Sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson stopped 29-of-30 shots in Notre Dame's 4-1 win at Ohio State.

Irish Blanked At Michigan, 4-0

Feb. 25, 2010

Final Stats

Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Michigan Wolverines got single goals from Chad Langlais, Matt Rust, Chris Summers and Brian Lebler and backup goaltender Shawn Hunwick came on in relief of injured starter Bryan Hogan to blank Notre Dame, 4-0, on Thursday night at Yost Arena.

Hogan went down at the 10:49 of the first period after the Wolverine’s starter collided with a teammate who was back checking an Irish forward. The junior went off with a leg injury and did not return. Hunwick, making just his second appearance of this season and third of his career, stopped all 14 shots he faced in picking up his first career victory.

The loss ended Notre Dame’s hopes of gaining home ice in the first round of the CCHA playoffs next week as the best the Irish can finish is ninth overall. They fall to 12-15-8 overall and 8-12-7-2 in conference play, good for 33 points.For Michigan, the win kept their hopes of a first round bye as the Wolverines go to 19-16-1 overall and 14-12-1-0 in the league.

The Irish started strong in the first period and had a 6-2 lead in shots when Hogan went down with his injury. From there, the Wolverines toughened defensively and took advantage of their scoring chances.

Michigan broke through on Irish goaltender Mike Johnson at the 11:57 mark of the opening period as Langlais scored his fourth of the season. The junior defenseman took a pass from Lebler in the high slot and fired a wrist shot at Johnson who made the stop in the Notre Dame goal. The rebound popped up in the air and over Johnson’s right shoulder, rolling into the goal for a 1-0 Michigan lead. Chris Brown also picked up an assist on the play.

The Irish had four power-play chances in the opening period but only Michigan would take advantage as the Wolverines made it 2-0 with a short-handed tally at 16:01.

Defenseman Ian Cole had his shot blocked at the right point by Summers and Carl Hagelin broke back with Rust on a two-on-one chance. Hagelin carried the puck in on defenseman Brett Blatchford who went down to poke the puck away, only to see the Swedish left wing move around him and feed Rust in front and where he fired the puck past Johnson for his 11th goal of the season.

Hogan was credited with six saves in the period while Hunwick made five, including a stop on a blazing Cole slapshot near the end of the first stanza.

In the second period, Michigan took control of the play with the help of three power plays but failed to score. The Wolverines out shot the Irish by a 10-5 margin.

Michigan’s lead grew to 3-0 early in the third period off a face off in the right circle at the 1:32 mark. Rust won the draw and right wing Kevin Lynch moved it back to Summers on the right point. The senior defenseman fired a slap shot that beat Johnson over his catching glove. The goal was the third of the year for senior defenseman.

The Wolverines capitalized on their fourth power-play chance of the game as Lebler got credit for the goal after his shot was stopped by Johnson only to have a rebound hit an Irish defenseman in front and deflect into the goal. The goal was Lebler’s 11th of the season.

Michigan finished with a 27-20 shot advantage in the game. Johnson had 23 saves for Notre Dame while the two Wolverine goaltenders combined for 20 saves and the combined shutout.

The Irish finished the night 0-for-5 on the power play while Michigan was 1-for-4.

The two teams close out the weekend series on Saturday night at the Joyce Center in a 7:05 game. Following the game the Irish will honor their seven-man senior class on Senior Night as they play in their final regular-season home game at the Joyce Center.

GAME SUMMARY                       1     2     3  -   FNotre Dame (12-15-8/8-12-7-2)      0     0     0  -   0Michigan (19-16-1/14-12-1-0)       2     0     2  -   4
ScoringFirst Period: UM: Chad Langlais 4 (Brian Lebler, Chris Brown), 11:57; UM: Matt Rust 11 (Carl Hagelin, Chris Summers), SHG, 16;01.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; UM: 4 for 8 minutes.
Second Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; UM: 1 for 2 minutes.
Third Period: UM: Summers 3 (Kevin Lynch, Rust), 1:32: UM: Lebler 11 (Langlais), PPG, 8:17
Penalties: ND: 5 for 13 minutes; UM: 5 for 13 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame        11 -  5 -  4 - 20Michigan           7 - 10 - 10 - 27
Goaltender Saves:ND: Mike Johnson (59:55) 5 - 10 - 8 - 23UM: Bryan Hogan (10:49) 6 - x - x - 6 Shawn Hunwick (48:49) 5 - 5 - 4 - 14
Power Plays:ND: 0 for 5UM: 1 for 4
Attendance: 6,710