Nov. 10, 2001
Notre Dame, Ind. – In the course of a long collegiate hockey season, there are good ties and bad ties. Notre Dame’s 3-3 tie with the Ferris State Bulldogs on Saturday night will probably go into the bad tie column.
The Irish led 3-1 before allowing Ferris State to battle back and tie the game at 5:43 of the third period. While the weekend’s results – three of four points in CCHA league play – pleased Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin, he was disappointed with Saturday’s ending.
“If you look at the series, taking three of four points in a CCHA-weekend is great, but the way we tied this one wasn’t,” said Poulin following the game.
“Tonight was the third time this year we took a lead into the third period and lost it. We really need to have that killer instinct. We told them, ‘you have to get that when it’s 3-1 and not 3-3.'”
After going 0-4-1 to start the season, the Irish are now 2-1-2 in their last five games and are off to their best start in the CCHA (2-2-2) since 1998-99 when they were 5-1-0 to start the year. Notre Dame is 2-5-2 overall while Ferris State is 4-4-1 on the year and 2-4-1 in CCHA play.
The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard just 1:32 into the game when their top scorers – Chris Kunitz and Rob Collins – combined for the goal. Collins picked up a loose puck along the right wing boards and found Kunitz in front of the net where he redirected the pass behind Irish goaltender Tony Zasowski.
That would be all the scoring until the 4:51 mark of the second period when the Irish ran off three goals in a 3:29 span with two of the lamplighters coming on the power play.
David Inman tied the game with his sixth goal of the year and third on the power play. The senior forward deflected Tom Galvin’s slapshot from 15-feet in front of the net. The deflection broke through Ferris State goaltender John DeCaro’s pads, trickled through the crease and just made it over the goal line to tie the game 1-1.
Just 1:45 later, defenseman Brett Lebda displayed his tremendous skating ability while the two teams skated four-on-four. After FSU dumped the puck in to the Notre Dame zone, Zasowski, making just his second start of the season, left it for Derek Smith who fired it around the left wing boards. Lebda picked up the puck and skated up the left side, cut across the middle at the FSU blue line, cruised down the right side and fired a wrist shot between DeCaro and the near post for his third goal of the season at 6:36.
The Irish looked like they had gained control of the game when Aaron Gill scored on the power play at 8:20. Galvin’s shot was stopped in front by a Ferris State defenseman. Michael Chin got the rebound and was stopped by DeCaro, but Gill jammed the puck home for his fourth of the season and the Irish led 3-1.
Penalties at 16:10 to Rob Globke and 16:37 to Brett Lebda gave Ferris State a two-man advantage and the Bulldogs took advantage of it. Kunitz and Collins set up freshman Derek Nesbitt for his first collegiate goal on the power play at 17:06 and the momentum began to change.
“The five-on-three was a big goal for them,” said Poulin.
“Both penalties were in the offensive zone and its frustrating as a coach because they happen 150 feet away from the play. Our penalty killing has been good all year, but Ferris State was able to get the goal that got them back in the game.”
Defenseman Derrick McIver got the game-tying goal at 5:43 of the third after center Jeff Legue’s forechecking caused the Irish to turn the puck over at the blue line. Legue came up with the bouncing puck and dropped it behind him to McIver who moved to the top of the right wing circle and fired. Somehow the puck squeezed through Zasowski’s pads for McIver’s third goal of the year.
Both teams had good scoring chances in the third period but DeCaro and Zasowski slammed the door to preserve the 3-3 tie. On the night, the Irish outshot, Ferris State 33-29. DeCaro made 30 saves while Zasowski had 26 saves for the Irish.
Notre Dame returns to the road next weekend when the Irish travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a weekend series with the Western Michigan Broncos. Game time both nights is at 7:05 p.m.
IRISH HOCKEY NOTES:
The Irish scored two power play goals in each of the last two games. That marks the first time since Feb. 12 and Feb. 18, 2000 that the Irish had back-to-back games with two or more power play goals, a span of 54 games. The Irish were 2-for-10 and 2-for-7 this weekend. The last time they had two or more goals, they were 2-for-3 versus Bowling Green (2/18/00) and 4-for-10 versus Nebraska-Omaha (2/12/00). Notre Dame is now seven-for-52 on the power play (13.5%).
Sophomore defenseman Tom Galvin recorded as many points in two games this weekend (0g-4a) as he did all of last season. For the year, Galvin has a career-high with a goal and five assists for six points in 10 games.
Junior goaltender Tony Zasowski’s second-period assist was the first assist of his Notre Dame career.
After going 42-0-8 over a three-year span when taking a lead into the third period, the Irish have already lost twice and tied once when they led going into the final stanza. For the year, the Irish are 2-2-1 when they lead heading into the third period.
SCORING SUMMARY
Ferris State (4-4-1/2-4-1) 1 1 1 0 – 3
Notre Dame (2-5-3/2-2-2) 0 3 0 0 – 3
Scoring
First Period: FSU: Chris Kunitz 3 (Rob Collins), 1:32.
Penalties: FSU: 2 for 4 minutes, ND: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: ND: David Inman 6 (Tom Galvin), PPG, 4:51, ND: Brett Lebda 3 (Derek Smith, Tony Zasowski), 6:36, ND: Aaron Gill 4 (Michael Chin, Galvin), PPG, 8:20, FSU: Derek Nesbitt 1 (Kunitz, Collins), 17:06.
Penalties: FSU: 2 for 4 minutes, ND: 4 for 8 minutes.
Third Period: FSU: Derrick McIver 3 (Jeff Legue), 5:43.
Penalties: FSU: 3 for 6 minutes, ND: 1 for 2 minutes.
Overtime: No Scoring.
Penalties: FSU: 0 for 0 minutes, ND: 1 for 2 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Ferris State 5 – 16 – 6 – 2 – 29
Notre Dame 9 – 12 – 10 – 2 – 33
Goaltender Saves:
Ferris State – John DeCaro (65:00) 9 – 9 – 10 – 2 – 30
Notre Dame – Tony Zasowski (65:00) 4 – 15 – 5 – 2 – 26
Power Plays: FSU: 1 for 8, ND: 2 for 7
Attendance: 1,944