Offense has been a hard thing to come by for Notre Dame hockey all season long. At the end of the regular season, the Irish sat sixth in the Big Ten in goals per game, leading only conference punching bag Ohio State. Chances came few and far between compared to other teams, as no one in the conference averaged fewer than Notre Dame's 32.1 shots on goal per game. When they did arise, only 8.7% of those shots resulted in goals, ranking fifth. And those struggles remained on the power play, where the Irish also brought up the rear with a pitiful 18.8% success rate.
So, if Notre Dame knew coming into Game 1 of the Big Ten quarterfinals against the Michigan Wolverines that it would score four times, including once on the man advantage, you'd excuse them for feeling confident about their chances of winning. After all, the Irish entered the postseason 15-1-1 when scoring three or more goals. They silenced the usually raucous Yost Ice Arena with three consecutive goals in the second period, putting a pitiful first-period performance that saw them outshot 20-4 firmly in the rearview mirror.
Or, so it seemed. Instead, Michigan got one back when a turnaround wrist shot from Garrett Schifsky beat graduate goaltender Ryan Bischel just 64 seconds after the Irish had stretched their lead to two goals. It wasn't a bad goal, but a bit of a stunning one for a goaltender who is rarely beaten on anything but an A-plus scoring chance.
Then, rather than let their strengths dictate the remaining 23 minutes of play, the Irish gave Michigan a chance to do just that. Two penalties in 65 seconds -- the first a sloppy unsportsmanlike call on senior defenseman Jake Boltmann for snowing Wolverines goaltender Jake Barczewski after a whistle, the second a debatable major against senior defenseman Drew Bavaro for hitting from behind -- allowed the nation's best power play to take over.
Michigan did just that, with T.J. Hughes and Rutger McGroarty beating Bischel during the major to put Michigan back on top in the early minutes of the third. From there, the typically run-and-gun Wolverines suffocated Notre Dame, who managed just four shots in the closing period after putting up 16 in the second.
Just eight people who played the last time the Irish were in a postseason game outside of Compton Family Ice Arena -- the 2022 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals against Minnesota State -- dressed in Ann Arbor this Friday night. The lack of experience for the Irish in a big game without the home crowd on their side was almost as apparent as the lack of consistency that has plagued them all season.
The Irish spent most of the middle period firing on all cylinders. Before wearing the goat horns for taking the costly major, Bavaro scored two goals, the second coming just 58 seconds following graduate forward Patrick Moynihan's go-ahead tally late in the second. Even though they struggled early, the Irish briefly led in the first period when senior forward Landon Slaggert tallied his team-leading 19th goal, assisted by Bavaro and Moynihan, on the team's first shot of the game. And yet, when the dust settled, the Irish still came up short.
There were numerous opportunities for Notre Dame to take advantage on Friday, but they failed to do so each time. Now they face an ultimatum Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Game 2 -- find a way to execute in the pivotal moments or see their season come to an end.
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