Jan. 22, 2011
Columbus, Ohio – The Notre Dame hockey team regrouped and remembered what it takes to win on the road Saturday night as the Irish got timely scoring, strong special teams play and stellar goaltending from sophomore Mike Johnson in knocking off Ohio State, 4-1, at Value City Arena.
Johnson rebounded from being pulled in Friday’s 6-1 loss to the Buckeyes by stopping 29 of 30 shots on the way to his 13th win of the season as the Irish improved to 6-5-2 on the road this season.
Anders Lee paced the Notre Dame offense with a pair of goals while Ben Ryan and David Gerths scored solo goals for the Irish. Defenseman Shane Sims had the lone goal for Ohio State. Notre Dame’s special teams scored two power-play goals while holding OSU to one on five chances in the game.
The win improves the eighth-ranked Irish to 16-9-3 on the season and 13-6-1-1 in the CCHA, good for 41 points in the standings. Ohio State falls to 13-10-1 on the year and 8-8-2-2 in the conference.
Notre Dame took the first lead of the game at 19:38 of the first period on Lee’s 15th goal of the season.
Defenseman Sean Lorenz picked up a loose puck just inside the Notre Dame blue line and moved it ahead to T.J. Tynan at center ice. Tynan carried the puck into the Ohio State zone where he dropped a pass for Lee at the top of the right circle. Lee snapped off a shot that appeared to knuckle on Buckeye goaltender Cal Heeter and fluttered past his left shoulder into the goal for a 1-0 lead. The Irish are 13-1-1 this season when they score the first goal of the game.
The Irish would find the back of the net three times in the second period, scoring twice on the power play. The first came just 1:28 into the period with Lee getting his second of the night and 16th of the season. Riley Sheahan and Billy Maday won the battle along the right boards with Maday taking the puck into the right corner where he spotted Lee parked in the slot. The freshman left wing drilled a wrist shot past Heeter to make it 2-0.
The Buckeyes answered Lee’s power-play goal with one of their own just 1:14 later. Skating four-on-three, Ohio State defenseman Shane Sims drilled a blast from the high slot over Mike Johnson’s glove with assists to John Alberts and Danny Dries for his second of the year. That made it 2-1 in favor of the Irish.
Notre Dame got its second power-play goal of the period at 4:35 on a pretty passing play between Ryan Guentzel and Ryan with Ryan cashing in his fifth goal of the season.
Guentzel carried the puck through the neutral zone and into the Ohio State zone. Ryan drove from the left side and got behind the defense with Guentzel feathering a pass ahead. Ryan got his stick on it and redirected it over Heater to give the Irish a 3-1 lead.
Hard work in the corners and in front of the net resulted in the fourth goal of the night for the Irish as Gerths collected his seventh of the season at 15:56 jamming a rebound past Heeter from his knees to make it a 4-1 game.
Junior left wing Rich Ryan outworked the Buckeyes in the right corner and came away with the loose puck. He moved it back to Stephen Johns at the right point. The freshman defenseman fired a low wrist shot on the goal that Heeter stopped. Gerths was parked at the top of the crease and after being knocked to the ice, managed to get his stick on the shot and through Heeters’ pads for the goal.
From there it was up to Johnson to get the job done as he slammed the door on the Ohio State offense, stopping the final 21 shots he faced after Sims power-play marker.
Notre Dame had been held to four goals in the last three games and snapped that drought with four goals in the win.
The Irish now have eight regular season CCHA games remaining with five of those at home. Next weekend Notre Dame will battle the Miami RedHawks at the Joyce Center on Jan. 28-29. Game time on Friday is 7:35 p.m. with Saturday’s game starting at 5:05 p.m.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#8/#8 Notre Dame (16-9-3/13-6-1-1) 1 3 0 - 4Ohio State (13-10-3/8-8-2-2) 0 1 0 - 1
Scoring First Period: ND: Anders Lee 15 (T.J. Tynan, Sean Lorenz), 4X4, 19:38.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; OSU: 3 for 6 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Lee 16 (Billy Maday, Riley Sheahan), PPG, 1:28; OSU: Shane Sims 2 (John Albert, Danny Dries), 2:32; ND: Ben Ryan 5 (Ryan Guentzel, Mike Voran), PPG, 4:35; ND: David Gerths 7 (Stephen Johns, Rich Ryan), 15:56.
Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; OSU: 3 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; OSU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 14 - 13 - 9 - 36Ohio State 6 - 16 - 8 - 30
Goaltender Saves:ND: Mike Johnson (60:00) 6 - 15 - 8 - 29OSU: Cal Heeter (60:00) 13 - 10 - 9 - 32
Power Plays:ND: 2 for 6OSU: 1 for 5
Attendance: 6,997