It continues to be a tale of two nights for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team.
After the visiting Lindenwood Lions handed Notre Dame one of the most surprising losses of its season (in a season full of them), the Irish responded on Saturday to salvage a weekend split. The disappointing result against a Lindenwood team ranked 54th of 64 teams in the national pairwise ratings continues a trend of inconsistent play for the Irish.
“I think it's a mindset,” Irish head coach Jeff Jackson said after Saturday’s 4-2 win. “We have to lose to figure out how to win. I mean, that's the way it's been for the last three weeks.”
Credit Lindenwood for taking advantage of Notre Dame’s inconsistency. The Lions, in their third year since making the jump as a program from the American Collegiate Hockey Association, earned another signature win in Friday’s 3-2 victory. The Lions showed their toughness by clawing back from an early two-goal deficit, scoring three second-period goals. It is difficult to get a program off the ground, but first-year head coach Bill Muckalt’s squad has beaten two Big Ten teams on the road this season, something Notre Dame still cannot say.
“They're hard to play against,” Jackson said of Lindenwood. “We need to learn to be a little harder to play against at times too.”
The Irish were able to do that Saturday night, outworking Lindenwood en route to a 4-2 win. Despite the result, though, it feels like the central problem for Notre Dame remains unsolved. As January comes to a close, Notre Dame will look back on the month as one of missed opportunities. Momentum-building wins over Penn State at Wrigley Field, No. 10 Michigan and at No. 4 Minnesota were all followed by flops in the next game played. Simply put, the Irish have not been able to handle success.
“It helps when you have success, but you gotta build on it. You can’t take a step forward and another one back,” Jackson said. “Hopefully these last eight games we can show some consistency in what we're all about, because I think we're good enough. I think we're good enough to make a run here in the last month. We need to find a way to do it every shift of every game.”
“It's just a mindset, you know? We have to have the mindset of a winner.”
Friday: Lindenwood 3, Notre Dame 2
The night began auspiciously for the Irish, who found themselves ahead two goals just 6:44 into the contest. Sophomore forward Carter Slaggert opened the scoring for the Irish with his second goal in as many nights. Slaggert finished off a feed from classmate Jayden Davis by sneaking a shot five-hole on Lindenwood sophomore goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz. Senior forward Hunter Strand added on just 58 seconds later, tipping a shot from the high slot from graduate forward Blake Biondi.
Lindenwood head coach Bill Muckalt, in his first season with the Lions, called a timeout immediately following the second Notre Dame goal. The decision proved to be a wise one, as the Lions settled into a defensive posture for the rest of the evening and stymied Notre Dame.
It would not be until the second period, though, that the decision would bear fruit. The Lions scored three consecutive goals in the middle frame to take the lead for good. Lindenwood got on the board 8:40 into the period when freshman defenseman Noah Houle capitalized off a turnover to score unassisted. Houle scored again to tie the game six minutes later, finishing off a wraparound during a period of four-on-four play. Fellow freshman Tyler Loughman put the Lions in the lead in the final three minutes of the period. Loughman won a battle at the back post and one-touched a pass from senior forward David Gagnon past Irish junior goaltender Owen Say.
Notre Dame did not record any high-danger shots in the third period, despite outshooting Lindenwood 10-4 over the final 20 minutes. Bartoszkiewicz finished with 26 saves on 28 shots, while Say made 16 stops against 19 shots.
Saturday: Notre Dame 4, Lindenwood 2
The Irish got on the board first again to start night two. After being demoted to the fourth line ahead of Saturday’s contest, sophomore forward Brennan Ali responded with a goal just four minutes in to put the Irish ahead 1-0. Ali’s fourth line, with freshman forward Maddox Fleming and graduate forward Ian Murphy, was Notre Dame’s best in the opening frame. Lindenwood managed just four shots against Irish freshman netminder Nicholas Kempf.
An early second-period power-play gave Notre Dame the chance to extend its lead. Just seconds after the offensive zone faceoff, senior captain Justin Janicke blasted a one-timer past Bartoszkiewicz — making his second consecutive start as expected — to put the Irish up 2-0. Sophomore forwards Cole Knuble and Danny Nelson moved the puck quickly to Janicke on the weak side to set up the goal.
Notre Dame dictated play for most of the second period, but the Lions refused to go away. They finally got on the board themselves when sophomore forward Jake Southgate beat Kempf with a wrist shot from the faceoff circle. The goal cut Notre Dame’s lead to one entering the final period.
The Irish added the would-be game-winning goal early in the third. Senior forward Tyler Carpenter took a pass from sophomore defenseman Paul Fischer and snuck a shot over the short-side shoulder of Bartoszkiewciz to make the game 3-2. Lindenwood would test Kempf over the course of the third, throwing 14 shots on net. The Lions refused to go away, and junior forward John Evans scored to make the game 3-2.
But the Lions never could find the equalizer. Danny Nelson potted an empty-netter late to seal the win for Notre Dame. Bartoszkiewicz did everything he could do to help give Lindenwood its first sweep, finishing with 33 saves. Kempf earned his second win in an Irish uniform with 20 stops on 22 shots.
The Irish end the weekend 9-16-1 overall. With Penn State earning four out of six points against Ohio State this weekend, the Irish are now tied with the Nittany Lions for last place in the Big Ten. Penn State has two games in hand on the Irish entering the final month of the season.