Nov. 12, 2010
Ann Arbor, Mich. – Third-period goals by freshman defenseman Kevin Lind and senior left wing Calle Ridderwall snapped a 1-1 tie and gave the 11th-ranked Notre Dame hockey team a 3-1 road win over ninth-ranked Michigan on Friday night at Yost Arena.
Irish left wing Nick Larson and Michigan left wing Carl Hagelin traded first-period goals just nine seconds apart for the 1-1 tie.
The win gives Notre Dame a 7-2-1 overall record and a 5-1-1-1 mark in CCHA play, good for 17 points and first place in the conference. The loss drops Michigan to 5-3-3 on the year and 4-2-1-0 in the league. The Wolverines have 13 points in conference play.
If you blinked in the first period you would have missed the scoring as the two teams traded goals at 3:01 and 3:10.
The Irish scored first when Larson notched his fourth of the season. Defenseman Jared Beers fired a shot from the right point that hit center David Gerths in front of the net. The rebound found its way to Larson between the hash marks and he fired the puck over goaltender Shawn Hunwick’s stick hand for the 1-0 lead.
Off the ensuing face off, Michigan tied the game. The Wolverines, who dominated the face offs in the game, won the draw back to defenseman Lee Moffie who moved it to his partner Brian Burlon. The junior sprung Hagelin at the Notre Dame blue line as the speedy left wing split the Irish defense and beat Mike Johnson on a breakaway at 3:09 for his fourth goal of the season and the 1-1 tie.
“It was a weird game because it seemed like three different games in three different periods,” said Irish coach Jeff Jackson.
“The same thing happened tonight that has happened to us against other elite teams. It took us awhile to get adjusted to their speed and once we did we settled down. With a such a young back end (defense), there were some mistakes early but then in the end, that young back end had a lot to do with the win.”
After a defensive second period that saw the Irish out shoot the Wolverines, 11-9, the score remained 1-1 until the 1:35 mark of the third period.
That’s when Lind would get the eventual game winner with the first goal of his collegiate career.
Freshman center T.J. Tynan carried the puck into the Michigan zone and dropped it at the blue line for right wing Billy Maday. Hunwick kicked out the junior’s slap shot with the rebound going to the left wing boards. Lind pinched in from the left point and threw a shot at the Michigan net that beat Hunwick between his pads and the left post to make it 2-1.
Midway through the period, it would be Ridderwall, the noted Wolverine killer to seal the victory. The native of Stockholm, Sweden came into the game with seven career goals against Michigan and would make the total eight at 10:48.
With the puck in the Irish zone, senior right wing Ryan Guentzel took a hit at the right point to clear the puck and send Ridderwall and Ben Ryan on a 2-on-1. Ryan carried the puck into the Michigan zone and fed Ridderwall in the high slot where he buried a shot behind Hunwick for his sixth goal of the season and the 3-1 lead.
“The third period was more of a controlled period,” said Jackson.
“We did a better job on face offs. We were about 50% after just getting eaten alive in the first two periods. That was a huge difference against a team like Michigan. We made better decisions, not turning pucks over and we played a little more under control.”
From there the Irish defense and with Johnson in the goal held the Wolverines at bay as Notre Dame collected its first win at Yost Arena since the 2008-09 season.
On the night, Notre Dame out shot Michigan by a 33-24 margin with Hunwick making 30 saves on the night to 23 for Johnson who bounced back with a strong performance after his first loss a week ago at Bowling Green.
The well-played game featured just two penalties on the night with Michigan going 0-for-2 on the power play.
The two teams will close out the two-game series at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday night at Yost Arena. That game will be televised by Comcast Television in Michigan and will be available on South Bend Comcast on channel 81.
** IRISH NOTES **
* With his assist on Ridderwall’s goal, Ryan Guentzel extended his team-best point streak to seven games (1-9-10).
* In their last 14 games against Michigan, Notre Dame is 9-5-0 against the Wolverines. All-time, Michigan is 68-50-5 versus the Irish in Notre Dame’s oldest series. From 1988-89 to 2005-06, the Irish were 6-41-3 versus the Wolverines.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#11/#11 Notre Dame (7-2-1/5-1-1-1) 1 0 2 - 3#9/#8 Michigan (5-3-3/4-2-1-0) 1 0 0 - 1
Scoring First Period: ND: Nick Larson 4 (David Gerths, Jared Beers), 3:01; UM: Carl Hagelin 4 (Brandon Burlon, Lee Moffie), 3:10.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; UM: 0 for 0 minutes.
Second Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; UM: 0 for 0 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Kevin Lind 1 (Billy Maday, T.J. Tynan), 1:35; ND: Calle Ridderwall 6 (Ben Ryan, Ryan Guentzel), 10:48.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; UM: 0 for 0 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 8 - 11 - 14 - 33Michigan 9 - 9 - 6 - 24
Goaltender Saves:ND: Mike Johnson (60:00) 8 - 9 - 6 - 23UM: Shawn Hunwick (60:00) 7 - 11 - 12 - 30
Power Plays:ND: 0 for 0UM: 0 for 2
Attendance: 6,894 (sellout)