Nov. 6, 2011
Marquette, Mich. – For the second night in a row, fans at the Berry Events Center were treated to an outstanding goaltending battle as Notre Dame’s Mike Johnson and Northern Michigan’s Reid Ellingson dueled with the Saturday night’s game ending in a 1-1 stalemate in front of a sellout crowd of 4,260.
The Irish peppered Ellingson with a season-high 45 shots in the game but the senior from Cloquet, Minn., was equal to the task, making 44 saves. Johnson faced 22 shots in the Notre Dame goal, stopping 21 of them to record his second tie of the weekend.
Like Friday night, this game went to a shootout with Northern Michigan winning 1-0. Tyler Gron scored the lone goal, beating Johnson with a deke move before tucking the puck inside the right post. The Wildcats take the extra point in the CCHA standings with the shootout win.
In regulation, the Irish got their lone goal from sophomore Bryan Rust who scored in the first period. The lone Northern Michigan goal of the night came in the third period from Andrew Cherniwchan.
The tie leaves Notre Dame with a 5-2-2 overall record and the Irish are now 3-1-2-0 in the CCHA, good for 11 points in the league standings. Northern Michigan improves to 4-3-3 overall and is now 1-2-3-2 in conference play, good for eight points on the year.
The Irish scored the lone goal of the opening period and it came off a face off in the Northern Michigan zone. The draw bounced in the circle where Rust picked it up and carried behind the Wildcat goal. He came out near the left post and tucked a shot on goal that went by Ellingson’s skate inside the right post for a wrap around goal at 10:29 of the first. The goal was Rust’s first of the season.
Notre Dame had the edge in shots in the opening stanza by a 10-7 margin.
The Irish continued to carry the play in the second period as they out shot the Wildcats by a 17-7 margin and had four power-play chances but couldn’t solve Ellingson in the Northern goal.
Notre Dame did have a couple of good chances in the middle period and looked like it may have scored on one of the power-play chances when Jeff Costello appeared to get one past Ellingson as a shot went off his knee. The officials ruled it went in off his hand and after a review the call on the ice was upheld.
The Irish almost had one late in the period when defenseman Sean Lorenz’s shot from the point went through a maze of players in front and hit the post with 4:18 left but failed to dent the Wildcat goal.
Northern had one great chance in the second when Justin Florek was set up on a breakaway chance but fired his shot high over Johnson and off the glass, as the score remained 1-0 after 40 minutes.
The Wildcats got the game-tying goal just 1:20 into the third period when Cherniwchan rifled a shot from the slot past Johnson over his glove hand for his second of the season to make it a 1-1 game.
The Irish had a 15-7 advantage in shots in the third but couldn’t get the puck behind Ellingson. In the overtime, the Irish had a 3-1 edge in shots with Maday having the best chance when his scoring bid was stopped on the doorstep with 28 seconds left.
With the tie, Notre Dame is now unbeaten in its last 23 games that have gone to overtime, going 5-0-18 in those contests. The last overtime loss came in the 2008 CCHA playoffs, a 2-1 decision won by Miami.
The Irish are now unbeaten in their last five games, going 3-0-2 since Oct. 21 when the streak started at home versus Rensselaer. They finish their four-game road swing with a 2-0-2 mark.
Notre Dame returns home for four consecutive home games at the Compton Family Ice Arena. The Irish open the homestand with a weekend series, Nov. 11-12, versus the Alaska Nanooks. Friday’s game starts at 7:05 p.m. with Saturday’s contest beginning at 5:05 p.m.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 OT - F#4/#6 Notre Dame (5-2-2/3-1-2-0) 1 0 0 0 - 1rv/#17 Northern Michigan (4-3-3/1-2-3-2) 0 0 1 0 - 1
ScoringFirst Period: ND: Bryan Rust 1 (unassisted), 10:29.Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; NMU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: No Scoring.Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; NMU: 5 for 10 minutes.
Third Period: NMU: Andrew Cherniwchan 2 (Erik Higby, Kyle Follmer), 1:20.Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; NMU: 0 for 0 minutes.
Overtime: No Scoring.Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; NMU: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shootout (Northern Michigan wins shoot out, 1-0)
ND: Anders Lee (save)NMU: Andrew Cherniwchan (save)ND: T.J. Tynan (save)NMU: Tyler Gron (score)ND: Bryan Rust (shot wide)NMU:
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 10 - 17 - 15 - 3 - 45Northern Michigan 7 - 7 - 7 - 1 - 22
Goaltender Saves:ND: Mike Johnson (65:00) 7 - 7 - 6 - 1 - 21NMU: Reid Ellingson (65:00) 9 - 17 - 15 - 3 - 44
Power Plays:ND: 0 for 5NMU: 0 for 2
Attendance: 4,260 (sellout)