After beating MSU 5-0, Notre Dame faced the Spartans again on Saturday, with the puck drop at 6:05 p.m. Early on, it felt like Michigan State was the more aggressive of the two teams, forcing turnovers with a forecheck that the Irish did not seem ready for.
The Spartans lit the lamp first by using physical play to generate a turnover, with MSU left winger Jagger Joshua applying pressure to winger Ryder Rolston, who made a bad pass out of the zone (likely intended for Nick Leivermann) that the Spartans picked up.
State defender Nash Nienhuis held the puck while the Spartans cleared the zone before getting the puck to Karsen Dorwart, who put the puck on net. ND goaltender Ryan Bischel made the save, but the rebound was loose and fell to Joshua, who found twine.
After the goal, both teams went back and forth with the Spartans still being the more aggressive offense, outshooting ND 2-1 early on.
The Spartans’ assistant captain, defensemen Cole Krygier, gave the Irish an opportunity to get back into the game when he committed a boarding penalty. However, the Irish were ultimately unable to do anything with it. Krygier was not done yet, as he committed a dirty hit from behind, which turned into a five-minute major with just a little over three and a half minutes left in the period, putting the Irish up for the rest of the first.
That advantage was nullified after graduate student forward Chayse Primeau committed a holding penalty with just over a minute left in the period. After the end of one, the Spartans lead by one.
After both teams killed off their penalties, ND seemed to gain some momentum from the previous night back, even able to force turnovers. With just three minutes lapsed in the second period, MSU forward Tiernan Shoudy was called for a hooking penalty. This time, the Irish power-play unit seemed under more control, as the Irish were able to generate strong chances from the points, even getting their rebounds. Though they had a strong showing, the Spartans killed off the penalty.
When graduate student defenseman Chase Blackmun was called for an interference call, the Irish continued their special team’s momentum, clearing the puck from their zone and forcing the Spartans to regroup multiple times.
Late in the second, junior defenseman Zach Plucinski drove into the right corner of the Spartan zone, and as he turned toward the net, Leivermann caught his eye, completely wide open from the point. Plucinski made the pass across the zone and Leiverman was able to bury the shot, tying the game 1-1.
After a scoreless third period and overtime, the game went to a shootout. In the first round, Leivermann and MSU’s Tanner Kelly made their shot attempts. In the second round, graduate student forward Jackson Pierson failed to convert his, while Dorwart was able to put MSU up 2-1. The game came down to Rolston,, who was denied by MSU netminder Dylan St. Cyr — the first star of the game.
After the opening weekend of conference play, the Irish sit 4-2-2, with a conference record of 1-0-0-1. Though the Irish split the weekend with the Spartans, they still came away with four points, which is good enough for third in the Big 10, behind Ohio State (nine) and Penn State (six).
Notre Dame hits the road next weekend, where they will continue conference play in Minnesota against the Golden Gophers, who are currently fourth with a 1-1-0-0 conference record and a 5-3 record overall.
The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. central on Oct. 4 and 5.
