How It Happened
The teams skated to a scoreless first period as Dylan St. Cyr totaled six saves and Michigan State goaltender Pierce Charleson made eight stops.
Notre Dame’s best look came with 1:39 left in the period when Trevor Janicke slammed a one-timer from the slot on goal but Charleson made a pad save.
Landon Slaggert broke the scoreless tie at 4:31 of the second period. He caught a Matt Hellickson clearing feed in the neutral zone and skated in on a two-on-one chance and put a shot on net that Charleson fought off. Slaggert then corralled the rebound and flipped a wrist shot into an open net for his sixth goal of the season.
St. Cyr was called upon to make a point blank pad save on Michigan State’s Kyle Haskins midway through the second period, preserving the 1-0 lead.
Alex Steeves’ wrist shot from the slot rang off the crossbar with 59 seconds left in the second and the Irish took the 1-0 lead to the locker room after two periods of play.
The teams traded power-play chances early in the third period but neither team scored on the advantage.
The Spartans looked to have gotten on the board midway through the third but Notre Dame challenged the play for offsides and the goal was overturned.
Alex Steeves then doubled the Notre Dame lead at 11:24 of the third, taking a Landon Slaggert drop pass and weaving through a Spartan defenseman before beating Charleson through the five hole for his 14th goal of the season. Matt Hellickson also notched his second assist of the night on the play.
Michigan State pulled Charleson in favor of the extra attacker with a minute left but Notre Dame controlled the play and earned the win.
Notes
- Senior Matt Hellickson skated in his 142nd-consecutive game, dating back to the first game of his freshman season.
- With a pair of assists, Hellickson posted his first multipoint game of the season and the sixth of his career.
- With a goal and an assist, Landon Slaggert extended his point streak to three games (1-5-6).
- It marked Landon Slaggert’s seventh multipoint game this season and he notched his first career game winner.
Next Up
- The Irish and Spartans will close out their regular-season series on Saturday with a 3 p.m. ET game (Feb. 27).