Even early in the season, the play of a goalie can make a big impact on a team’s success. Saturday night, Notre Dame got a great effort in goal and enough offense to complete its second consecutive Big Ten weekend sweep.
Bo Brauer found the back of the net late in the second period and Cale Morris stopped all 33 shots on goal for No. 6 Notre Dame (8-3-1, 4-0-0-0 Big Ten) in a 1-0 win over No. 19 Penn State (5-7-0, 2-4-0-0 Big Ten).
Brauer goal off assists from Mike O’Leary and Dennis Gilbert at the 14:12 mark proved to be the game-winner for coach Jeff Jackson’s club, who knocked off the Nittany Lions 5-3 Friday after sweeping Ohio State last weekend.
“Bo is a guy that has paid his dues,” Jackson said. “He has really made an effort to learn the game without the puck. He had a real problem with that early in his career. Every once in a while, he ‘puck stares’ too much, but he has made an effort and has gotten better. He has always had the ability to be a power-type player. He’s always got to remember to play big, and when he does, he makes our cycle and our low game offensively really effective.”
Morris was solid in goal and kept Penn State off the board despite numerous rushes the Nittany Lions threw at him.
“They put a lot of pressure on you,” Jackson said of Penn State. “They’re constantly shooting from everywhere. When you take shots, it usually creates a lot of chaos. And the other thing they do well is when they transition out of their own end. It’s really hard to establish much of a forecheck by the way they play. The defensemen almost have to honor the guys that are leaving the zone. When they get possession, they are gone. If you don’t honor them, you are going to give up breakaways. They play a real high-tempo transition game.”
Penn State goalie Peyton Jones was stellar in goal, stopping 25 shots.
“I thought our goaltender was excellent,” Nittany Lions coach Guy Gadowsky said. “We’re playing a great team that managed to put one by us. We’re struggling in a number of areas defensively. This is probably our most consistent weekend against an excellent team. We’re grinding right now, and we’re putting new guys in and out of the lineup and I think we will be better down the road for it.”
Gadowsky said playing a team like Notre Dame makes his team better.
“I thought it was two excellent hockey games,” he said. “Last night was different than tonight. It was not our game, but I thought we adapted pretty well. Anytime you play a team like Notre Dame, they’re greatly coached and very experienced and they know what it is all about.”
After Brauer’s goal, the Fighting Irish withstood numerous chances from the Nittany Lions. Jones was pulled with 1:45 left for an extra attacker, but Penn State was unable to take advantage.
“The thing that I admire the most in what he has done here in the last four games is shown the ability to close the game down, and that is a real important quality in a goaltender,” Jackson said of Morris. “He had a 1-0 lead in the third period, and you’re going to have to make some good saves on the penalty kill and with a six-on-five at the end. I thought he was the difference.”
Even with the fast start, Jackson said every league game will be battle.
“It’s going to be like this every weekend,” he said. “You’re not going to have big victories in the Big Ten. You’re going to have to fight out one-goal games a lot. I think you are seeing that throughout the whole league. It’s going to be a challenging environment in the Big Ten.”
Big Ten roundup
No. 4 Minnesota 6, at Michigan 6 (Minnesota wins shootout 2-1.)
In a wild one at Yost Ice Arena, these two long-time rivals battled to a tie after three periods, but the Golden Gophers (8-4-1, 3-2-1-0 Big Ten) won the shootout over the Wolverines (7-3-1, 2-1-1-0 Big Ten). Rem Pitlick and Tyler Sheehy scored the shootout goals for Minnesota.
The Gophers started very fast, jumping out to a 4-0 lead, and led 6-3 after Pitlick scored a little more than four minutes into the third period.
The Wolverines stormed back and scored the final three goals of regulation, including Tony Calderone’s game-tying goal at the 18:48 mark. Eric Schierhorn had 27 saves for Minnesota, while Hayden Lavigne and Jack LaFontaine had 17 and six saves, respectively, for Michigan.
Michigan State 2, No. 7 Wisconsin 0
At East Lansing, Cody Milan’s first-period power-play goal and Mitch Lewandowski’s third-period goal were enough for the Spartans (7-5-0, 1-3-0-0 Big Ten) to knock off the Badgers ( 7-5-1, 2-2-0-0 Big Ten).
MSU goalie John Lethemon had 38 saves, while Kyle Hayton had 15 saves for Wisconsin
No. 17 Ohio State 1, at Connecticut 1
At Storres, Connecticut, Tanner Laczynski and Jesse Schwartz each scored third-period goals for Ohio State (6-3-3) and UConn (4-8-2), respectively for the game’s only goals.
Buckeyes goalie Sean Romero had 29 saves, while Huskies goalie Adam Huska had 24.
