NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame hockey team extended its win streak to four games with a 2-1 overtime victory over Northern Michigan University Tuesday night at the Compton Family Ice Arena. Cal Burke netted the game winner on the power play 1:06 into the extra frame to seal the victory.
After a fairly even first period, freshman Alex Steeves put the Irish on the board with 44.8 seconds left in the first to give the Irish 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission. They carried the one-goal advantage until Northern Michigan scored on the power play with 21 seconds to go in the middle period.
The Irish controlled the final frame of regulation by outshooting the visitors 15-3, but were unable to convert the go-ahead goal and the two sides headed to overtime.
Northern Michigan’s Troy Loggins was called for elbowing just 36 seconds into the extra stanza. On the power play, the Irish held the puck in the offensive zone, testing the Wildcat penalty kill unit once again and broke through with the game winner on Burke’s team-leading eighth goal of the season. The goal came on Notre Dame’s seventh power-play of the night.
Junior goaltender Cale Morris made 18 saves in Tuesday night’s victory over the Wildcats.
Atte Tolvanen finished the night with 34 saves on 36 shots for Northern Michigan as he was a key component to the Northern Michigan penalty kill.
Both teams capitalized once with the man advantage. The Wildcats converted on their second power play chance in the final minute of the middle frame before the Irish responded in overtime with Burke’s game-winning tally on the power play.
The Irish finished the night 1-for-7 on the power play while the Wildcats went 1-for-2 with the man advantage.
Notre Dame Goal Descriptions
1-0 | With less than one minute remaining in the first period, freshman Alex Steeves put the Irish on the board. Carrying the puck up the ice, Colin Theisen’s initial pass to Steeves got caught up in front. Steeves battled to corrall it and then fired it past an outstretched Tolvanen to put the Irish up 1-0. Andrew Peeke earned the second assist.
2-1 | After a shot by Dylan Malmquist bounced off Cam Morrison in front, Cal Burke picked up the rebound and fired home the game winner just over one minute into the overtime period.
Up Next
The Irish will return to Compton Family Ice Arena for a weekend series against Rensselaer (RPI) this Friday and Saturday (Nov. 30 – Dec. 1) as they conclude a stretch of three home games in five days. In 10 all-time meetings between the two teams, the Irish hold the edge with a 6-4-0 record, including 2-2-0 at home. Last season, the two teams met in Troy, New York where the Irish swept the Engineers. Now-junior goaltender Cale Morris allowed just one goal on 61 shots in the weekend series to give Notre Dame the sweep (4-1, 1-0 OT).
Notes
- Prior to puck drop, current Northern Michigan defenseman Tony Bretzman — a former Irish defenseman and 2018 graduate, received his 2017-18 Big Ten Championship ring from head coach Jeff Jackson in a short ceremony. He played in 40 games during his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons (2-2-4) with the Irish and is pursuing his MBA at Northern Michigan.
- Cal Burke’s game-winning goal was his second in as many games, having netted the final goal in last weekend’s 2-1 win over Michigan State.
- With his goal tonight, freshman Alex Steeves now has five career points with the Irish (3-2-5), each of which have been recorded over the last four games.
- Four Irish skaters have two-game point streaks, including Andrew Peeke (0-3-3), Cal Burke (2-0-2), Dylan Malmquist (0-2-2) and Colin Theisen (1-1-2).
- Cal Burke has two-goals in the past two-games, bringing his season tally to eight (8-7-15). He leads the team in both points (15) and goals (8).
- Cale Morris now has 303 saves through 11 starts and boasts a save percentage of .935 and a goals against average of 1.90.
- The Fighting Irish are in the midst of a stretch of three home games in five nights and five games in 12 days to close out the semester.
— ND —