A pair of third-period goals just 30 seconds apart made all the difference as No. 5 Notre Dame (14-3-1; 9-2-1 CCHA) downed seventh-ranked Michigan (12-7-0; 8-5-0 CCHA) 4-3 at the Joyce Center Sunday afternoon, completing a two-game sweep of the Wolverines.
The win — coming at the halfway point of the season — was the Irish’s 14th of the year, surpassing the total of last season’s team. This is the first time in program history that the Irish have had 14 wins going into the break.
Notre Dame, trailing 3-2 at the end of two periods, came out flying in the third period. Freshman winger Ryan Thang took advantage of a Michigan penalty to Travis Turnbull at 6:41, scoring a power-play goal 30 seconds into the penalty.
With momentum on Notre Dame’s side, Garrett Regan put the sellout crowd into a frenzy just 30 seconds later, taking a pass off a neutral-ice turnover, deking Michigan goaltender Billy Sauer and tucking the puck into the net for the game winning goal at 7:43 of the period.
It was one of two goals on the night for the Hastings, Minn., sophomore. The other came on a scramble in front of the net, with the Irish having a two-man advantage due to a pair of Michigan penalties.
“We can’t be more happy than we are right now,” said Regan of the sweep. “We put ourselves in a great position [for the second half]. We’re going to go home, get some rest, and get it going for the second half. We’ve got to stay focused. We’re only halfway done right now.”
Senior goaltender David Brown didn’t have his best outing, but settled down in the third period to backstop the Irish to victory.
“It was a tough game right off the get-go from him,” said Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson. “I was a little nervous about how things were going in that regard, because we rely on him so much.
“I was pretty calm in between periods,” continued Jackson. “I just told our guys, ‘Listen, this guy has won games for us all season long; it’s time to step up for him.’ I was proud of our guys being able to respond and win it in the third period.”
For the Wolverines, the Sunday loss is their fourth in the last five games.
“We had a better game, no question about it,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “We took the lead, we wanted to get off to a good start. I thought we did a lot of good things. And then the game came down to whether our power play could score or our penalty killing could defend. When you look at the score, they got three, and we got none on the power play. That’s the difference in the game.”
The Wolverines were without the services of Jason Dest and Jack Johnson, who were nursing injuries. Andrew Cogliano was also absent, in Calgary trying out for the Canadian World Junior Team.
Despite the depleted lineup, Berenson made no excuses.
“What about the guys we did have? We had a pretty good team in there. Would we be better with some other players? Yeah. But, tonight, that was our team, and we just didn’t get it done.”
Sauer, after a tough outing on Friday night, was respectable. He stopped 25 of 29 shots, giving up just one even-strength goal.
“He had a better game, and our team had a better game,” said Berenson. “He goes as our team goes, but we have to give him some support. He was ready to make the difference tonight. I thought, at times, he had to keep us in the game, and he did that.”
As evidenced by this weekend’s sweep and their lofty national ranking, the Irish are enjoying successes this season that they have not seen in years. Jackson sees a difference compared to when he came to South Bend last year.
“Sometimes, the mental aspects of the game are more important than the physical aspects of [the game],” said Jackson. “As time has gone on, guys have gained confidence, and then they started to gain confidence in each other. That’s probably the most important thing. Now, I see them doing things that impress me that I didn’t see when I started here.
“It happened a couple times earlier in the season, where guys would go in there and be there when a teammate was left out to dry. When you see that, that’s a good sign. That’s like somebody punching their brother. Are you going to stand up for them, or are you just going to stand there and watch? I’ve seen really positive signs, like the guys coming back tonight for David Brown, who had his only rough game of the season.”
The Wolverines got on the board right away in the opening period off a Notre Dame miscue. Sophomore winger Travis Turnbull picked up a loose puck behind the Irish net, skated around to the left side, and shoveled the puck past a surprised Brown, who was defending the opposite corner of the net. The goal was Turnbull’s seventh of the season and was assisted by Chad Kolarik.
The Irish tied the game at the 13:25 mark of the period on a power-play goal. Right winger Erik Condra fed a pass from behind the net to the top of the right circle where teammate Kyle Lawson was waiting. He blasted a one-timer past Sauer for his second goal of the year. Kevin Deeth also assisted on the goal.
Michigan took a 2-1 lead just under three minutes later on a Kevin Porter attempt. After a turnover at neutral ice, Porter picked up the puck at the blue line and streaked down the left side of the ice. He deked to his right, then flipped a backhand across the crease and into the top left corner of the Irish net for his 14th tally of the season. The goal also extended Porter’s point streak to 15 games, the most by a player in a Michigan uniform since Andy Hilbert in 2001.
Both teams traded goals in the second period.
Notre Dame knotted it at 2 at 7:45 on a five-on-three goal. Sophomore Garrett Regan scored his fifth of the year, as he picked the puck out of a pile in front of net and flicked it past Sauer for the score. Mark VanGuilder assisted.
The Wolverines regained the lead late in the period, as Mark Mitera fired a shot from the blue line that went through traffic and found the five-hole of Brown for a 3-2 Michigan lead. It was Mitera’s first goal of the year.
The Irish finished the night 3 of 7 on the power play, while Michigan was shut out in six attempts.
Brown stopped 25 of 28 shots for his 13th win of the year.
Both teams are off until New Year’s weekend.
