Sorry we've fallen behind a bit on the board on hockey ... this is from John Fineran, who used to work with me at the South Bend Tribune. This is maybe more than you might be looking for, but we're playing catchup ...
JANICKE HAT TRICK, STRAND’S TWO GOALS HELP IRISH SKATERS TAKE DOWN NO. 9 MICHIGAN 7-4
By JOHN FINERAN
SOUTH BEND – Tired of losing, especially at the Compton Family Ice Arena, Notre Dame’s hockey team finally decided to do something about it Saturday night against visiting No. 9 Michigan.
Senior right wing Justin Janicke had a career-high five-point night that included his first career hat trick and senior left wing Hunter Strand notched a pair of goals as the Fighting Irish scored three times within a 32-second span of the second period on their way to a 7-4 Big Ten Conference victory before a capacity crowd of 4,969 fans watching around the Lefty Smith Rink.
It was the highest offensive night of the season for coach Jeff Jackson’s Irish who entered the game with an eight-game losing streak to Michigan after Friday’s 5-3 loss which also left the team 1-12-1 since a 3-2 overtime victory over Wisconsin on Nov. 1. The victory improved the Irish to 7-14-1 overall and 2-11-1 for 9 points in the Big Ten heading into next weekend’s series at No. 3 Minnesota.
“It started last night,” said the 69-year-old Jackson who announced before the season that his 20thseason at Notre Dame would be his last and is now within four victories of totaling 600 for his Hall of Fame career. “My message after the game was we’re going to win tomorrow night. That was it.”
The faith showed by Jackson was all Janicke, Strand and the rest of their teammates needed against coach Brandon Naurato’s quick and talented Michigan team which fell to 13-8-1 overall and remained fifth in the Big Ten with their 7-5-0 record and 18 points.
“When Justin plays fast, he’s a darn good hockey player,” Jackson said. “When we play well, we play fast. It’s not just individual speed; it’s how you move the puck. Tonight the defense got the puck up to the forwards and allowed us to do a better job through the neutral zone.”
Sophomore center Danny Nelson had a goal and two assists while posting a team-high plus-minus rating of +6. Strand’s two goals were the first time he scored multiple goals in a game, while sophomore left wing Brennan Ali and graduate right wing Blake Biondi each had two assists. Sophomore defenseman Paul Fischer, Nelson’s gold-medal teammate on Team USA in the recent World Juniors Championship, had his first goal of the season, and junior goaltender Owen Say had 37 saves and capped the night with an assist on Janicke’s empty-net goal that came with one-tenth of a second remaining.
“The minute the game ended Friday you could tell there was a little different attitude within the group,” Janicke said. “The minute the puck was dropped, we had good intensity from the start. There was an extra level of determination. Losing sucks, especially in your own building.”
Strand concurred. “What coach said last night (it) seemed like we had only one option,” he said. “And that was to win. The guys had that in their heads coming into tonight. We all wanted to win so bad. We wanted it more than them. It’s all about bouncing back.”
The Irish needed help early from Say, who denied first Michael Hage and then Garrett Schifsky on a 2-on-0 break at 6:28 to keep it scoreless. Say had eight saves before Michigan’s Evan Werner scored at 11:48 after an Irish turnover to give Michigan a 1-0 lead.
Notre Dame needed to bounce back and it didn’t help that Carter Slaggert was sent off for high sticking 49 seconds later. But after Slaggert went into the penalty box at 12:37, Janicke forced a Michigan turnover near the blue line and broke ahead of defenseman Ethan Edwards, skated in and beat freshman goalie Cameron Korpi at 12:50 to tie the game at 1-1.
Later in the period, Nelson skated out of the defensive zone and found Janicke to his right. Janicke used his speed to break into the zone and then threaded a pass back across the ice to Fischer, who buried his shot behind Korpi at 17:10 for a 2-1 lead that Notre Dame took to the locker room.
