MADISON, Wis. — Despite a strong opening period for the University of Notre Dame hockey program Friday night, the Irish ultimately fell to No. 4/4 Wisconsin, 4-2, on the road.
The Irish dominated play early, winning the opening draw and holding possession in the offensive end for the opening moments. The Badgers eventually gained control of the puck and Ryan Bischel was forced to make a series of Richter-level saves to keep the game scoreless through the first six minutes of play.
Hunter Strand opened the scoring Friday night with a shot into the wide open net following a feed from Justin Janicke on the rush. The Irish third line extended the lead at 17:22 of the period with a shot in front of the crease to make it 2-0 late in the first.
A penalty against the Irish with 80 seconds left in the opening period sent the Irish on the kill but a pair of big saves from Ryan Bischel between the pipes kept the Badgers scoreless and held Notre Dame’s 2-0 lead through 20 minutes of play.
The two teams returned to the ice for the second period with the Irish tasked with 40 more seconds on the penalty kill. A successful win by Danny Nelson at the face-off circle to start the period gave the Irish some room in the man-down scenario and they eventually killed it off.
Just 4:55 into the second stanza, the Irish were whistled for a facemask infraction and faced a five-minute penalty kill. The Irish penalty kill unit of J Janicke, Siedem, Strand and Fischer created a four-on-one rush the other way but were unable to capitalize and play continued.
The Badgers thought they had cut the lead in half with a shot top shelf at 8:51 of the second period but a Notre Dame challenge deemed the play offsides and the Irish penalty continued. Centerman D Nelson created yet another shorthanded opportunity to kill off the waning seconds of the major penalty.
The Irish saw their first powerplay action of the night at 13:26 of the second period but could not convert on the man-advantage and the score was stagnant at 2-0 late in the frame.
A pair of Wisconsin goals just 15 seconds apart in the final minute of the second period knotted the game up 2-2 through 40 minutes of play.
The Badgers scored their third goal in less than two minutes of game action to take the 3-2 lead just 1:18 into the third period as the Irish found themselves down for the first time all night.
A hit along the Irish bench sent a second Irish blueliner to the locker room early and the visitors were…