Michigan
10-6-0, 8-6-0-1-0-0
Notre Dame
7-8-1, 5-6-1-0-1-1
Michigan Sweeps Notre Dame for Fourth Straight Victory
1/22/2021 10:23:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Strauss Mann stopped 35 of 36 shots faced to backstop the Wolverines to victory.
» Thomas Bordeleau contributed two assists to run his point streak to eight games.
» Michael Pastujov opened the scoring with his team-leading seventh goal of the season.
Site: South Bend, Ind. (Compton Family Ice Arena)
Score: #8 Michigan 3, #16 Notre Dame 1
Records: U-M (10-6-0, 8-6-0-1-0-0 B1G), ND (7-8-1, 5-6-1-0-1-1 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, Feb. 3 -- vs. Penn State (Yost Ice Arena), 7 p.m.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Captain Strauss Mann made 35 saves, and Michael Pastujov scored his team-leading seventh goals as the No. 8-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team defeated No. 16 Notre Dame, 3-1, on Friday night (Jan. 22) at Compton Family Ice Arena.
The win completed a sweep of the Fighting Irish and was the Wolverines' fourth straight victory. It also vaulted U-M into second place in the Big Ten standings with 23 points.
Less than two minutes into the game, a Pastujov shot from the right circle found the back of the net after deflecting off the leg of an Irish defender to skitter past UND's netminder to give Michigan a 1-0 lead. Owen Power and Thomas Bordeleau picked up assists on the goal. Bordeleau's helper extended his point streak to eight games.
Halfway through the opening frame, Notre Dame appeared to tie the game at 1 following a mad scramble in front of the U-M crease. After the Irish put the puck past Mann, an official review determined that a Notre Dame skater had shoved a Wolverine into Mann, and the goal call was reversed to keep the 1-0 U-M lead intact.
With the first period in the books, U-M held a one-goal lead with each team taking 12 shots on goal.
After each team made an early push with fresh ice in the second stanza, Notre Dame found the scoresheet, redirecting a shot from the high slot past Mann at the 4:39 mark to tie the game a 1.
The bulk of the second period was marked by chances at each end of the ice with the goaltenders standing tall, but the Wolverines had a flurry of grade-A chances right up until the horn. After 40 minutes, the game remained tied at 1Â with the Irish holding a 27-25 advantage in shots on goal.
At 5:04 of the final frame, the Irish went on the game's first power play after a Michigan minor penalty for boarding. The Wolverines, who killed all three Notre Dame power plays in Thursday night's (Jan. 21) 5-1 win, continued their strong play on the penalty kill, neutralizing the Irish man-advantage and returning to full strength with the game still knotted at 1.
Michigan finally broke the stalemate with 7:55 remaining in regulation after Jay Keranen received the puck at the point from Beecher at the half wall. With traffic building in front of the net, the sophomore blueliner quickly dialed up a wrist shot that clattered in off an Irish deflection to pull U-M into the lead, 2-1.
Several minutes after scoring the go-ahead goal, the Wolverines won a crucial faceoff in their own end. Nolan Moyle carried the puck out of the U-M end, skated through the neutral zone and entered the Notre Dame zone. The junior forward skated hard to the blue paint before forcing a shot on goal from in tight. Mirroring Moyle's drive to the net from the right side, Brendan Brisson had been crashing in from the left flank where he was waiting on the doorstep to bury Moyle's rebound and put Michigan ahead, 3-1, with 3:55 left on the clock. Bordeleau picked up the secondary assist, his second of the night, off the faceoff win.
After putting the finishing touches on a momentous sweep, the Wolverines mobbed Mann in the Michigan end to celebrate six critical Big Ten points. The win marked U-M's fifth in six games, and in those contests (against Michigan State, Ohio State and Notre Dame), U-M has outscored its opposition, 28-7.
The Wolverines will return to the ice in 12 days, when they play host to Penn State on Wednesday and Thursday (Feb. 3-4) at Yost Ice Arena. Both contests are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts.
