Freshmen lead way as Irish erupt for four in second in victory over No. 8 Gophers
SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame’s youthful hockey team clearly heard the message sent by veteran coach Jeff Jackson and his staff last Monday.
When they needed it the most, the Fighting Irish came up with their best performance of the season, and it was the freshman class, led by centers Cole Knuble and Danny Nelson, which delivered big time as Notre Dame stunned No. 8 Minnesota with a 6-1 Big Ten victory before 5,264 watching at the Lefty Smith Rink in the Compton Family Ice Arena.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak by the 15-14-2 Irish, who were swept in two penalty-marred defeats at No. 4 Wisconsin last weekend. On Monday, Jackson put the team through one of its most grueling practices of the season to make sure it knew he wouldn’t tolerate any more such play this season as the Irish attempt to gain home ice for the upcoming Big Ten playoffs.
“This was one of our best games of the year,” said Jackson, who was coaching his 1,000th collegiate game in a career that spans six seasons (and two NCAA titles) at Lake Superior State in the early 1990s and 19 seasons at Notre Dame beginning in 2005. “It was more of the message throughout the week. We just got beat twice at Wisconsin, and we had all those issues with penalties. We dealt with that and had a good week of practice.”
Baseball:Internal optimism is high for Notre Dame baseball even as the national media shrugs
The Irish remained in fourth place with their 9-10-2 record good for 30 points, five behind the Golden Gophers (18-8-5 overall, 11-6-4 Big Ten), who entered the game with a 9-1-1 record in their last 11 outings (4-0-1 in their last five) and the hottest goaltender in the league in graduate Justen Close, the Big Ten’s First Star the last two weekends. Close entered the game coming off a pair of 3-0 shutout victories over Penn State and not having allowed a goal in a few ticks over 179 minutes.
Freshman wing Carter Slaggert gave Notre Dame a 1-0 lead at 11:27 of the first period and then freshman center Cole Knuble scored twice (1:30 and 8:23) early in the second before freshman center Danny Nelson scored late to answer Minnesota’s only goal (Aaron Huglen at 16:53) as the Irish scored four goals in the period.
Close already had taken a seat on the bench after senior captain Landon Slaggert made it 4-0 at 11:18 of the second period and was still there when Nelson scored at 19:24 of the second period and finally senior defenseman Drew Bavaro scored a power-play at 16:53 of the third period against freshman backup Nathan Airey to close out the scoring.
Preview:All you need to know when Notre Dame hockey hosts Minnesota this weekend
“We had a handful of guys that had really bad nights tonight,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said afterward. “But they are the same group of guys who have gotten us to this spot. They didn’t have a good look tonight.”
With the Irish skating without graduate right wing Trevor Janicke, who suffered an upper-body injury during Thursday’s final practice, and senior right wing Grant Silianoff still nursing a lower-body injury from a practice injury two weeks ago, the Irish freshman class stepped up big. Led by Nelson, who added a pair of assists for a three-point night, Knuble, Carter Slaggert and defenseman Paul Fischer each had two-point nights and Brennan Ali also registered an assist. The five freshmen were among 12 Irish players who picked up points.
“Obviously, buy-in was the big message,” said Landon Slaggert, whose second-period goal was his team-leading 18th of the season. “We’ve been taking too many penalties and playing undisciplined. That was the message this weekend and the guys responded.”
The Irish got their usual solid performance from graduate goaltender Ryan Bischel, who stopped 31 of the 32 shots Minnesota sent his way. The two Gophers goalies combined for 22 saves.
“It was good to see we got some scoring,” Bischel said. “Different guys are contributing right now, and that could be the biggest key to our success the rest of the way.”
The Irish, who wore their blue away jerseys Friday, will be wearing green tonight when the teams meet at 6 p.m. at Compton. It’s the last home game of the regular season for Notre Dame, and 12 seniors and graduate players will be saluted with their parents following the game. The Irish conclude their regular season next weekend at Michigan.
NOTRE DAME 6, MINNESOTA 1
At Lefty Smith Rink/Compton Family Ice Arena, South Bend
Minnesota | 0 | 1 | 0—1
Notre Dame | 1 | 4 | 1—6
First Period—Scoring: 1. Notre Dame, Carter Slaggert 3 (Danny Nelson, Brennan Ali) EV 11:27. Penalties: Minnesota 0-0, Notre Dame 0-0.
Second Period—Scoring: 2. Notre Dame, Cole Knuble 8 (Jake Boltmann, Patrick Moynihan) EV 1:30; 3. Notre Dame, Cole Knuble 9 (Danny Nelson, Justin Janicke) EV 8:23; 4. Notre Dame, Landon Slaggert 18 (Zach Plucinski, Paul Fischer) EV 11:18; 5. Minnesota, Aaron Huglen 9 (Cal Thomas, Brody Lamb) EV 16:53; 6. Notre Dame, Danny Nelson 8 (Carter Slaggert) EV 19:24. Penalties: Minnesota 1-2 (1-2), Notre Dame 1-2 (1-2).
Third Period—Scoring: 7. Notre Dame, Drew Bavaro 7 (Hunter Strand, Paul Fischer) PP 16:53. Penalties: Minnesota 2-4 (3-6), Notre Dame 2-4 (3-6).
Shots on goal: Minnesota 32 (11-8-13), Notre Dame 28 (8-12-8). Goalie saves: Minnesota (22), Justen Close 10 (7-3-0) and Nathan Airey 12 (0-5-7); Notre Dame (31), Ryan Bischel 31 (11-7-13).
Power-play opportunities: Minnesota 0 of 2, Notre Dame 1 of 2. Faceoffs won: Minnesota 23 (9-10-4), Notre Dame 27 (9-5-13). Blocked shots: Minnesota 18 (6-4-8), Notre Dame 18 (9-4-5).
Referees: Brian Aaron and Sean Fernandez. Linesmen: Jake Davis and Dan Cohen.
A: 5,264 (4,852)
Big Ten standings: 1. Michigan State 14-4-2, 46 points (20-7-3 overall); 2. Wisconsin 13-5-1, 42 points (22-7-2 overall); 3. Minnesota 11-6-4, 35 points (18-8-5 overall); 4. Notre Dame 9-10-2, 30 points (15-14-2 overall); 5. Michigan 8-9-2, 28 points (15-11-3 overall); 6. Penn State 4-12-3, 17 points (12-14-3 overall); 7. Ohio State 2-15-2, 9 points (10-15-4 overall).
Friday’s games: Notre Dame 6, Minnesota 1; Michigan 5, Penn State 3; Ohio State 3, Wisconsin 2 (OT).
Saturday’s games: Minnesota at Notre Dame, 6 p.m.; Wisconsin at Ohio State, 4:30 p.m.; Michigan at Penn State, 7 p.m.