NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey team fell to No. 2/2 Minnesota on night two of the series, 3-0, inside a sold out Compton Family Ice Arena.
It didn’t take long Saturday for the Irish to go up a man as the Gophers were whistled for a five-minute major just 2:27 into the opening frame.
Notre Dame fired multiple shots on net during the powerplay opportunity but were unable to break the scoreless drought and the Gophers returned to full strength.
Not even two minutes later, the Irish found themselves on the flip side of the call as Hunter Strand was whistled for a hit from behind major and the ND penalty kill unit was sent onto the ice. Successfully killing of the major, the Irish registered four blocked shots while down a man to keep the Gophers off the board.
The visitors got on the board first with a goal at 17:45 of the first period to carry them into the second period with the Irish down by one.
A series of extracurriculars late in the period saw two skaters for the Blue and Gold sit in the box, ending the first frame with the two-man disadvantage.
Minnesota would score on the five-on-three opportunity early in the second period before extending their lead to 3-0 at 4:04 of the middle stanza with a shorthanded tally.
The Irish took another penalty late in the second, but generated some much needed offense on the kill to keep the Gopher lead still.
Although unable to break the Gopher goaltender in the second period, the Irish peppered Justen Close with shots, registering 19 shots on net in the middle frame while holding Minnesota to just six.
The Irish continued to press the Gopher zone through the third period, firing an additional 12 pucks on net for a game total of 38, but were unable to break the Gopher netminding as they fell 3-0.
KEY STATS
- The Irish outshot the Gophers 38-24 on the evening while Ryan Bischel made 21 saves between the pipes for ND.
- Landon Slaggert led the team with a season-high nine shots on goal Saturday night.
- The Notre Dame icers jumped in front of 21 pucks in the loss, led by five individuals with three blocks a piece.
UP NEXT
The Irish get back on the road next weekend, heading East to faceoff against Big Ten rivals Penn State, Jan. 20-21. The two teams previously met to round out the first half of the year, ultimately splitting the weekend series while Ryan Bischel notched a career-best 47 saves for the night two victory.