Dec. 9, 2017 |
By Dan Colleran
MADISON, Wisconsin — Trailing by two goals with just under 13 minutes to play in the third period, the fourth-ranked Fighting Irish rallied to score three straight goals en route to a 3-2 victory over 12th-ranked Wisconsin on Friday night at the Kohl Center (9,216).
With the win, Notre Dame pushed its winning streak to 12 games, including a 9-0-0-0 start to Big Ten play.
Dylan Malmquist scored two goals to lead the Irish offense, including the game winner, while Dawson Cook had the other Notre Dame goal.
In net, Cale Morris finished with 34 saves for the Irish (15-3-1, 9-0-0-0 B1G).
Jack Berry totaled 29 saves in net for Wisconsin (10-8-2, 4-4-1-0 B1G).
Just 3:40 into the first period, Jake Evans got in on the forecheck and created a turnover down low but his ensuing shot went off the crossbar. Then Mike O’Leary appeared to get the Irish on the board eight minutes into the first, but after a lengthy review, the no-goal call on the ice stood and Wisconsin was then able to take a 1-0 lead on a Cameron Hughes power-play goal at 14:15 of the first.
Wisconsin pushed the lead to 2-0 when Tarek Baker scored on a two-on-one chance at 6:25 of the second period.
Morris then made a series of saves to close the second and open the third, keeping the Irish within two and paving the way for the comeback.
It marked the first time Notre Dame erased a two-goal, third period deficit to win since a 4-3 victory over Boston College on December 10, 2015.
NOTRE DAME SCORING
2-1 | Just as a power-play chance for the irish expired, Joe Wegwerth took a pass down low from Colin Theisen, wheeled around and found Dylan Malmquist at the far post where the junior hammered home his third goal of the season at 7:06 of the third period.
2-2 | Dawson Cook tied the game up at 14:43 of the third when he redirected a Dennis Gilbert feed from the corner past Berry on the short side. Mike O’Leary also assisted on the play.
3-2 | Malmquist scored on the backhand from a tight angle for what proved to be the game winner at 16:09 of the third, with the assists going to Andrew Oglevie and Theisen.
COACH JACKSON’S THOUGHTS
On breaking through in the third …
“Anytime you score a goal it gives you a boost. I thought we were playing on our heels a fair amount but once we got that [first] goal we got more assertive and did a better job getting pucks to the net.”
On Dylan Malmquist‘s night …
“He was injured for a while at the early part of the year and [now] he’s getting going. Tonight was a good time for him to come out.”
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Irish went 0-for-6 on the power play, while Wisconsin was 1-for-3.
NOTES
- Notre Dame won its 12th game in a row for the first time since winning 14 consecutive games from Dec. 11, 1987 – Feb. 13, 1988.
- The 12-game winning streak is Notre Dame’s longest winning streak under head coach Jeff Jackson and the program’s longest winning streak when playing a full Division I schedule.
- It also matches Notre Dame’s longest unbeaten streak since Nov. 28, 2015 – Jan. 23, 2016 when it went 9-0-3 (12 games).
- It marked Notre Dame’s first two-goal, third period comeback to win since downing Boston College 4-3 on December 10, 2015.
- Jordan Gross skated in the 138th consecutive game of his Irish career (dating back to the first game of his freshman season).
- Jake Evans skated in his 110th consecutive game dating back to his freshman season.
- The Irish have also won 13 of their last 14 games.
- With two assists, Colin Theisen (1-4-5) moved his point streak to four games.
- Dylan Malmquist posted his first two-goal game of the season and the fifth of his Irish career.
UP NEXT
The Irish and Badgers will close out their respective first semester slates tomorrow night at 8:05 p.m. ET at the Kohl Center in a game that will be televised on Fox Sports Wisconsin Plus.
— ND —
Dan Colleran, Director of Athletics Communications at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).