EAST LANSING, Mich. — Leading 2-1 with 2:15 left in the third period, Notre Dame put together a game-saving penalty kill and then added an empty net goal with four seconds remaining on the way to a 3-1 win over Michigan State on Friday night at the Munn Ice Arena (5,244).
Cale Morris stopped 27 of the 28 shots he faced to earn the win for Notre Dame (6-4-1, 3-2-0-0 B1G).
Joe Wegwerth gave the Irish a 1-0 lead just 2:13 into the first period when he backhanded home his seventh goal of the season after collecting a rebound down low.
Cam Burke created a turnover and battled past two Spartan defenseman in the neutral zone to score his first career goal and double Notre Dame’s lead midway through the second period with the breakaway tally.
Michigan State’s Patrick Khodorenko made it a 2-1 game midway through the third when he scored his sixth of the season.
Then with 2:15 left in the third, the Irish were whistled for a holding penalty. Notre Dame, including a big save by Morris on Khodorenko and an important clear by Cal Burke, came up with the penalty kill. The successful kill also included 37 seconds of a 6-on-4 MSU advantage with DeRidder pulled in favor of the extra attacker.
The Irish finished the night 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, but were 0-for-4 on the power play.
DeRidder totaled 18 saves in the Michigan State (4-5-0, 0-1-0-0 B1G) goal.
The two teams will play game two of their weekend series at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16.
NOTRE DAME GOAL DESCRIPTION
- 1-0 | Bobby Nardella took a Michael Graham pass at the point and fired a shot on goal that Drew DeRiddder fought off. Joe Wegwerth collected the rebound and flipped a backhander high past DeRidder for his seventh goal of the season at 2:13 of the first period.
- 2-0 | Cam Burke caused a turnover at the defensive blue line, skated past the remaining Spartan defensemen and beat DeRidder low at 12:07 of the second period for his first career goal.
- 3-1 | Just after killing off Michigan State’s final power-play chance of the night and with time winding down, Andrew Peeke cleared the puck to the neutral zone. Coming out of the penalty box, Alex Steeves chipped the puck ahead to his classmate Graham Slaggert, who raced ahead and notched an empty net goal to seal the victory. It was also his first career goal.
NOTES
- The freshman class registered four of Notre Dame’s seven points on the night.
- With a goal, Joe Wegwerth tied his career high for goals (7) and points (11) in a season. He previously totaled seven goals in 2016-17 and he had notched 11 points in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
- Cam Burke scored his first career goal, which also proved to be his first career game winner.
- Graham Slaggert scored his first career goal.
- Notre Dame is now 4-1-0 on the road this season (5-1-1 in road and neutral site games combined).
- Over the last two seasons, the Irish are now 15-3-1 in road games (19-5-2 over the past two seasons in road and neutral site games combined).
LET’S TAKE THIS OUTSIDE
- Notre Dame and Michigan will meet at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 5, 2019 in an outdoor game at Notre Dame Stadium.
- The rivals will meet four days following the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® featuring the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins, on January 1, 2019.
- Just four months after Notre Dame and Michigan met in a football game at Notre Dame Stadium that saw the Irish post a 24-17 victory, the rivalry will take to the ice in the House That Rockne Built in a game that will be televised by the NBC Sports Network.
- Tickets for the game are on sale now, visit und.com/buytickets or call 833-ND-IRISH and keep up to date with all ticketing information by following us on Twitter @NDtix.
— ND —