Jan. 8, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame sophomore Jeremiah Kimento and Lake Superior junior Jayme Platt combined for 63 saves-including 47 after the first period-as the Irish and Lakers played to a 1-1 stalemate in Central Collegiate Hockey Association action Saturday night at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse.
For the second straight night (the Irish won Friday’s game 2-1), all of the game’s scoring came in the first period. Despite the early scores, Kimento closed the game with 25 straight saves (he totaled 27 in the game) while Platt stopped 29 Irish shots and six Irish power-play chances during the final two periods and overtime (for 36 total saves).
Notre Dame (8-12-4, 5-6-3 CCHA) missed out on a chance to move farther up in the CCHA standings, with the Irish currently holding down eighth place. The loss dropped Lake Superior (8-11-1, 7-6-1 CCHA) into sixth place in the CCHA, with the Lakers retaining their two-point cushion on the Irish
LSSU jumped out to an early lead for the second straight night but the Irish answered later in the period, on a power-play goal from freshman right wing Michael Chin.
Platt weathered a 19-shot Irish onslaught in the second period, including eight saves in the final three minutes (four of them coming during 5-on-3 time). Kimento then took the spotlight in the third period, making 14 saves-including several kick saves and multiple stops from close range.
The Irish converted on the power play to force a 1-1 tie late in the first period, with Chin tipping in a shot from classmate Evan Nielsen. Sophomore center David Inman set the play in motion by winning a rightside faceoff before chasing down the puck and slapping it back to Nielsen at the right point. The rookie defenseman then quickly sent a shot on net and Chin tipped it out of the air from the right side of the crease for his second goal of the season (14:50).
The Lakers capitalized on a turnover in the Irish zone to open the scoring midway through the first period, with junior defenseman Ryan Knox picking off a pass near mid-ice and sending the puck to his left. Senior left wing Fred Slukynsky then drilled a shot from the center of the left circle that flew over the glove hand of Kimento and into the upper right corner of the net (9:21).
LSSU had the final best chance in regulation, with senior center Ben Keup slanting in from the right and sending a hard shot towards the lower right corner of the net. But Kimento smothered the puck and the teams headed to overtime 19 seconds later.
Neither team had any strong scoring chances in the overtime, despite a power play for each squad. Inman was whistled for checking from behind with 2:24 left to play but the Lakers best two man-up chances resulted in shots that sailed well high and wide of the goal.
With 29 seconds left on the LSSU power play, the Irish countered and were starting a rush down the ice when Knox was whistled for a hooking penalty, after bringing down Irish junior left wing Dan Carlson. But Keup had the only shot in the final minute, with each team picking up a point in the standings.
NOTES: Notre Dame’s last overtime victory came nearly two years ago, a 5-4 win at Bowling Green on Jan. 24, 1998 … former RW Brian Urick scored the game-winner in that game, assisted by current senior D Nathan Borega … since than game, Notre Dame’s last 10 ventures into overtime have yielded one loss and nine ties (0-0-4 this season) … in other CCHA action Saturday, Ferris State (8-8-0) moved back into a tie for fourth in the CCHA standings after a stunning 5-1 win at third-place Northern Michigan (10-3-1) … Western Michigan (7-7-2) failed to maintain sole possession of fourth after losing at home to last-place Alaska Fairbanks (3-13-0) … Miami (6-4-2) edged ahead of Notre Dame with a 4-2 win at Bowling Green (5-9-0), dropping the 10th-place Falcons three points behind the Irish … both of Chin’s goals this season have come during the last five games … despite a recent stretch in which the Irish allowed 27 goals in seven games, Notre Dame is poised to make a run at the team goals-against average (2.60 last season, currently 2.71) … Kimento dropped his season GAA to 2.84 while pushing his save pct. to .889 … Notre Dame is now 3-2-2 in its last seven games versus Lake Superior, after enduring an eight game winless streak versus the Lakers prior to last season (0-7-1) … two of Notre Dame’s three goals in the series came on the power play … nine of Notre Dame’s last 14 games have been decided by 0-1 goals (4-3-2 in those games) … the Irish are 1-4-2 in second games of CCHA series this season (4-2-1 in the first games) … the Irish are 17-6-5 in their last 28 regular-season home games … Notre Dame tried some new looks with its first and third forward lines on Saturday, with the combinations including Inman centering seniors Ben Simon and Joe Dusbabek and freshman Connor Dunlop centering Carlson and Chin … sophomore Sam Cornelius skated for the fifth game as a fourth-line left wing/extra defenseman while freshman RW John Wroblewski returned to action after missing the last five games due to injury.
| LAKE SUPERIOR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | |
| NOTRE DAME | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 |
1st: LS 1. Slukynsky 4 (Knox) 9:21, ND 1. Chin 2 (Nielsen, Inman), PP, 14:50.
Shots: LSSU 8-3-14-3/28, ND 8-19-8-2/37.
Saves: LSSU (Platt) 7-19-8-2/36, ND (Kimento) 7-3-14-3/27.
Power Play: LSSU 0-for-4, ND 1-for-8.
Penalties: LSSU 11 for 22:00, ND 7 for 14:00.