Feb. 24, 2002
Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – Yan Stastny scored two goals and Notre Dame got single tallies from Brad Wanchulak, Brett Lebda, David Inman and John Wroblewski scored once while goaltender Morgan Cey made 16 saves to record his second shutout of the season as Notre Dame blanked Lake Superior State 6-0 Saturday night at Taffy Abel Arena.
The win, the third in a row for the Irish, improved Notre Dame to 12-15-5 overall and 10-12-4 in the CCHA while Lake Superior falls to 7-22-2 overall. The three-game winning streak equals Notre Dame’s longest of the season (Dec. 1 – Dec. 7).
Stastny gave Cey all the offensive support he would need as he scored twice in the first period to stake the Irish to a 2-0 lead.
His first goal came just 1:32 into the game as he combined with center Aaron Gill to score on a two-on-one.
Gill took a Neil Komadoski clearing pass at center ice and found Stastny streaking down the left side. The freshman left wing deked Laker goaltender Matt Violin to the ice and slid the puck behind him for his fifth goal of the season.
Stastny’s second goal came off hard work behind the Lake Superior net as Gill outfought the Laker defense and flipped a centering pass in front. Stastny got Violin to go down and flipped a backhander over him for the first two-goal game of his career. Stastny has five goals and three assists in his last eight games.
The Irish lead would go to 3-0 at 3:41 of the second period as Brad Wanchulak broke a 17-game goal scoring drought with his fourth of the season.
Wanchulak burst out of the penalty box and took a long pass from Cory McLean at the Laker blue line for a breakaway chance on Violin. Wanchulak faked to his backhand and stuffed the puck under the Laker goaltender for his first goal since Dec. 7.
Notre Dame made it 4-0 at the 6:15 mark of the third period. Jake Wiegand won a faceoff in the right wing circle back to defenseman Brett Lebda. Lebda fired a wrist shot at the Lake Superior goal that bounced through Violin’s pads for his sixth goal of the season and his third in the last three games.
David Inman made it 5-0 when he scored on a wrap-around at 16:03 and John Wroblewski closed the scoring when his wrist shot from inside the right wing circle beat Violin at 18:02.
On the night, Notre Dame outshot Lake Superior 38-16. Violin made 32 saves for the Lakers.
The Irish close out the regular season home schedule next weekend when they host Bowling Green at the Joyce Center on March 1-2. Faceoff both nights is set for 7:05 p.m.
##IRISH HOCKEY NOTES:
* The Notre Dame sweep at Lake Superior State marks the first time the Irish have swept a CCHA road two-game series versus the same opponent since Feb. 11-12, 1982 when they swept Ferris State. That covers 42 road series over a 12-year period.
*Morgan Cey recorded his second shutout of the season and second versus Lake Superior State this season. He turned in a 7-0 blanking of the Lakers on Dec. 1.
Game Summary: 1 2 3 F
Notre Dame (12-15-5/10-12-4) 2 1 3 6
Lake Superior St. (7-23-2/4-20-2) 0 0 0 0
Scoring
First Period: ND:. Yan Stastny 5 (Aaron Gill, Neil Komadoski), 1:32, ND: Stastny 6 (Gill, Rob Globke), 13:29.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes, LSSU: 1 for 2 minutes
Second Period: ND: Brad Wanchulak 4 (Cory McLean), 3:41.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes, LSSU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Brett Lebda 6 (Jake Wiegand), 6:15, ND: David Inman 16 (Connor Dunlop), 16:03, ND: John Wroblewski 10 (Tom Galvin), 18:02.
Penalties: ND: 13 for 46 minutes, LSSU: 13 for 46 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 18 – 10 – 10 -38
Lake Superior St. 5 – 9 – 2 – 16
Goaltender Saves:
ND – Morgan Cey (60:00) 5 – 9 – 2 – 16
LSSU – Matt Violin (60:00) 16 – 9 – 7 – 32
Power Plays:
ND: 0 for 2
LSSU: 0 for 2
Attendance: 3,125