EARLY PENALTIES HINDER IRISH IN 5-3 LOSS TO ARIZONA STATE AT ICE BREAKER TOURNAMENT OPENER
By John Fineran
Notre Dame could not overcome early penalty issues in its season opener against host Arizona State at the Ice Breaker Tournament in Mullett Arena at Tempe, Ariz., and fell to the Sun Devils 5-3 in Brock Sheahan’s official debut as head coach of the Fighting Irish.
The Ioss sends the Irish (0-1-0) into Saturday night’s 6 p.m. EDT game against No. 8/9 Quinnipiac which dropped a 2-1 decision to Alaska Fairbanks in Friday’s opening game. The consolation matchup will be the first ever between the Irish and Bobcats (1-1-0). Alaska (1-2-0) and Arizona State (1-2-0) meet for the championship at 10 p.m. EDT.
Friday after killing off two minor penalties in the game’s first 10 minutes, Notre Dame was hit with a costly major elbow penalty which banished freshman right wing Will Belle for the remainder of the game at 12:22. Play had been stopped by a hooking call against Arizona State’s Anthony Dowd when ASU head coach Greg Powers requested a review of a play involving Belle from earlier.
After a lengthy review by the officials, Belle was sent to the locker room for the rest of the night and the teams skated four aside. Neither team scored during the two minutes. But the Sun Devils still had three remaining minutes on Belle’s major and Kyle Smolen beat Notre Dame sophomore goalie Nick Kempf at 16:11 for a 1-0 lead.
Arizona State made it 2-0 at 17:30 on Noah Powell’s goal with the teams at even strength. ASU then added a third goal 53 seconds into the second period by Carmelo Crandell to put the Irish into a 3-0 hole from which they couldn’t recover despite their 50-38 shot advantage in the game.
Goals by Irish defensemen Henry Nelson (at 1:29 off an assist from center Pano Fimis) and Paul Fischer (on a power play at 12:32 with assists from forwards Evan Werner and Cole Knuble) against ASU freshman goaltender Samuel Urban helped the Irish climb back within a goal. But Arizona State freshman right wing Ben Kevan scored twice at 13:32 and 17:53 to give the Sun Devils a 5-2 cushion heading into the third period.
Urban also had an assist on the second Kevan goal but left at 6:46 of the third period after making 36 saves for the night. Connor Hasley, a senior transfer goalie from Bentley, finished up with 11 saves despite allowing a goal by Notre Dame’s Carter Slaggert (off assists from Sutter Muzzatti and Axel Kumlin) at 12:10 of the final period.
Kempf, meanwhile, turned aside 33 of the 38 shots he faced.
ARIZONA STATE 5, NOTRE DAME 3
At Mullett Arena, Tempe, Ariz.
Notre Dame 0 2 1—3
Arizona State 2 3 0—5
First Period—Scoring: 1. Arizona State, Kyle Smolen 1 (Samuel Alfano, Logan Morrell) PP 16:11; 2. Arizona State, Noah Powell 1 (Kyle Smolen) EV 17:50. Penalties: Notre Dame 4-19, Arizona State 1-2.
Second Period—Scoring: 3. Arizona State, Carmelo Crandell 1 (Bennett Schimek, Sean McGunn) EV 0:53; 4. Notre Dame, Henry Nelson 1 (Pano Fimis) EV 1:29; 5. Notre Dame, Paul Fischer 1 (Evan Werner, Cole Knuble) PP 12:32; 6. Arizona State, Benjamin Kevan 1 (Sam Court, Carmelo Crandell) EV 13:32; 7. Arizona State, Benjamin Kevan 2 (Joel Kjellberg, Samuel Urban) EV 17:53. Penalties: Notre Dame 1-2 (5-21), Arizona State 3-6 (4-8).
Third Period—Scoring: 8. Notre Dame, Carter Slaggert 1 (Axel Kumlin, Sutter Muzzatti) EV 12:10. Penalties: Notre Dame 1-2 (6-23), Arizona State 2-4 (6-12).
Shots on goal: Notre Dame 50 (12-18-20), Arizona State 38 (15-13-10).
Goalie saves: Notre Dame (33), Nicholas Kempf 33 (13-10-10); Arizona State (50), Samuel Urban 36 (12-16-8) and Connor Hasley 11 (dnp-dnp-11).
Faceoffs won: Notre Dame 28 (11-7-10), Arizona State 33 (9-12-12).
Power-play opportunities: Notre Dame 1 of 5, Arizona State 1 of 5.
Blocked shots: Notre Dame 11 (4-3-4), Arizona State 16 (5-6-5).
Referees: Sterling Egan and Ryan Hersey. Linesmen: Colin Besch and Zach Reese. Attendance: 5,039 (5,000).
Records: Notre Dame 0-1-0, Arizona State 1-2-0.
Alaska Fairbanks 2, Quinnipiac 1: Left wing Alexander Malinowski scored the winning goal at 2:21 of the third period and senior goaltender Lassi Lehti made 33 saves as Alaska Fairbanks stunned No. 8/9 Quinnipiac in the opening game at Mullet Arena.