The Irish broke it open with their three-goal barrage beginning at 5:37 of the second period when Strand re-directed a shot from the point by freshman defenseman Jimmy Jurcev past Korpi to make it 3-1. Nelson won the ensuing faceoff, brother Henry Nelson got the puck to Ali who found Janicke who then ended Korpi’s night with his second goal at 5:52. Naurato replaced Korpi with Stein before Nelson again won the faceoff. Janicke got the puck to Ali who fed Nelson for Notre Dame’s third goal in 32 seconds that gave the Irish a 5-1 lead with 6:09 gone in the period.
But Michigan answered that barrage with two goals in the same time span when William Whitelaw scored on a power play at 9:03 and Philippe Lapointe scored 32 seconds later to make it 5-3.
It remained that way until Strand gave the Irish some breathing room with his second goal of the game in the third period, taking a nice feed from Cole Knuble and beating Stein over his right shoulder at 7:57 to make it 6-3. But Michigan’s TJ Hughes scored on the power play at 11:55 to make it 6-4, and the Wolverines kept the pressure on the Irish goalie, who made five more saves before Naurato pulled Stein for a sixth attacker at 17:54.
Following a Michigan timeout at 19:21, the Wolverines tested Say three more times before Danny Nelson broke out of the defensive zone with Janicke, who skated toward the empty net, took a pass and secured the victory with his third goal at 19:59.9.
“Hopefully we can build on (the victory) and gets some confidence because that’s what we’ve lacked,” Jackson said. “When you lose and lose and don’t have success, it wears on you – I probably had about three hours of sleep – and I know it wears on them.
“If we play well, we can beat anybody,” Jackson said.
Saturday night, Irish eyes were smiling again. Finally.
NOTRE DAME 7, MICHIGAN 4
At Lefty Smith Rink/Compton Family Ice Arena, South Bend
Michigan 1 2 1—4
Notre Dame 2 3 2—7
First Period—Scoring: 1. Michigan, Evan Werner 8 (Ethan Edwards, Michael Hage) EV 11:48; 2. Notre Dame, Justin Janicke 7 (unassisted) SH 12:50; 3. Notre Dame, Paul Fischer 1 (Justin Janicke, Danny Nelson) EV 17:10.. Penalties: Michigan 0-0, Notre Dame 1-2.
Second Period—Scoring: 4. Notre Dame, Hunter Strand 5 (Jimmy Jurcev, Blake Biondi) EV 5:37; 5. Notre Dame, Justin Janicke 8 (Brennan Ali, Henry Nelson) EV 5:52; 6. Notre Dame, Danny Nelson 9 (Brennan Ali, Justin Janicke) EV 6:09; 7. Michigan, William Whitelaw 6 (Ethan Edwards, Jackson Hallum) PP 9:03; 8. Michigan, Philippe Lapointe 5 (Josh Eernisse, Kienan Draper) EV 9:35. Penalties: Michigan 3-6 (3-6), Notre Dame 3-6 (4-8).
Third Period—Scoring: 9.Notre Dame, Hunter Strand 6 (Cole Knuble, Blake Biondi) EV 7:57; 10. Michigan, TJ Hughes 7 (Will Horcoff, Michael Hage) PP 11:55; 11. Notre Dame, Justin Janicke 9 (Danny Nelson, Owen Say) EN 19:59.9. Penalties: Michigan 0-0 (3-6), Notre Dame 1-2 (5-10).
Shots on goal: Michigan 41 (15-12-14), Notre Dame 29 (10-13-6).
Goalie saves: Michigan (22), Cameron Korpi 10 (8-2-x-x) and Logan Stein 12 (x-8-4); Notre Dame (37), Owen Say 37 (14-10-13).
Power-play opportunities: Michigan 2 of 3, Notre Dame 0 of 1.
Faceoffs won: Michigan 27 (14-7-6), Notre Dame 27 (6-11-10).
Blocked shots: Michigan 7 (0-5-2), Notre Dame 14 (3-4-7).
Referees: Sean Fernandez and Andrew Bruggeman. Linesmen: Justin Cornell and Jake Davis. Attendance: 4,969 (4,852).
