EAST LANSING, Mich. — Special teams proved pivotal as the Fighting Irish put together a second consecutive 2-0 win at Michigan State for a weekend sweep at Munn Ice Arena.
Colin Theisen and Landon Slaggert each scored power-play goals and Dylan St. Cyr made 29 saves for the Irish (12-12-2).
St. Cyr stopped all 56 shots he faced over the weekend to lead the Irish to the sweep, while Graham Slaggert had a pair of assists on Saturday.
The Fighting Irish power play finished 2-for-4 on the day, while the Notre Dame penalty kill unit held the Spartans to a 0-for-3 mark, including killing off a five minute major to start the third period.
“Our special teams have gotten better over the last month, credit to our guys on the PK for doing an outstanding job and then the power play as well, scoring a couple critical goals,” Head Coach Jeff Jackson said.
“I thought [Dylan St. Cyr] played a quiet, calm game and when we needed him he was there. I thought he did an outstanding job handling and moving the puck, he made the saves he needed to and made a few that were above the norm.”
How It Happened
Michigan State’s Joshua Jagger took a 5-minute major on a hit from behind at 4:41 of the first period and the Irish went to work on the power play.
After a few good looks early, Colin Theisen’s one-timer from the slot beat Drew DeRidder for a 1-0 lead at the 8:16 mark. Graham Slaggert and Nick Leivermann had the assists on Theisen’s seventh of the season.
St. Cyr turned aside all eight shots he faced in the first 20 minutes as Notre Dame took the 1-0 lead to the locker room. Irish put 18 shots on goal in the first, with DeRidder totaling 17 saves.
The teams skated to a scoreless second period, with Alex Steeves, Ryder Rolston and Landon Slaggert having Notre Dame’s best looks including a goalmouth scramble with two minutes left in the period.
St. Cyr was tested more in the second but he turned aside all 15 shots he faced. The Spartans began a five minute power play with 35 seconds remaining in the middle frame after a Notre Dame major.
Still leading 1-0, the Irish opened the third by killing off the remaining 4:26 of Michigan State power-play time by holding the Spartans without a shot on goal.
St. Cyr made a left pad save on Tommy Apap at the 8:25 mark to preserve the 1-0 lead.
Then Landon Slaggert doubled the Irish lead to 2-0 at 11:10 of the third when he netted his seventh goal of the season from in close on DeRidder, with the assists going to Graham Slaggert and Alex Steeves.
Notes
- Senior Matt Hellickson skated in his 143rd-consecutive game, dating back to the first game of his freshman season.
- With a pair of assists, Graham Slaggert posted his sixth multipoint game of the season and the seventh of his career.
- With a goal, Landon Slaggert extended his point streak to four games (2-5-7).
- Landon Slaggert and Colin Theisen now rank tied for second on the team with seven goals on the season.
- Dylan St. Cyr posted his second consecutive shutout, his third of the season and the fifth of his career.
- Dating back to game two at Wisconsin (Feb. 20), St. Cyr has an active shutout streak of 125:27.
Next Up
- The Irish are slated to close out the regular season at home next weekend against Penn State (March 5-6).
- Game one (7:30 p.m.) will be televised on NBCSN, while game two (5:30 p.m.) is slated for RSN distribution including SNY, NBC Sports Boston, NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports Philadelphia and NBC Sports Washington.
- Saturday’s game will include a post-game ceremony to honor the team’s graduating senior class of Pierce Crawford, Matt Hellickson, Dylan St. Cyr, Nick Sanford, Matt Steeves and Colin Theisen.
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