COLUMBUS, Ohio — A four-goal second period propelled Notre Dame to a 6-1 victory over Ohio State on Friday evening at Value City Arena.
Alex Steeves finished with a goal and three assists to lead the Notre Dame offense, while Landon Slaggert, Nick Leivermann, Spencer Stastney and Jesse Lansdell each had a goal and an assist.
Graham Slaggert added two assists and Matt Steeves scored what proved to be the game winner, which was also his first goal of the season.
Dylan St. Cyr stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced in the Fighting Irish goal.
Notre Dame’s victory was also keyed by a strong penalty kill, which finished 4-for-4 on the night including killing off a two minute 5-on-3 disadvantage in the first period.
How It Happened
Spencer Stastney gave the Irish a 1-0 lead at 9:04 of the first period. He took an Alex Steeves pass at the point and worked his way down to the near faceoff dot before firing a wrist shot high past Tommy Nappier’s glove for his fourth goal of the season and his second in as many games. Graham Slaggert also assisted on the play.
The Fighting Irish were forced to kill off a five minute major after Nate Clurman was assessed a game misconduct at 11:26 of the first. Three minutes into that Ohio State power play, Notre Dame was took another minor penalty but put together an impressive kill of the two minute 5-on-3, with St. Cyr making four saves during that stretch.
Notre Dame extended the lead to 2-0 at 3:44 of the first period when Matt Steeves tipped in a Stastney shot from the point for his first goal of the season. Jesse Lansdell also assisted on the play, which developed following a Jake Pivonka faceoff win in the offensive zone.
Alex Steeves made it a 3-0 game at 8:54 of the second when he picked up a lead pass by Landon Slaggert and beat Nappier low while on a breakaway for his team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Ohio State’s Tate Singleton got the Buckeyes on the board at 16:35 of the second to make it 3-1 game at 16:35 of the second but the Irish went on to add two more goals in the middle frame.
Lansdell got in on the act, forcing a turnover and then beating Nappier from in close while being hauled down, giving the Irish a 4-1 lead.
Then on the ensuing power-play chance, Landon Slaggert knocked a rebound in for his fifth goal of the season, making it a 5-1 Notre Dame lead after two periods of play. Slaggert’s goal came just 25 seconds after Lansdell had scored his second of the season.
Three minutes into the third period, St. Cyr made one of his best saves of the night when he denied Kamil Sadlocha on the doorstep with his left pad.
Leivermann extended the lead to 6-1 at 9:07 of the third when he crashed the net and deposited a rebound of an Alex Steeves shot past Ryan Snowden, who came in for the third period in relief of Nappier. Solag Bakich had the secondary assist on the play.
Notes
- Senior Matt Hellickson skated in his 136th-consecutive game, dating back to the first game of his freshman season.
- Notre Dame’s penalty kill improved to 16-for-16 on the road this season.
- The Fighting Irish improved to 6-1-0 on the road this season.
- With a goal and three assists, Alex Steeves has now recorded at least one point in 14 of Notre Dame’s 19 games and he has a four-game goal-scoring streak (4-3-7).
- With two assists, Graham Slaggert now has a four-game point streak (0-5-5).
- Matt Steeves scored his first goal of the season to become Notre Dame’s 16th goal scorer this year (Steeves’ goal was his second career game-winning goal).
- With a goal and an assist, Jesse Lansdell posted his first multi-point game of the season and the second of his career.
- With a goal and an assist, Spencer Stastney posted his first multi-point game of the season and the fifth of his career.
- Stastney has a two-game goal/point streak (2-1-3).
- With a goal and an assist, Landon Slaggert posted his third multi-point game of the season/his career.
- Landon Slaggert has a two-game point streak (1-2-3).
- With a goal and an assist, Nick Leivermann posted his second multi-point game of the season and the fourth of his career.
- Brothers Alex and Matt Steeves scored in the same game for the first time in their Irish careers.
Next Up
- Notre Dame and Ohio State close out their regular-season series at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon (Big Ten Network).
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