Records: Michigan 13-8-1 overall, 7-5-0 Big Ten for 18 points; Notre Dame 7-14-1 overall, 2-11-1 Big Ten for 9 points.
BIG TEN STANDINGS AND SCHEDULE: (Numbers in parenthesis before school are its rankings in this week’s USCHO.com media poll, this week’s USA Hockey-The Rink Live coaches poll and current PairWise rating)
1. (1/1/1) Michigan State 9-1-2, 28 points (18-2-2 overall)
2. (3/3/4) Minnesota 9-2-1, 27 points (18-4-2 overall)
3. (11/11/8) Ohio State 8-4-0, 23 points (15-6-1 overall)
4. (rv/nr/19) Wisconsin 5-9-0, 20 points (9-12-1 overall)
5. (9/9/10) Michigan 7-5-0, 18 points (13-8-1 overall)
6. (nr/nr/41) Notre Dame 2-11-1, 9 points (7-14-1 overall)
7. (nr/nr/31) Penn State 1-9-2, 7 points (8-10-2 overall)
Friday, Jan. 10: Michigan 5, Notre Dame 3; Michigan State 6, Penn State 4; Ohio State 5, Minnesota 1; Wisconsin was idle.
Saturday, Jan. 11: Notre Dame 7, Michigan 4; Penn State 2, Michigan State 2 (OT) (Penn State wins shootout 1-0); Minnesota 6, Ohio State 1; Wisconsin was idle.
Friday, Jan. 17: Notre Dame at Minnesota, 8 p.m.; Michigan State at Michigan, 7 p.m.; Canisius at Penn State, 7 p.m. (non-conference); Long Island at Wisconsin, 8 p.m. (non-conference); Ohio State is idle.
Saturday, Jan. 18: Notre Dame at Minnesota, 6 p.m.; Michigan at Michigan State, 7:30 p.m.; Canisius at Penn State, 5 p.m. (non-conference); Long Island at Wisconsin, 7 p.m. (non-conference); Ohio State is idle.
JANICKE HAT TRICK, STRAND’S TWO GOALS HELP IRISH SKATERS TAKE DOWN NO. 9 MICHIGAN 7-4
By JOHN FINERAN
SOUTH BEND – Tired of losing, especially at the Compton Family Ice Arena, Notre Dame’s hockey team finally decided to do something about it Saturday night against visiting No. 9 Michigan.
Senior right wing Justin Janicke had a career-high five-point night that included his first career hat trick and senior left wing Hunter Strand notched a pair of goals as the Fighting Irish scored three times within a 32-second span of the second period on their way to a 7-4 Big Ten Conference victory before a capacity crowd of 4,969 fans watching around the Lefty Smith Rink.
It was the highest offensive night of the season for coach Jeff Jackson’s Irish who entered the game with an eight-game losing streak to Michigan after Friday’s 5-3 loss which also left the team 1-12-1 since a 3-2 overtime victory over Wisconsin on Nov. 1. The victory improved the Irish to 7-14-1 overall and 2-11-1 for 9 points in the Big Ten heading into next weekend’s series at No. 3 Minnesota.
“It started last night,” said the 69-year-old Jackson who announced before the season that his 20thseason at Notre Dame would be his last and is now within four victories of totaling 600 for his Hall of Fame career. “My message after the game was we’re going to win tomorrow night. That was it.”
The faith showed by Jackson was all Janicke, Strand and the rest of their teammates needed against coach Brandon Naurato’s quick and talented Michigan team which fell to 13-8-1 overall and remained fifth in the Big Ten with their 7-5-0 record and 18 points.
“When Justin plays fast, he’s a darn good hockey player,” Jackson said. “When we play well, we play fast. It’s not just individual speed; it’s how you move the puck. Tonight the defense got the puck up to the forwards and allowed us to do a better job through the neutral zone.”