Coach Erik Largen’s Nanooks (1-2-0) will play the Sun Devils in Saturday’s championship at 10 p.m. EDT. Quinnipiac, meanwhile, will play Notre Dame for the first time ever in the 6 p.m. consolation game.
Right wing Michael Citara, a grad transfer from Merrimack, gave Alaska a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 16:48.
But Quinnipiac sent the game into the first-period intermission tied 1-1 when freshman right wing Ethan Wyttenbach scored at 18:49.
Lehti was stellar in net for Alaska Fairbanks, which was outshot 34-20 by Quinnipiac (1-1-0). The Bobcats pulled goaltender Dylan Silverstein, who had 18 saves, with 2:44 remaining in regulation but could not get the equalizer.
BIG TEN STANDINGS AND SCHEDULE
(Numbers in parentheses are school’s rankings in this week’s USCHO.com media/USA Hockey-The Rink Live coaches polls):
(nr/nr) Notre Dame 0-0-0, 0 points (0-1-0 overall)
(2/2) Michigan State 0-0-0, 0 points (1-1-0 overall)
(4/4) Penn State 0-0-0, 0 points (3-1-0 overall)
(9/7) Michigan 0-0-0, 0 points (3-0-0 overall)
(12/12) Minnesota 0-0-0, 0 points (1-2-1 overall)
(16/16T) Ohio State 0-0-0, 0 points (1-0-0 overall)
(18/18) Wisconsin 0-0-0, 0 points (2-0-0 overall)
Thursday’s games
Clarkson 6, Penn State 4
New Hampshire 4, Michigan State 3
Boston College 3, Minnesota 1
Wisconsin 6, U.S. Under-18 Team 0 (exhibition)
Friday’s games
Arizona State 5, Notre Dame 3 (Ice Breaker Tournament at Tempe, Ariz.)
Ohio State 5, Northern Michigan 2
Michigan 5, Providence 1
Penn State 5, Clarkson 2
Boston College 2, Minnesota 2 (OT)
Michigan State 2, New Hampshire 0
Saturday’s games
Notre Dame vs. Quinnipiac at Tempe, Ariz., 6 p.m. (Ice Breaker Tournament consolation)
Northern Michigan at Ohio State, 5 p.m.
Michigan at Providence, 7 p.m.
GAMES INVOLVING USCHO.com MEDIA POLL TEAMS THIS WEEK
1. Western Michigan (NCHC) (1-1-0) lost to Ferris State Thursday 3-2; won at Ferris State 6-4 Friday.
2. Michigan State (Big Ten) (1-1-0) lost to New Hampshire Thursday 4-3; beat New Hampshire 2-0 Friday.
3. Boston University (Hockey East) (2-0-0) beat Colgate 6-2 Friday; vs. Colgate Saturday.
4. Penn State (Big Ten) (3-1-0) lost to Clarkson 6-4 Thursday; beat Clarkson 5-2 Friday.
5. Denver (NCHC) (0-0-1) tied at Air Force 1-1 (OT) Friday; vs. Bentley Saturday.
6. Maine (Hockey East) (1-0-0) beat Holy Cross 5-2 Friday; vs. Holy Cross Saturday.
7. Providence (Hockey East) (0-1-0) lost to No. 9 Michigan 5-1 Friday; vs. No. 9 Michigan Saturday.
8. Quinnipiac (ECAC) (1-1-0) lost to Alaska Fairbanks 2-1 Friday in the opening round of the Ice Breaker Tournament at Tempe, Ariz.; Notre Dame or Arizona State Saturday.
9. Michigan (Big Ten) (3-0-0) won at No. 7 Providence 5-1 Friday; at No. 7 Providence Saturday.
10. North Dakota (NCHC) (1-0-0) beat No. 19 St. Thomas 6-2 Friday; at No. 19 St. Thomas Saturday.
11. Boston College (Hockey East) (1-1-1) won at No. 12 Minnesota 3-1 Thursday; tied No. 12 Minnesota 2-2 (OT) Friday.
12. Minnesota (Big Ten) (1-2-1) lost to No. 11 Boston College 3-1 Thursday; tied No. 11 Boston College 2-2 (OT) Friday.
13. Connecticut (Hockey East) (1-1-0) is idle.
14. Massachusetts (Hockey East) (3-0-0) won 4-1 at Stonehill Friday.
15. Arizona State (NCHC) (1-2-0) beat Notre Dame Friday 5-3 in Ice Breaker Tournament at Tempe, Ariz.; vs. Quinnipiac Saturday in Ice Breaker Tournament consolation.
16. Ohio State (Big Ten) (1-0-0) beat Northern Michigan 5-2 Friday; vs. Northern Michigan Saturday.
17. Cornell (ECAC) (0-0-0) is idle.
18. Wisconsin (Big Ten) (2-0-0) beat U.S. Under-18 team Thursday 6-0 (exhibition)
19. St. Thomas (CCHA) (1-1-0) lost at No. 10 North Dakota 6-2 Friday; vs. No. 10 North Dakota Sunday.
20. Minnesota State (CCHA) (0-1-0) lost at Omaha 6-2 Friday; at Omaha Saturday.