MINNEAPOLIS — The Fighting Irish twice erased one-goal deficits and then Graham Slaggert scored the only goal of the third period to lift Notre Dame to a 3-2 win at top-ranked Minnesota on Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
“I thought we played a good 60 minute hockey game,” head coach Jeff Jackson said after the win. “Pretty much in every aspect of the game I thought we did a nice job. It was good to see us put together a power-play goal. We did a good job managing the puck, so for us it was a big step in being able to string together a full 60.”
It was the first time the Irish defeated a top ranked team since knocking off Boston College, 2-1 in overtime, on March 1, 2014.
Graham Slaggert’s game winner was his career-best third point of the night, having also assisted on goals by Landon Slaggert and Alex Steeves. Landon Slaggert finished with two points as he assisted on Graham’s game winner.
Ryan Bischel stopped 17 of the 19 shots he faced to earn the win, which was his third road win of the season. In the Minnesota net, Jack LaFontaine totaled 24 saves as the Irish outshot the Gophers 27-19 for the game, including an 11-4 mark in the third period.
Notre Dame’s power play went 1-1 on Landon Slaggert’s power-play strike and the Irish penalty kill held Minnesota’s power play to a 0-for-2 mark.
How It Happened
Notre Dame killed off the game’s first power play midway through the first period with Bischel turning aside the only Gopher shot on goal he faced on the penalty kill.
Jackson Lacombe scored at 16:50 of the first period when his wrist shot from the top of the near circle beat Bischel high to put Minnesota on top, 1-0.
The Irish answered to tie it at 1-1 with 32 seconds remaining in the first period. Following a Gopher icing, Graham Slaggert won an offensive zone faceoff by sliding the puck to his right wing, where Alex Steeves slammed home his sixth goal of the season.
The Gophers scored off a faceoff win of their own at 1:48 of the second period to take a 2-1 lead on Sampo Ranta’s ninth goal of the season.
After killing off a Minnesota power play, the Irish went to work on their first power-play chance of the night, with Landon Slaggert capitalizing from in close as he finished off a feed from Graham Slaggert at 6:23. Nick Leivermann got the chance started as he moved in from the point and found Graham Slaggert cutting in down the near boards to earn the second assist. It marked Landon’s third goal in the last three games since returning from the World Junior Championship.
Leivermann had a nice rush near the end of the period but his shot rang off the post with 1:21 left in the middle frame and the teams headed to the locker room tied at 2-2.
The Irish dominated possession in the first half of the third period, outshooting the Gophers 9-1 in the first 10 minutes, but Lafontaine kept the game tied.
Notre Dame took the lead with 4:43 to play when Landon Slaggert forced a turnover on the forecheck behind the Gopher net and put the puck in front for Graham Slaggert, who buried it past LaFontaine for his third point of the night.
The Gophers pulled LaFontaine for the extra attacker in the closing moments, but Bischel and the Irish held on for the 3-2 victory.
Notes
- Senior Matt Hellickson skated in his 130th-consecutive game, dating back to the first game of his freshman season.
- With a goal and two assists, Graham Slaggert posted his second multi-point game of the season and the third of his career while his three points were a career-best.
- With the three points, Slaggert has 11 points on the season (3-7-10), which is a career-best total.
- The game-winner was Slaggert’s first of the season and third of his career.
- Six Irish players have now accounted for Notre Dame’s six game-winning goals this season.
- Following his first period goal, Alex Steeves has a point in seven of the last eight games and he has only been held off the scoresheet in three of Notre Dame’s 13 games this season.
- With a goal and an assist, Landon Slaggert posted his second multi-point game of the season/his career.
Next Up
- Notre Dame and Minnesota close out their weekend series on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. ET (Jan. 16).
- The game will be televised on Fox Sports North and streamed via BTN Plus.