Michigan
Notre Dame
Werner's OT Game-Winner Leads Michigan Past No. 20 Notre Dame
11/8/2024 9:32:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Evan Werner notched his fourth goal in the past three games to win it for U-M in overtime.
» Kienan Draper opened the scoring for Michigan with a second-period goal to tie the game.
» Michigan won 51 of 79 draws versus the Irish, who entered as the nation's top faceoff team.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The seventh-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team and the 20th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish needed overtime to determine a victor on Friday night (Nov. 8) at Yost Ice Arena. Sophomore Evan Werner scored an unassisted goal 2:02 into the extra session to secure a 2-1 win over the Irish in the team's Big Ten opener.
As the two-minute mark approached, a shot from an Irish skater went wide of netminder Logan Stein and caromed off the end wall. Werner built up speed in the defensive zone as he skated into the available puck and continued down the ice up the right side. As he reached the top of the circle, he cut in toward the middle to create a shooting lane around the defender before telegraphing a low shot off the goaltender's pad. Continuing on his route toward the blue paint, Werner collected the rebound near his skates and quickly fired a second attempt on goal that fit between the goaltender and the pipe to find the back of the net, clinching victory for U-M.
With the longtime rivals meeting on ice for the 167th time, Michigan's victory bumps its lead in the series to 91-70-6. In addition, Michigan's active win streak over the Irish has now ballooned to six games -- the longest win streak in the series since U-M won eight straight over Notre Dame from 2004 to 2005.
Stein made his fifth start as a Wolverine, stopping 18 of 19 shots to notch his fourth straight win.
The first penalty of the night was assessed to Notre Dame for a tripping infraction with 4:20 left in the opening period. Michigan's power-play unit took to the ice but failed to gain traction as two minutes came and went without a goal.
After a scoreless first period came to a close, the Wolverines climbed the stairs to the dressing room with a 13-8 lead in shots on goal. Despite the Irish entering the weekend as the nation's top faceoff team, U-M had also dominated the dot, winning 17 of 27 draws (63 percent).
Back in action for the second period, Notre Dame opened the scoring at 6:29 when a skater got behind the defense for an abbreviated breakaway. He played the waiting game with Stein before flipping a crafty shot into the top-left corner from the right flank to make it 1-0 in favor of the visitors.
U-M leveled the score at 1-1 with a rebound goal off the stick of Kienan Draper from the top of the crease with 4:12 left in the second period, marking the junior forward's second straight game with a goal. Josh Eernisse and freshman blueliner Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen recorded assists on Draper's tally.
The Wolverines went on a late power play before the culmination of the second period; the team had some of its best chances with the extra attacker, but ultimately failed to net a go-ahead goal.
With one period left in the contest, the game was tied 1-1 despite Michigan's wide advantage in shots on goal (32-14) along with their success in faceoffs (37-18). Each side was 0-for-2 on the power play, a feat for Michigan's penalty killers, considering UND's status as one of the nation's most successful power-play units of the young season.
Early in the final frame, Michigan's power-play unit was activated following a penalty for holding at 1:52. Nearly halfway through the advantage, a second skater was penalized for cross-checking to hand the Wolverines over one minute of a 5-on-3 power play. Following the expiration of the second penalty after an unsuccessful attempt, a hard backcheck by Nick Moldenhauer broke up a dangerous opportunity in transition.
The pendulum swung back at 6:05 when Eernisse was tagged with an elbowing call to put Notre Dame back on the power play in a 1-1 game. For the fourth time, Michigan's penalty killers denied the chance and kept the UND power-play unit at bay.
As the period wore on, U-M continued to pepper the UND netminder. The team equaled, and then quickly surpassed, this year's previous high in shots on goal for a single game (35 at Boston University) as they crossed the 40-shot threshold with over a quarter of the third period left.
Neither side created a goal in the third period, so the game advanced to overtime.
Michigan ended the contest with 47 shots on goal compared to just 19 for Notre Dame. In the faceoff dot, the Wolverines dominated from start to finish to gain the upper hand in puck possession against a team that had entered the evening as the nation's No. 1 team in faceoffs.
Saturday evening (Nov. 9), the teams will reconvene at Yost Ice Arena to finish off the two-game set. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on B1G+.
