By JOHN FINERAN
Ryan Helliwell was surprised when Notre Dame hockey coach Jeff Jackson called his number to shoot in the eighth round of the shootout against Penn State after the two teams had tied 3-3 after regulation and five overtime minutes in the second game of the “Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey” doubleheader at Wrigley Field late Friday night.
“I wasn’t expecting to go,” said Helliwell, a senior defenseman from Burnaby, B.C. “I was extremely nervous. I didn’t hear Coach call my name, but my teammates told me ‘you’re going, you’re going.’ I was extremely happy it went in.”
Known more as a defensive defenseman, Helliwell skated in and deked down Penn State goalie Arsenii Sergeev before sliding the puck to his backhand and lifting it high over the goalie into the net to give the Irish a 2-1 lead in the eighth round of the shootout. After Irish freshman goaltender Nicholas Kempf denied Penn State’s JJ Wiebusch, the Irish earned the second of the three points available in the second game of the outdoors doubleheader played before 25,709 in the home of the Chicago Cubs. The opening game saw Ohio State rally to beat Michigan, 4-3.
“I was just trying to keep it simple and it managed to go in so I was fortunate that way” added Helliwell, who has two goals among his 11 career points in 94 previous games in his Notre Dame career.
Helliwell was named the game’s first star with Penn State’s Aiden Fink, who had a goal and assist, earning second star honors. The third star was Kempf, a freshman from nearby Morton Grove, Ill., who turned away 43 shots by the Nittany Lions in the first 65 minutes and then denied Penn State’s last seven shots after Danny Dzhaniyev had given his team a 1-0 shootout lead in the first round. Hunter Strand then pulled the Irish even with a successful shot in the second round against Sergeev, a native of Russia who was returning from an injury which had kept him out of the lineup since mid-November and made 43 saves in 65 minutes.
The shootout win actually goes into the standings as a tie, but it had to feel like a victory for Jackson’s Irish, who entered the game with a nine-game losing streak in the Big Ten and just one victory in their last 10 games. Now 6-12-1 overall and 1-9-1 for 4 points in the Big Ten, Notre Dame returns home to the Lefty Smith Rink in the Compton Family Ice Arena to complete the two-game series with Penn State (7-9-1 overall, 0-8-1 Big Ten for 2 points). Faceoff is at 5 p.m.
The big lift also came as Notre Dame played without center Danny Nelson and defenseman Paul Fischer, a pair of standout sophomores who are with Team USA in the World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ont., this weekend. Nelson has scored four goals for the Americans, who meet Czechia Saturday evening at 7:30 in the semifinals. Sweden and Finland meet in an earlier semifinal Saturday, with the championship and consolation games scheduled for Sunday.
“We definitely haven’t had a strong start to the year,” Helliwell said of the first half of the season during which Notre Dame was forced to play without several key players because of injuries. “Hoping this will be a turning point. All the guys are extremely fired up right now. Hopefully we can keep it going into Sunday.”
Notre Dame got first period goals from alternate captains Grant Silianoff and Justin Janicke and the game-tying goal at 11:02 of the third period by sophomore center Carter Slaggert after Penn State, which got a first-period goal by Tyler Paquette and then scored goals 32 seconds before the second-period intermission (by Matt DiMarsico) and 10 seconds into the third period by Fink. Notre Dame also got two assists from freshman right wing Jack Larrigan.
One of the top shot-making teams in the nation, Penn State came out firing and had an 8-2 lead in shots on goal at the first media timeout of 6:38. But Notre Dame ended up winning the first-period shot total 17-15 and led 2-1 after the first 20 minutes.
The Irish jumped into the lead at 7:29 when graduate left wing Silianoff batted a rebound past Sergeev after being set up by Larrigan and defenseman Zach Plucinski. Silianoff then celebrated by swinging his stick as to mimic hitting the ball out onto Waveland Avenue.
But the Irish lead didn’t last long as Nittany Lions defenseman Paquette beat Kempf from the top of the faceoff circle to the goalie’s right at 8:25.
After the Irish successfully killed off a hooking penalty against freshman defenseman Jimmy Jurcev at 13:19, Penn State’s Carter Schade was called for interference at 17:45 and Notre Dame didn’t waste its opportunity. Irish graduate right wing Blake Biondi centered the puck from behind the net and Janicke fired it past the Sergeev at 19:19. Cole Knuble also got an assist on the goal which sent the Irish into the Cubs locker room up 2-1.
