No. 5-ranked Minnesota Duluth tied Notre Dame 3-3 in overtime on Friday at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind., as the Bulldogs gave up 2-0 and 3-2 leads.
Here are my thumbs up and thumbs down from Friday’s game, plus my three stars of the game.
Thumbs up to UMD pouncing early on the road.
The Bulldogs couldn’t have asked for a better start on the road Friday. They scored two goals in the opening 10:09 with UMD senior wing Austin Farley backhanding a rebound top shelf 6:27 into the first and junior wing Alex Iafallo finishing off a tic-tac-toe play shortly after for his first goal of the season.
The Fighting Irish had four power plays — 90 percent of the calls Friday were pretty ticky-tack, FYI — in the first period to answer, but Bulldogs sophomore goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo was there to completely shut down the opposing power play, stopping all six shots.
It may have been the Bulldogs best period of the season thus far. But then …
Thumbs down to the power play. It was a total disaster.
Where do I start?
The Bulldogs finished 0-for-7 on the power play. One of those failed chances was a 5-minute power play. Two were 5-on-3 power plays.
UMD generated only 12 shots on the power play, with five of the 12 coming during a 6:09 span when UMD had either a one- or two-man advantage. During that same 6:09, Notre Dame put three shots on goal. One went in.
Both UMD 5-on-3 power plays came while Notre Dame was also trying to kill off a major penalty. The shorthanded goal Notre Dame scored, it came during the major penalty and in between the 5-on-3s.
The Bulldogs were given one last power play 15 seconds into overtime. They got one shot on goal. It was UMD’s only shot on goal in OT. The Irish went on to post three shots on goal in OT.
Here’s what UMD coach Scott Sandelin had to say about the power play after the game.
“Tonight it was a little stagnant,” Sandelin said. “You have to give them credit too. They did a good job defending. I thought we made some poor decisions. Obviously one cost us a goal coming up the rink. Again, not getting the puck deep and it turned into their shorthanded goal.
“We had a lot of standing around. There weren’t a lot of options because guys weren’t moving to where they need to be. It just wasn’t very clean. It was just kind of bleh. It needs to be better, there is no question about it.”
Matt’s Three Stars
3. Notre Dame junior defender Justin Wade: His shorthanded goal after the first failed UMD 5-on-3 advantage but during the major power play was the game changer. Considering the second Irish goal was a fluke, UMD probably sneaks away with a win if not for the shorty.
2. UMD sophomore goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo: I’m kind of surprised Notre Dame got just the one power play goal. They moved the puck around really, really well and created some good scoring chances on the power play. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, though, because Kaskisuo continues to be amazing when his team is a man down. My only explanation is with one less person on the ice, it’s easier for Kas to see the puck.
1. Notre Dame sophomore goaltender Cal Petersen: UMD may have tanked on the power play, but it was Petersen who shut down UMD late when things were evened up. UMD junior center Dominic Toninato sent an absolute laser to the top left corner late in the third, and Petersen was there to glove that shot with reflexes that were just as quick. He finished with 39 saves and that stop was the most impressive.