Notre Dame Hockey: Irish Burn Badgers 3-1 for Sweep in South Bend

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish ended their series against the University of Wisconsin Badgers Saturday with a 3-1 victory at home. Fans saw a standout Irish power play in this angsty matchup along with cool and collected Notre Dame goaltending. This followed Notre Dame’s 5-3 win against the Badgers Friday.

First Period

In this series closer, the Irish took a bit longer than they did on Friday to set the tone, but gained leverage as the period neared its halfway point despite faceoff struggles.

The Badgers gave Irish netminder Ryan Bischel an early test in the form of a shot in front of the goal from Carson Bantle.

Following a holding call on Wisconsin’s Tyson Jugnauth, Notre Dame’s Landon Slaggert scored on the power play to notch the first goal of the night.

As both squads upped the intensity, a penalty for contact to the head on Wisconsin’s Luke LaMaster came out of some extracurriculars. Landon Slaggert later took a penalty for goaltender interference.

Second Period

Officials reviewed a score from Notre Dame’s Hunter Strand for goaltender interference, but Strand’s goal stood. Wisconsin responded and gave Bischel another jolt; the Irish goaltender made four saves in a little more than a minute.

As tension rose, an on-ice tiff brought Notre Dame’s Zach Plucinski and Wisconsin’s Jack Horbach to the penalty box. By the end of the second, the Irish outshot the Badgers 14-12

Third Period

With the Irish power play riding high, Notre Dame defenseman Chase Blackmun wasted no time finding the back of the net after an elbowing penalty on Wisconsin’s Carson Bantle.

Bischel’s bid for a shutout ended when Wisconsin’s Brock Caufield scored on the power play after a slashing penalty on Notre Dame’s Solag Bakich.

LaMaster received his second penalty for contact to the head of the night as well as a game misconduct.

The Badgers pulled goaltender Jared Moe from the net, but it was not enough to shift the direction of the game and the game ended 3-1 in Notre Dame’s favor.

Game Summary

Scoring

Notre Dame: Landon Slaggert at 07:50 in the 1st with assists from Nick Leivermann and Ryder Rolston

Notre Dame: Hunter Strand at 07:46 in the 2nd with assists from Drew Bavaro and Jesse Lansdell

Notre Dame: Chase Blackmun at 15:24 in the 3rd with assists from Nick Leivermann and Chayse Primeau

Wisconsin: Brock Caufield at 05:14 in the 3rd with assists from Carson Bantle and Shay Donovan

Penalties

Wisconsin: Luke LaMaster for slashing at 15:17 in the 1st

Wisconsin: Tyson Jugnauth for holding at 09:33 in the 1st

Wisconsin: Luke LaMaster for contact to the head at 02:37 in the 1st, 5-minute major

Notre Dame: Landon Slaggert for goaltender interference at 19:40 in the 1st

Notre Dame: Justin Janicke for handling the puck at 14:01 in the 2nd

Wisconsin: Charlie Stramel for cross checking at 09:39 in the 2nd

Notre Dame: Zach Plucinski for roughing after whistle at 05:32 in the 2nd

Wisconsin: Jack Horbach for slashing at 05:32 in the 2nd

Wisconsin: Carson Bantle for elbowing at 15:30 in the 3rd

Notre Dame: Chayse Primeau for interference at 11:37 in the 3rd

Notre Dame: Landon Slaggert for high sticking at 08:24 in the 3rd

Notre Dame: Solag Bakich for slashing at 05:48 in the 3rd

Wisconsin: Ben Dexheimer for hooking at 05:03 in the 3rd

Wisconsin: Luke LaMaster for contact to the head at 04:29 in the 3rd, 5-minute major, game misconduct

Notre Dame: Jesse Lansdell for tripping at 02:13 in the 3rd

Goalies

Notre Dame: Ryan Bischel, 28 saves

Wisconsin: Jared Moe, 26 saves

Moving Forward

The Irish will take on the Michigan State Spartans at 7:30 p.m on Friday, February 3 in East Lansing, Michigan. Stream the game with Big Ten Plus.

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