted 20 saves for Minnesota (15-11-0, 10-6-0-1-2-0 B1G).
The Gophers were 0-for-3 on the power play, while Notre Dame was 0-for-4. For the weekend series, Notre Dame held Minnesota to a 0-for-6 mark on the power play.
How It Happened
Skating four-on-four, the Irish struck first when Max Ellis netted his 15th goal of the season with a wrist shot from the top of the circle that beat Close low under his glove at 4:30 of the first period. Spencer Stastney had picked up a puck in the defensive zone from Cam Burke and skated it into the offensive zone before dropping it off for Ellis.
The teams traded another set of abbreviated power plays, with Trevor Janicke’s one-timer from the slot testing Close midway through the first but it remained a 1-0 game.
Trevor Janicke scored at 16:45 of the first when he finished off a feed in front from Landon Slaggert, beating Close high to the glove side. Graham Slaggert earned the second assist on the play, which was Janicke’s 10th goal of the season and his third in as many games.
With 1:23 left in the first Ryan Bischel made a big glove stop on Grant Cruikshank to send the Irish to the locker room with a 2-0 lead after the first 20 minutes of play.
Ben Meyers got Minnesota on the board at 1:27 of the second period to make it a 2-1 game.
With 9:03 left in the second period, the Irish went to work on the power play after Lansdell drew a penalty for the second time but the Irish couldn’t extend the lead.
Bischel made 11 stops in the second and the Irish held a 2-1 lead through two periods of play.
Minnesota’s Bryce Brodzinski tipped in a feed from Ryan Johnson just as a Gopher power-play opportunity expired to make it a 2-2 game at 1:23 of the third period.
Just 32 seconds into the overtime period, Stastney got the puck across the ice to Graham Slaggert, who found his brother Landon, who broke into the offensive zone and slammed home his own rebound for the game-winning goal.
Notes
- With his goal, Trevor Janicke has a three-game point streak (3-1-4).
- With two assists, Spencer Stastney has now tallied a point in eight of Notre Dame’s last nine contests (3-8-11) and has a three-game point streak (1-5-6).
- Notre Dame’s penalty kill improved to 92-for-99 on the season (.929).
- The Fighting Irish are now 11-5-0 at Compton Family Ice Arena this season and 12-1-0 when scoring first this season.
Next Up
- Notre Dame will play host to Penn State next weekend in a two-game series on Feb. 4-5 at Compton Family Ice Arena (tickets).
- The games will be available on Peacock.
– ND –