Notre Dame hockey bounces back to beat Minnesota 3-2 in overtime

Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson felt sheepish.

As has been customary the last few years, the Minnesota Golden Gophers went into Compton Family Ice Arena on the campus of Notre Dame on Friday night and made it their own. The Gophers blew the Irish out 5-1 to earn a fifth straight victory over the blue and gold in dominating fashion.

“It was an embarrassment,” Jackson said.

The only way to overcome humiliation? Get right back at those who made you feel that way. And that’s just what Notre Dame (18-8-0, 10-6-0 Big 10) did Saturday in a 3-2 overtime win over Minnesota (15-11-0, 10-6-0). Hometown hero Landon Slaggert sent a shot off the pads of Gopher goalie Justen Close, secured his own rebound and slammed the puck home to seal the deal.

Notre Dame improved to 6-2 in overtime this season with the win.

“It was just a huge goal for us,” Slaggert said. “It was huge to get that win.”

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Notre Dame needed it. The Gophers entered the weekend two points ahead of the Irish in the Big 10 Standings. They pulled ahead by five points with Friday’s win. Notre Dame stayed within striking distance with Saturday’s triumph. Minnesota has 30 points. Notre Dame has 26.

The more important metric to monitor as the season comes down to the stretch run might be the PairWise standings. Notre Dame entered the weekend ranked No. 15. Sixteen teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The Irish are living on the bubble. Every win, especially against formidable Big 10 foes like Minnesota (No. 11 in PairWise), is oh so valuable.

“We needed bounced back tonight, and moving forward we just have to keep winning games,” said Notre Dame goalie Ryan Bischel, who stopped 24 of 26 Minnesota shot attempts.

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Twelve of Bischel’s saves came in the second period. Notre Dame only had two in the frame after going into it with a 2-0 built in the first period. The Gophers came out of the locker room looking to turn the game on its head, but there was only one issue for the visitor; Bischel was standing on his head.

He made right pad saves and left pad saves, flashed the leather of his glove side and batted rubber away with his blocker. He even had a puck zing off his helmet. No worries. Minnesota’s game-tying goal early in the second period came on a defection through traffic at the end of a power player. That was the only type of goal getting by Bischel when the game was on the line.

He was perfect against everything else.

“I thought he was solid,” Jackson said. “He did everything we needed. Made a couple big saves and made the saves he needed to. You don’t win without goaltending, especially against a team that has that kind of offensive weapons.”

Notre Dame is likely going to need Bischel to be stout the rest of the season. Fellow net-minder Matthew Galajda was lit up for three goals on five shots in Friday’s loss. It’s tough to come back from a night like that mentally. Bischel stopped 41 of the 45 shots he faced in the series, meanwhile.

“I’m prepared,” Bischel said. “I had a really good week of practice. That allowed me to go out there with a mindset to trust the guys and do what it takes on my end.”

Postgame notes

Three stars of the game

1. Landon Slaggert (one goal, one assist)
2. Ryan Bischel (24 saves)
3. Spencer Stastney (two assists)

Behind the bench: Jeff Jackson quotes and notes

• “Every point matters for us. More importantly, if we want to have success at the end of the year we have to find a way to play teams of this caliber.”

• Notre Dame played a second straight game without one of its top defensemen, Nick Leivermann. Forward Cam Burke also went down with an injury during Saturday’s game. Jackson said he’s not sure of the severity of the ailment.

• Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman was in attendance with high school prospects in town for a big recruiting weekend. He arrived during the first period and stayed for the entire game with the recruits and a few of his assistant coaches, including Dre Brown, Mike Mickens and Chansi Stuckey.

• Max Ellis scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season to open the scoring in the first period. Trevor Janicke scored on a pretty pass from Slaggert later in the first to give the Irish a 2-0 lead.

Up next for the Irish

Feb. 4: vs. Penn State (7:30 p.m. ET)

Feb. 5: vs. Penn State (6 p.m. ET)