NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Pierce Crawford and Jake Pivonka each scored their first career goals and Cale Morris stopped 36 shots as the No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish earned a 5-2 victory over Michigan on Tuesday night at the Compton Family Ice Arena (3,913).
“It’s a great three points and hopefully we keep that going into the weekend,” said Crawford. “To get the monkey off my back and score my first career goal, it’s really special. I’ll always remember it.”
With the victory, Notre Dame (15-10-3, 8-8-2-2 B1G) and Michigan (12-12-6, 8-8-4-2 B1G) split their regular-season series with two wins apiece. The Fighting Irish also moved to up to third in the Big Ten standings with the win.
After an early interference call on the Wolverines, Dylan Malmquist opened the scoring on the power play just 2:11 into teh first. The marker was Malmquist’s ninth of the season and third on the man advantage.
Crawford’s first career goal, which came shorthanded, doubled the Notre Dame lead with 6:42 to go in the first frame.
Morris made seven first-period stops as the Irish held the two-goal advantage heading into the first intermission.
The score remained 2-0 until Will Lockwood halved the Irish lead with 7:27 left in the middle stanza.
The Irish answered right back with Pivonka’s first career goal just 50 seconds later before fellow freshman Michael Graham netted his ninth of the year just 45 ticks after that.
Eighteen third-period saves by Morris buoyed the Irish down the stretch, and Colin Theisen netted a power-play goal with 3:46 remaining to account for the 5-2 final.
Notre Dame Goal Descriptions
1-0 ND | Dylan Malmquist opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 2:11 of the first period. Malmquist gathered the puck at the right dot and faked a shot before beating Lavigne high to the blocker-side. Bobby Nardella and Matt Hellickson picked up assists on the goal.
2-0 ND | Pierce Crawford’s first career tally came shorthanded at 13:18 of the first period. The play started when Crawford poked the puck past a Michigan defender at the Irish blue line. Crawford chased it down, broke in alone on goal and lifted the puck above Lavigne’s glove for the score.
3-1 ND | Jake Pivonka’s first career goal came 50 seconds after the Wolverines had made it a one-goal game. The freshman carried the puck through the neutral zone and into the slot before firing a wrist shot past Lavigne. Graham Slaggert and Tory Dello earned assists on the tally at 13:23 of the second.
4-1 ND | Just 45 seconds after Pivonka’s goal, Michael Graham netted his ninth of the year with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle following Mike O’Leary’s offensive-zone faceoff win.
5-2 ND | With the Irish on the power play, Colin Theisen scored his seventh of the season with a one-timer from the right circle. Dello and Hellickson each recorded their second assists of the night on the power-play marker.
Up Next
The Fighting Irish continue their three-game homestand this weekend (Feb. 15-16) against Wisconsin. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will be televised on the NBC Sports Network and for tickets click here.
Notes
- Dylan Malmquist netted his third power-play goal of the season to tie his career high (2015-16).
- With an assist on Dylan Malmquist’s first period goal, Bobby Nardella moved into a tie for seventh in scoring among defensemen at Notre Dame (137 GP, 23-73-96) and tied his career high with 20 assists this season (2014-15).
- Sophomore forward Pierce Crawford scored his first career goal with a shorthanded tally in the first period.
- Crawford’s shorthanded goal was Notre Dame’s fourth of the season.
- Freshman forward Jake Pivonka scored his first career goal in the second period.
- Michael Graham scored his eighth goal in the last seven games (8-3-11).
- Matt Hellickson averages a point per game against the Wolverines (9 GP; 4-5-9).
- With a pair of assists, Hellickson posted his third multi-point game of the season and of his career.
- With a pair of assists Tory Dello posted his second multi-point game of the season and the third of his career.
Trio Up For Hobey Vote
- It was announced on Jan. 16 that forward Cal Burke, goaltender Cale Morris and defenseman Bobby Nardella have each been selected to Phase One of the Hobey Baker Award’s fan ballot (vote at www.hobeybaker.com).
- Awarded annually to college hockey’s top player, the Hobey Baker award includes candidates exhibiting the exceptional character traits of the award’s namesake, Hobey Baker, with consideration given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.
- Morris, who was awarded the 2018 Mike Richter Award as college hockey’s top goaltender, was named a Top-10 Finalist for the Hobey Baker Award last season.
- Morris was the fourth player in Notre Dame history to be among the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker, joining Anders Bjork (2017), David Brown (2007) and Dave Poulin (1982).
- Morris, a Larkspur, Colorado native, was also the first player from the Centennial State to play his way into the Hobey Top 10.
- The Fan Balloting (Phase I) of the Hobey Baker award calendar will continue until March 10.
- On March 20, the Top 10 Finalists will be announced, at which time Phase II Fan Balloting will begin and run through March 31, 2019.
- The Hobey Hat Trick Finalist Announcement will be made on April 4.
- The 2019 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on Friday, April 12, 2019 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championship in Buffalo, New York.
— ND —