Sophomore center Danny Nelson had a goal and two assists while posting a team-high plus-minus rating of +6. Strand’s two goals were the first time he scored multiple goals in a game, while sophomore left wing Brennan Ali and graduate right wing Blake Biondi each had two assists. Sophomore defenseman Paul Fischer, Nelson’s gold-medal teammate on Team USA in the recent World Juniors Championship, had his first goal of the season, and junior goaltender Owen Say had 37 saves and capped the night with an assist on Janicke’s empty-net goal that came with one-tenth of a second remaining.
“The minute the game ended Friday you could tell there was a little different attitude within the group,” Janicke said. “The minute the puck was dropped, we had good intensity from the start. There was an extra level of determination. Losing sucks, especially in your own building.”
Strand concurred. “What coach said last night (it) seemed like we had only one option,” he said. “And that was to win. The guys had that in their heads coming into tonight. We all wanted to win so bad. We wanted it more than them. It’s all about bouncing back.”
The Irish needed help early from Say, who denied first Michael Hage and then Garrett Schifsky on a 2-on-0 break at 6:28 to keep it scoreless. Say had eight saves before Michigan’s Evan Werner scored at 11:48 after an Irish turnover to give Michigan a 1-0 lead.
Notre Dame needed to bounce back and it didn’t help that Carter Slaggert was sent off for high sticking 49 seconds later. But after Slaggert went into the penalty box at 12:37, Janicke forced a Michigan turnover near the blue line and broke ahead of defenseman Ethan Edwards, skated in and beat freshman goalie Cameron Korpi at 12:50 to tie the game at 1-1.
Later in the period, Nelson skated out of the defensive zone and found Janicke to his right. Janicke used his speed to break into the zone and then threaded a pass back across the ice to Fischer, who buried his shot behind Korpi at 17:10 for a 2-1 lead that Notre Dame took to the locker room.
The Irish broke it open with their three-goal barrage beginning at 5:37 of the second period when Strand re-directed a shot from the point by freshman defenseman Jimmy Jurcev past Korpi to make it 3-1. Nelson won the ensuing faceoff, brother Henry Nelson got the puck to Ali who found Janicke who then ended Korpi’s night with his second goal at 5:52. Naurato replaced Korpi with Stein before Nelson again won the faceoff. Janicke got the puck to Ali who fed Nelson for Notre Dame’s third goal in 32 seconds that gave the Irish a 5-1 lead with 6:09 gone in the period.
But Michigan answered that barrage with two goals in the same time span when William Whitelaw scored on a power play at 9:03 and Philippe Lapointe scored 32 seconds later to make it 5-3.
It remained that way until Strand gave the Irish some breathing room with his second goal of the game in the third period, taking a nice feed from Cole Knuble and beating Stein over his right shoulder at 7:57 to make it 6-3. But Michigan’s TJ Hughes scored on the power play at 11:55 to make it 6-4, and the Wolverines kept the pressure on the Irish goalie, who made five more saves before Naurato pulled Stein for a sixth attacker at 17:54.
Following a Michigan timeout at 19:21, the Wolverines tested Say three more times before Danny Nelson broke out of the defensive zone with Janicke, who skated toward the empty net, took a pass and secured the victory with his third goal at 19:59.9.
“Hopefully we can build on (the victory) and gets some confidence because that’s what we’ve lacked,” Jackson said. “When you lose and lose and don’t have success, it wears on you – I probably had about three hours of sleep – and I know it wears on them.
“If we play well, we can beat anybody,” Jackson said.
Saturday night, Irish eyes were smiling again. Finally.
NOTRE DAME 7, MICHIGAN 4
At Lefty Smith Rink/Compton Family Ice Arena, South Bend
Michigan 1 2 1—4
Notre Dame 2 3 2—7
First Period—Scoring: 1. Michigan, Evan Werner 8 (Ethan Edwards, Michael Hage) EV 11:48; 2. Notre Dame, Justin Janicke 7 (unassisted) SH 12:50; 3. Notre Dame, Paul Fischer 1 (Justin Janicke, Danny Nelson) EV 17:10.. Penalties: Michigan 0-0, Notre Dame 1-2.
