EAST LANSING, Mich. — The third-ranked Irish erased a third-period deficit for the fourth time in five games, skating to a 1-1 overtime tie with Michigan State on Friday night at Munn Ice Arena (4,898).
With the extra attacker on, Michael Graham tied the contest with 1:39 remaining in regulation.
After the Irish controlled the 5-on-5 overtime period but were unable to score, Cale Morris had a highlight-reel stop in the shootout. His stop paved the way for Tory Dello’s shootout winner to give the Irish the extra B1G point.
“Our culture is strong, we always believe we are never out of games,” Dello said after the game. “It says a lot about the fight in our room right now and the character our guys have.”
About Morris’ shootout save Dello added, “That is just the stuff he does, you kind of just have that feeling he is going to come up with the big save at the end.”
Morris finished with 18 saves, while John Lethemon stopped 36 shots in goal for Michigan State.
Both teams went 0-for-1 with the man advantage.
How It Happened
The teams skated to a scoreless first, with Morris only forced to make three saves. Notre Dame had several chances, including a good look by Cam Burke on a two-on-one with Cam Morrison, but Spartan goaltender Lethemon made one of his nine stops of the period on the play.
Michigan State struck first at 5:17 of the second period when Sam Saliba deflected Cole Krygier’s shot from the point pat Morris following a Spartan offensive zone faceoff win.
Notre Dame upped the offensive zone pressure following the Michigan State goal, including chances by Graham, Cal Burke, Nick Leivermann and Colin Theisen but Lethemon was equal to the task and finished with nine more saves in the second as the Spartans took the 1-0 lead to the locker room after the second period.
With just over three minutes remaining in the third, Cal Burke sent a backhand centering pass to Graham Slaggert in the low slot but the sophomore’s one timer was blockered away by Lethemon.
Notre Dame pulled Morris in favor of the extra attacker with two minutes left in the third. After a few chances, Theisen fired a puck towards the goal that Morrison kept alive in a scramble in front and Graham was there to deposit past Lethemon for his first goal of the season.
The Irish dominated the five-on-five overtime, holding the Spartans without a shot on goal while forcing Lethemon to make four stops, including one down low on a partial breakaway by Cal Burke.
The second overtime featured chances at both ends, but neither team could convert for the extra point.
Morris opened the shootout with a spectacular stop on Logan Lambdin before Dello buried his shootout attempt to give Notre Dame the additional standings point.
Up Next
- The Irish and Spartans close out their weekend series at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Munn Ice Arena.
- The game will be streamed via BTN+ ($).
Notes
- Notre Dame is now outscoring opponents 18-9 in the third period this season (+9).
- The Irish are now 2-0-2 in overtime this season.
- Notre Dame is now 8-1-2 against Michigan State since joining the Big Ten.
- Freshman defenseman Ryan Carmichael dressed for his first career game.
- Tory Dello scored a shootout winner against the Spartans for the second consecutive season.
—ND—