Feb. 10, 2012
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 1 
| Photo Gallery 2
Notre Dame, Ind. – Junior left wing Kyle Bonis scored a pair of goals and senior goaltender Taylor Nelson stopped all 31 shots he faced as Ferris State handed Notre Dame a 3-0 shutout loss in front of a sellout crowd of 5,022 at the Compton Family Ice Arena on Friday night.
Derek Graham scored the fifth-ranked Bulldogs’ third goal of the night to hand the Irish their first shutout since Feb. 26, 2011, when Western Michigan blanked Notre Dame, 2-0, at the Joyce Center.
Notre Dame goaltender Mike Johnson stopped 20-of-23 Ferris State shots in the game.
The loss, the second in a row at home for the ninth-ranked Irish, drops them to 16-12-3 overall and 11-9-3-0 in the CCHA, good for 36 points. Notre Dame remains tied for fourth place in the CCHA with Ohio State and Miami with two games in hand on the Buckeyes and one on Miami. The Irish trail first-place Ferris State by eight points in the CCHA regular-season race.
With the win, the Bulldogs extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games (8-0-3) and are now 19-8-4 overall and 13-6-4-1 in the conference, good for 44 points. They lead second-place Western Michigan (42) by two points and third-place Michigan by six.
The first period saw the two teams play it close to the vest, as there were just 10 shots in the opening stanza with each team getting five.
Ferris State took advantage of a Notre Dame penalty in the second period to score the only goal the Bulldogs would need all night on the power play.
With David Gerths serving a roughing penalty, center Travis Ouellette won a face off in the left circle, pushing the puck to the end boards where Graham moved it behind the goal. Bonis was able to win a battle behind the net and came out the right side, tucking a shot inside the right post to beat Johnson for his 14th goal of the season at 9:07 to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
The score would stay that way until late in the second when Bonis scored his second of the night at the end of a Ferris State power play at 19:07.
Ouellette moved the puck back to the left point where defenseman Scott Czarnowczan fired a shot that Johnson stopped. The rebound came out in front where Bonis jumped on it and fired into the back of the net for his 15th goal of the year and the Bulldogs had a 2-0 lead.
Ferris State was 12-1-0 coming into the game with a lead after two periods and with Nelson slamming the door in goal, showed the Irish how the game is played defensively as the senior goaltender stopped all 16 shots he faced.
Notre Dame opened the third period with back-to-back power plays to spend the first four minutes of the period with a man advantage but got just three shots on goal.
The Bulldogs would put the game out of reach at 5:38 of the final stanza when Graham scored off a rebound for his third goal of the season.
Bonis, who had a hand in all three goals in the game, moved the puck back to defenseman Chad Billins. The senior blue liner fired a shot that was blocked with the loose puck ending up on the right side of the goal where Graham fired it into an open net to make it 3-0.
Things don’t get any easier for Notre Dame as the Irish now play their next three games on the road. On Saturday, they travel to Big Rapids, Mich., for game two of the series. Next week, Notre Dame travels to Miami for a key series that could have a bearing on a first round bye and home ice in the CCHA playoffs as the RedHawks and Irish are tied for fourth place.
Saturday night’s game from Ewigleben Arena will begin at 7:05 p.m. and will be televised live by Comcast and can be seen on Comcast Cable Channel 3 in the South Bend area.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#5/#6 Ferris State (19-8-4/13-6-4-1) 0 2 1 - 3#9/#9 Notre Dame (16-12-3/11-9-3-0) 0 0 0 - 0
Scoring First Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: FSU: 1 for 2 minutes; ND: 1 for 2 minutes.
Second Period: FSU: Kyle Bonis 14 (Derek Graham, Travis Ouellette), PPG, 9:07; FSU: Bonis 15 (Scott Czarnowczan, Ouellette), 19:38.
Penalties: FSU: 1 for 2 minutes; ND: 2 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: FSU: Graham 3 (Chad Billins, Bonis), 5:38.
Penalties: FSU: 3 for 6 minutes; ND: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Ferris State 5 - 11 - 7 - 23Notre Dame 5 - 10 - 16 - 31
Goaltender Saves:FSU: Taylor Nelson (60:00) 5 - 10 - 16 - 31ND: Mike Johnson (60:00) 5 - 9 - 6 - 20
Power Plays:FSU: 1 for 3ND: 0 for 4
Attendance: 5,022 (sellout)