Second Period—Scoring: 4. Notre Dame, Hunter Strand 5 (Jimmy Jurcev, Blake Biondi) EV 5:37; 5. Notre Dame, Justin Janicke 8 (Brennan Ali, Henry Nelson) EV 5:52; 6. Notre Dame, Danny Nelson 9 (Brennan Ali, Justin Janicke) EV 6:09; 7. Michigan, William Whitelaw 6 (Ethan Edwards, Jackson Hallum) PP 9:03; 8. Michigan, Philippe Lapointe 5 (Josh Eernisse, Kienan Draper) EV 9:35. Penalties: Michigan 3-6 (3-6), Notre Dame 3-6 (4-8).
Third Period—Scoring: 9.Notre Dame, Hunter Strand 6 (Cole Knuble, Blake Biondi) EV 7:57; 10. Michigan, TJ Hughes 7 (Will Horcoff, Michael Hage) PP 11:55; 11. Notre Dame, Justin Janicke 9 (Danny Nelson, Owen Say) EN 19:59.9. Penalties: Michigan 0-0 (3-6), Notre Dame 1-2 (5-10).
Shots on goal: Michigan 41 (15-12-14), Notre Dame 29 (10-13-6).
Goalie saves: Michigan (22), Cameron Korpi 10 (8-2-x-x) and Logan Stein 12 (x-8-4); Notre Dame (37), Owen Say 37 (14-10-13).
Power-play opportunities: Michigan 2 of 3, Notre Dame 0 of 1.
Faceoffs won: Michigan 27 (14-7-6), Notre Dame 27 (6-11-10).
Blocked shots: Michigan 7 (0-5-2), Notre Dame 14 (3-4-7).
Referees: Sean Fernandez and Andrew Bruggeman. Linesmen: Justin Cornell and Jake Davis. Attendance: 4,969 (4,852).
Records: Michigan 13-8-1 overall, 7-5-0 Big Ten for 18 points; Notre Dame 7-14-1 overall, 2-11-1 Big Ten for 9 points.
BIG TEN STANDINGS AND SCHEDULE: (Numbers in parenthesis before school are its rankings in this week’s USCHO.com media poll, this week’s USA Hockey-The Rink Live coaches poll and current PairWise rating)
1. (1/1/1) Michigan State 9-1-2, 28 points (18-2-2 overall)
2. (3/3/4) Minnesota 9-2-1, 27 points (18-4-2 overall)
3. (11/11/8) Ohio State 8-4-0, 23 points (15-6-1 overall)
4. (rv/nr/19) Wisconsin 5-9-0, 20 points (9-12-1 overall)
5. (9/9/10) Michigan 7-5-0, 18 points (13-8-1 overall)
6. (nr/nr/41) Notre Dame 2-11-1, 9 points (7-14-1 overall)
7. (nr/nr/31) Penn State 1-9-2, 7 points (8-10-2 overall)
Friday, Jan. 10: Michigan 5, Notre Dame 3; Michigan State 6, Penn State 4; Ohio State 5, Minnesota 1; Wisconsin was idle.
Saturday, Jan. 11: Notre Dame 7, Michigan 4; Penn State 2, Michigan State 2 (OT) (Penn State wins shootout 1-0); Minnesota 6, Ohio State 1; Wisconsin was idle.
Friday, Jan. 17: Notre Dame at Minnesota, 8 p.m.; Michigan State at Michigan, 7 p.m.; Canisius at Penn State, 7 p.m. (non-conference); Long Island at Wisconsin, 8 p.m. (non-conference); Ohio State is idle.
Saturday, Jan. 18: Notre Dame at Minnesota, 6 p.m.; Michigan at Michigan State, 7:30 p.m.; Canisius at Penn State, 5 p.m. (non-conference); Long Island at Wisconsin, 7 p.m. (non-conference); Ohio State is idle.
