Pano Fimis dropped to a knee and snapped the puck into the back of the net.
Over a month since his team’s last goal and almost two months since his team’s last win, the Notre Dame freshman forward brought the Irish back to within one goal of the visiting Ohio State Buckeyes. At last, a moment where Notre Dame’s depth broke onto the score sheet. Would it start an Irish comeback for their first win of the new year?
In short, a 10-game losing streak does not die hard, and Notre Dame’s streak refused to die in Friday’s series opener, when the Buckeyes rebounded late to transform a 2-2 game into a 4-2 win at Compton Family Ice Arena.
But when Fimis snuck down the backside again on Saturday night, and again found the twine off a quickly-timed snapshot, it became clear that some change was afoot. This time, Fimis’ goal put Notre Dame ahead in the second period, 2-0. And the Irish didn’t stop there. Notre Dame added three more goals in the second period and won — finally — 6-1.
For the Richmond Hill, Ontario native, Fimis’ first goal of the weekend must have been a relief. But his second made last weekend a breakthrough. After all, Fimis, a freshman who played four full seasons in the Canadian Hockey League before enrolling, hasn’t had an easy adjustment to college hockey.
After producing at a point-per-game pace as an assistant captain in each of his last two seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters, Fimis entered last weekend with two goals and 10 points in 22 games for the Irish this season. He began the season centering the second line and on the top power-play unit. Last weekend, he centered the third line and skated with the second unit. He’s seen his time on the ice drop from 20 minutes early in the year to around 15 minutes on both nights against Ohio State.
If anything, that makes Fimis’ breakthrough last weekend all the more meaningful for Notre Dame. A player who has shown a clear nose for the net over the course of his hockey career, but has struggled to find goals — let alone shots on goal — scored twice on three shots last weekend. It served as a sign that maybe hard work was beginning to pay off, not just for Fimis, but for the Irish as a whole. Finally, the chill surrounding Notre Dame’s 12-game conference losing streak was thawing.
“Pano had a pretty good start to his college career, and then it’s been a struggle here [lately], and he would tell you that,” head coach Brock Sheahan said. “He’s been working to play a more consistent, 200-foot game, and what do you know? He starts to generate more five-on-five; he had his power-play goal last night. He just looks more like the player that we think he can be, so I’m really proud of him today.”
Maybe the most important part of Fimis’ breakthrough was that he was not alone. In addition to Fimis ending a seven-game goalless drought last weekend, senior captain Danny Nelson snapped a five-game drought, freshman forward Cole Brown snapped an eight-game drought and junior forward Maddox Fleming scored his first goal in over two years — Jan. 19, 2024.
“When you work hard, good things will happen,” Fimis said. “We’ve been working hard for a long time. We’ve definitely been upping our compete. It feels good to finally find the results we were looking for.”
In a season that’s been so focused on process, last weekend for Notre Dame focused on results — and finishing, in particular. The Irish have been one of the worst teams in the country at converting the scoring chances they create into goals. Despite outpacing their opponent in expected goals (which measure scoring chances among other things) in each of their last six games, Notre Dame actually outscored their opponent in only one of them — Saturday’s 6-1 win over the Buckeyes. Notre Dame’s 8.5% shooting ranks 51st of 63 teams nationally.
“It was nice to see our guys finish on some high-level chances, which is something we haven’t done at the rate I think we’re capable of,” Sheahan said.
It may not be an exaggeration to call Notre Dame the most snakebitten team in the country over the last two months. Whether a streak-snapping victory last weekend will warm some cold sticks for a run of wins down the stretch remains to be seen. At the very least, the finish provided by Fimis and company last weekend has provided the blueprint for better days ahead.
“Any time you win, it feels good, obviously, but when you’ve had the stretch that we’ve had, I think it feels a little bit better,” Fimis said. “We’ve got to enjoy it, but back to work next week.”
