Jan. 24, 2010
Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – After having a fairly easy night on Friday night in Notre Dame’s 6-1 win over Lake Superior State with 26 saves, freshman goaltender Mike Johnson came up big on Saturday night, stopping a career-high 45 shots as the Irish battled the Lakers to a 1-1 tie at Taffy Abel Arena. Lake Superior picks up the extra point in the standings by winning the shootout, 1-0, in three rounds.
Freshman left wing Nick Larson got the lone Irish goal, tying the game at 11:22 of the third period, just 23 seconds after the Lakers’ Zach Trotman scored Lake Superior’s only goal of the night.
In the shootout, Lake Superior’s Domenic Monardo got the lone goal, beating Johnson through his pads on the Lakers’ first shot. Goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson stopped Notre Dame’s Ben Ryan, Calle Ridderwall and Ryan Thang on their shootout chances for the shootout win.
The tie gives Notre Dame an 11-10-7 overall record while the Irish get one point in the CCHA standings and are now 7-7-6-2, good for 29 points and all alone in sixth place, just one point behind fifth-place Alaska. Lake Superior goes to 14-9-5 overall and the Lakers are now 9-8-3-2 in conference play, good for 32 points in the standings and they remain in fourth place in the CCHA playoff race. The tie extends the Notre Dame unbeaten streak versus Lake Superior State to 12 games (9-0-3) since December of 2005.
There was no scoring in the opening period but there was plenty of action as the teams combined for 52 minutes in penalties.
Just 11 seconds into the game, Lake Superior State’s Rick Schofield was assessed a five-minute major for boarding and a game disqualification as he leveled Notre Dame’s Kevin Deeth along the boards at center ice. That was the second major penalty issued to the Lakers on the weekend after Will Acton received a major for charging on Friday night that led to a concussion to Irish blueliner Ian Cole. Acton was then suspended for Saturday’s game by the CCHA for the hit.
The Lakers were able to kill off that five-minute major but at 7:44, they picked up a third on the weekend as sophomore left wing Dan Barczuk was called for hitting Irish defenseman Brett Blatchford from behind to the left of goaltender Mike Johnson. Blatchford went back at Barczuk and a brief melee ensued, resulting in 31 minutes to the two teams. Barczuk picked up a major penalty and a game misconduct while Blatchford got two minutes for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct while other minors were handed out.
For the period, the Lakers out shot the Irish, 12-9.
Defensive hockey and strong goaltending took over in the second period, as the score remained 0-0 after 40 minutes of action. The Lakers peppered Johnson with 17 shots in the Notre Dame goal but the freshman was equal to the task. At the other end of the ice, the Irish had just six shots on Mahoney-Wilson with the junior keeping the score even.
The Lakers finally broke through on Johnson, taking a 1-0 lead at 10:59 of the third period. Trotman took a feed from Pat Aubry at the right point and fired a hard wrist shot that rose over Johnson’s blocker and inside the left post for his second goal of the season. Steven Kaunisto also assisted on the goal.
The Lake Superior lead would last just 23 seconds as Notre Dame’s freshman line of Riley Sheahan, Nick Larson and Kyle Palmieri combined at 11:22 with Larson getting the goal on a redirection in front of Mahoney-Wilson. Sheahan carried the puck into the Laker zone and left the puck for Palmieri. With Larson driving to the goal, Palmieri threaded the needle with a pass and Larson got to the crease in time to deflect the puck over Mahoney-Wilson for his fifth goal of the season.
From there, the goaltenders would take over and hold each team off the scoreboard through overtime with the score remaining 1-1. Lake Superior finished with 46 shots on the game with Notre Dame getting 27. Mahoney-Wilson finished with 26 saves in the game.
The Irish return to action on Friday, January 29 when they play host to Nebraska-Omaha for the start of a two-game series at the Joyce Center. Face off is set for 8:05 p.m.
IRISH NOTES:
* With the tie, Notre Dame is now 1-0-7 in overtime games this season. The seven ties are the most for the Irish in a season since the 2000-01 campaign. Notre Dame is now 3-4 in the shootout this year.
* Defenseman Brett Blatchford saw his team and career-high eight game point and assist streak (0-11-11) snapped in Saturday’s contest. His streak began on Dec. 13 versus Michigan.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 OT - FNotre Dame (11-10-7/7-7-6-2) 0 0 1 0 - 1#18 Lake Superior State (14-9-5/9-8-3-2) 0 0 1 0 - 1
Scoring
First Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 6 for 20 minutes; LSSU: 5 for 32 minutes.
Second Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; LSSU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: LSSU: Zach Trotman 2 (Pat Aubry, Steven Kaunisto), 10:59; ND: Nick Larson 5 (Kyle Palmieri, Riley Sheahan), 11:22.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; LSSU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Overtime: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND 1 for 2 minutes; LSSU: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shootout: (Lake Superior wins shootout, 1-0.)
ND – Ben Ryan (save by Mahoney-Wilson)
LSSU – Domenic Monardo (score)
ND – Calle Ridderwall (save by Mahoney-Wilson)
LSSU – Chad Nehring (save by Johnson)
ND – Ryan Thang (save by Mahoney-Wilson)
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 9 - 6 - 9 - 3 - 27Lake Superior State 12 - 17 - 15 - 2 - 46
Goaltender Saves: ND: Mike Johnson (64:59) 12 - 17 - 14 - 2 - 45LSSU: Brian Mahoney-Wilson (65:00) 9 - 6 - 8 - 3 - 26
Power Plays:
ND: 0 for 4
LSSU: 0 for 5
Attendance: 2,691