SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No. 8 Notre Dame used first period goals by Nick Leivermann and Ryder Rolston to build a 2-0 lead en route to defeating No. 18 Ohio State 5-1 on Saturday night at the Compton Family Ice Arena (5,117) to close out the weekend series with a split.
Leivermann and Rolston each notched a goal and an assist for the Irish who improved to 11-4-0 on the year (5-3-0-2-0-0 B1G).
I thought we played a good 60-minute hockey game,” head coach Jeff Jackson said. “We’re getting scoring from every line, it was good to see the power play have success and the penalty kill got back on track tonight and if you’re going to win you need to have good special teams.”
Five different skaters each tallied a goal for the Irish for the second time this season (Oct. 9 vs. Long Island).
The Irish finished with a 40-25 shot advantage as Ryan Bischel collected 24 saves for Notre Dame while Ohio State’s Jakub Dobeš made 27 stops in net and Ryan Snowden had eight saves in relief for the Buckeyes.
Notre Dame was 2-for-3 on the power play including Jesse Lansdell’s first career power-play goal. The Irish were also 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
How It Happened
Notre Dame started fast and struck first on a Nick Leivermann goal that snuck across the goal line at 4:08 of the first period, with assists from Ryder Rolston and Grant Silianoff.
The Irish earned their first power play of the night after an Ohio State minor. Rolston followed with a goal immediately following the penalty after the Irish won the faceoff in Ohio State territory and Max Ellis and Leivermann set up the score at 5:51.
The Buckeyes cut the advantage to 2-1 on a Jaedon Leslie goal at 7:37 off a faceoff win from Dalton Messina.
A second power play came just over eight minutes into the period for the Irish, but the Buckeyes held tough. A scoreless next 11 minutes would ensue, and the Irish headed into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead.
Early in the second period an Irish penalty gave the Buckeyes their first power play attempt of the night, but a save by Bischel just before the Irish were back to full strength killed off the OSU effort.
Credit the Slaggert brothers with the second period highlight, as their 2-on-1 conversion gave Notre Dame the 3-. A steal by Graham at the defensive blue line sent his brother Landon streaking towards the OSU goal on the opposite side of the ice. Spinning away from the nearest Buckeye, Graham’s lead pass hit Landon in stride and led to a close-range goal over the left shoulder of Dobes.
Not quite five minutes into the third period, a series of quick shots and rebounds from in close ended with a Cam Burke goal, with the assists going to Adam Karashik and Jake Boltmann, putting the Irish up 4-1.
A Buckeye goaltender interference penalty put the Irish on their third power play of the game, and just over a minute later, Jesse Landsell found the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season after two quick passes from Jack Adams and Hunter Strand.
The Irish would commit three more penalties over the remainder of the third period but did not allow the Buckeyes to get any closer.
Notes
- With an assist, Max Ellis extended his point streak to nine games (8-5-13).
- With a goal and an assist, Ryder Rolston extended his point streak to seven games (5-6-11).
- With a goal and an assist, Nick Leivermann extended his point streak to six games (3-6-9).
- The Irish are now 7-2-0 at home this season, 8-1-0 when scoring first and 10-0-0 when leading after two periods of play.
- Five different skaters each tallied a goal for the Irish for the second time this season (Oct. 9 vs. Long Island).
- Jesse Lansdell scored his first career power-play goal.
Next Up
- Notre Dame closes out the first semester next weekend by playing host to Michigan State on Dec. 10-11 at the Compton Family Ice Arena (tickets).
- Both games will be broadcast on NBCSN, with Friday’s game starting at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday’s game slated for 7 p.m.
— ND —