After holding off a late rally from Northeastern for a 3-2 victory Thursday night, Notre Dame was unable to repeat the feat Friday as the Irish and the Huskies tied, 2-2, in the second and final game of their series.
No. 18 Notre Dame (5-2-3, 3-0-1 Hockey East) jumped out in front of the Huskies (1-8-2, 0-4-2) at the nine-minute mark of the first period on a power play goal from sophomore center Jake Evans. Evans drilled home a shot from a sharp angle after a pass from senior center Thomas DiPauli through the crease in front of Northeastern freshman goaltender Ryan Ruck. The goal came 1:16 into a five-minute power play and was Evans’ first power-play goal on the season as he continues the transition to center full time.
The Irish extended their lead early in the second period to two goals when sophomore center Connor Hurley slipped a rebound past Ruck 2:11 into the period. Ruck saved a drive off the stick of junior defenseman Justin Wade at the point but Hurley was there to backhand the rebound just underneath a sprawling Ruck.
The Irish were unable to hold that lead, however. After trailing by two goals for the majority of the second period, Northeastern got on the board as sophomore defenseman Garret Cockerill sneaked a shot through traffic and past sophomore goalie Cal Petersen at the 13:33 mark.
The Huskies then tied the game at two when junior defenseman Matt Benning converted on a power-play opportunity just 5:53 into the third period, firing a shot from the point that flew over the shoulder of a screened Petersen.
The rest of the period saw a flurry of scoring chances at both ends of the ice as both Ruck and Petersen stopped 11 shots.
DiPauli recorded the only shot on net in the overtime frame, but he was unable to put the game-winner past Ruck.
The tie extends an early point streak for the Irish in conference play. After claiming seven out of a possible eight points through its first four conference games, Notre Dame sits just one point out of first place in Hockey East.
Petersen turned in another strong performance for the Irish to begin the season, as he stopped 32 shots while playing all 65 minutes of the contest.
Friday’s game saw the end of a four-game, eight-day stretch for Notre Dame, but the Irish do not get much of a break, as they return to action this coming Friday. The team will head back out on the road to face conference-leading No. 5 UMass Lowell in a pair of weekend games. The puck drops Friday at 7:15 p.m. and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts.