Kempf made a sprawling save when he stopped Wiebusch at the right side of the net at 4:16 of the second period, but the puck rolled over him and headed toward an empty net. Biondi, however, got his stick on the puck before it rolled over the goal line to preserve Notre Dame’s 2-1 lead.
The Irish had a 28-20 edge in shots late in the second period when Notre Dame center Jayden Davis was sent to the box for tripping. But the Irish penalty-kill again came up strong, allowing the Nittany Lions one shot on goal.
In the final minute, Notre Dame was pressuring in the offensive zone when the Nittany Lions started out on a 2-on-1 break down the ice. Kempf made a save on a shot by Charlie Cerrato but DiMarsico corralled the rebound and scored at 19:28 to send the teams to their respective locker rooms tied 2-2 after 40 minutes.
After Reese Laubach won the opening faceoff to start the third period, the puck went into the Irish end where Dane Dowiak got the puck and sent it over to Fink who beat the surprised Kempf 10 seconds into the period. Penn State then got five more shots on the Irish goaltender, a total of six shots in the first 4:47. It would be a 9-2 Penn State shot edge at the first media timeout at 7:00 and 11-6 at the second media timeout at 10:11.
But then Notre Dame came alive. Sergeev had to make saves on Henry Nelson at 10:36, Silianoff at 10:48 and Slaggert at 10:54. The Irish continued to pressure the Nittany Lions, and eight seconds later, Silianoff sent the loose puck over to an unguarded Slaggert, who buried it into the net at 11:02 to tie the game at 3-3. It would remain that way through the final 8:58 of the period and the five minutes of 3-on-3 overtime hockey.
NOTRE DAME 3, PENN STATE 3 (OT)
Notre Dame wins shootout 2-1 in eight rounds
At Wrigley Field, Chicago, Ill.
Penn State 1 1 1 0—3
Notre Dame 2 0 1 0—3
First Period—Scoring: 1. Notre Dame, Grant Silianoff 2 (Jack Larrigan, Zach Plucinski) EV 7:29; 2. Penn State, Tyler Paquette 2 (Keaton Peters) EV 8:25; 3. Notre Dame, Justin Janicke 6 (Blake Biondi, Cole Knuble) PP 19:19. Penalties: Penn State 1-2, Notre Dame 1-2.
Second Period—Scoring: 4. Penn State, Matt DiMarsico 6 (Charlie Cerrato, Aiden Fink) EV 19:28. Penalties: Penn State 0-0 (1-2), Notre Dame 1-2 (2-4).
Third Period—Scoring: 5. Penn State, Aiden Fink 9 (Dane Dowiak) EV 0:10; 6. Notre Dame, Carter Slaggert 2 (Grant Silianoff, Jack Larrigan) EV 11:02. Penalties: Penn State 1-2 (2-4), Notre Dame 0-0 (2-4).
Overtime—Scoring: None. Penalties: Penn State 0-0 (2-4), Notre Dame 0-0 (2-4).
Shootout—Round 1. Notre Dame, Cole Knuble miss; Penn State, Danny Dzhaniyev make. Round 2. Notre Dame, Hunter Strand make; Penn State, Charlie Cerrato miss. Round 3, Notre Dame, Blake Biondi miss; Penn State, Aiden Fink miss. Round 4, Maddox Fleming miss; Penn State, Dylan Lugris miss. Round 5, Notre Dame, Axel Kumlin miss; Penn State, Matt DiMarsico miss. Round 6, Notre Dame, Justin Janicke miss; Penn State, Ben Schoen miss. Round 7, Notre Dame, Ian Murphy miss; Penn State, Reese Laubach miss. Round 8, Notre Dame, Ryan Helliwell make, Penn State, JJ Wiesbusch miss.
Shots on goal: Penn State 42 (15-8-17-2), Notre Dame 46 (17-11-14-4).
Goalie saves: Penn State, Arsenii Sergeev 43 (15-11-13-4); Notre Dame, Nicholas Kempf 40 (15-7-16-2).
Power-play opportunities: Penn State 0 of 2, Notre Dame 1 of 2.
Faceoffs won: Penn State 45 (19-11-14-1), Notre Dame 33 (11-13-7-2).
Blocked shots: Penn State 10 (1-5-4-0), Notre Dame 10 (6-4-0-0).
Referees: Jake Rekucki and Tony Czech. Linesmen: Dan Cohen and Riley Bowles. Attendance: 25,709.
Records: Penn State 7-9-1, 0-8-1 Big Ten for 2 points; Notre Dame 6-12-1, 1-9-0 Big Ten for 6 points.