Notre Dame playing really good hockey right now, and after sweeping Penn State, the Irish just went 1-0-1 against Michigan State — the No. 4 team in the country. Notre Dame won the shootout on Friday night to give them the extra points.
Irish Outlast #4 Spartans In Shootout
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish battled No. 4 Michigan State to a 1-1 stalemate on Friday evening inside Compton Family Ice Arena before claiming the second point with a shootout victory to grab four points against the top-5 ranked opponent over the two
games.
The Irish are now unbeaten over their last four games and move to 5-6-1 on the season and 3-2-1 in Big Ten play.
Freshman goaltender Patrick Quinlan continues his run of great play in between the pipes, as he was named the First Star of the Game. Quinlan made 34 saves while allowing just one into the back of his net before not allowing a single Michigan State player to score in the shootout.
Evan Werner scored Notre Dame’s goal in regulation and now has a team-high six goals on the season.
An unsung hero of the game was Pano Fimis, who continued his incredible form at the dot, winning 15-of-22 faceoffs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the second-straight night the Irish and Spartans played a scoreless first period, as the two sides went into the first intermission deadlocked at 0-0.
Quinlan made some key stops early in goal before the Irish attack started to really pressure the Michigan State net. Shots were nearly even at the end of the opening 20 minutes of play as the Spartans held a narrow lead at 9-8.
The back-and-forth contest continued throughout the second period, with neither team giving an inch. Notre Dame managed to kill a penalty at the start of the second and one at the end to keep the game scoreless through 40 minutes of play.
Notre Dame’s offense generated a number of quality chances in the second period but were unable to find the back of the net.
The Irish earned a power play in the opening minutes of the third period and Evan Werner nearly put Notre Dame in front but his effort was turned away by the Michigan State goaltender.
As regulation began to wind down, both teams pushed for the winner and it appeared that the Irish found it at the 17:41 mark of the third, as Werner made an unbelievable individual effort to get to the front of the crease before using a perfect backhand finish to give Notre Dame the 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately, the Spartans answered less than a minute later, as Tommi Mannisto scored to level the score at 1-1 and send the game into overtime for the second-straight evening.
Notre Dame was the more likely team to score in the extra session, as it outshot the visitors 4-2 in the 5-minute overtime but were unable to produce the winner as the game officially ended in a tie.
The shootout ensued to determine which team would earn the extra point. Neither side converted the first attempt and after Michigan State didn’t score Sammy Nelson beat the Spartan goalie to put the Irish on the brink. Quinlan then made the save on the final attempt from Michigan State to seal the shootout win.
UP NEXT
The Irish travel to Columbus, Ohio, for their third Big Ten road series of the season, as they take on Ohio State for a pair of games. Game one is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 20 followed by game two at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 21. Both games will be streamed on BTN+.
