No. 5 Wisconsin upends Notre Dame 2-1 Badgers win eighth-straight game.
by JOHN FINERAN
SOUTH BEND – When opportunity came knocking Friday night against No. 5 Wisconsin, the Notre Dame hockey team couldn’t get to the door quick enough.
Coach Jeff Jackson’s Fighting Irish did not take advantage of a five-minute major against Badgers defenseman Joe Palodichuk at 10:06 of the third period, managing just two shots on goal and having another two blocked. That allowed red-hot Wisconsin, behind goalie Kyle McClellan’s 33 saves, to win 2-1 for its eighth straight victory before a sellout crowd of 5,069 fans watching at the Lefty Smith Rink in the Compton Family Ice Arena.
The victory moved the Badgers, 17-4-0 overall, past Michigan State into first place in the Big Ten Conference with their 9-2-0 record and 27 points. It also ended a two-game winning streak by the Irish, now 10-9-2 overall and 4-5-2 for 15 points and fourth place in the Big Ten. The teams conclude their series Saturday at 5 p.m.
“When you get the opportunities, you have to capitalize,” Jackson said. “We had the opportunities. But you can’t take two bench penalties (for too many men on the ice) and not score on a five-minute major. That’s what the game boiled down to – they scored a power-play goal and we didn’t.”
Charlie Stramel’s one-timer at 8:02 of the third period with Wisconsin on a power play was the game-winning goal against Irish graduate goaltender Ryan Bischel, who stopped 27 shots. Stramel was left unguarded 15 feet in front of Bischel after Irish defensemen Zach Plucinski and Ryan Siedem collided momentarily in front of the Irish goalie, allowing Owen Lindmark’s pass to find Stramel as the Irish scrambled to find him.
Lindmark opened the game’s scoring at 12:40 of the second period when he deflected home a shot from the point by Palodichuk. The Irish tied it at 19:25 of the period when Hunter Strand scored into a vacated net after Justin Janicke’s initial shot was turned aside by McClellan while Wisconsin was on a power play. It was Notre Dame’s first shorthanded goal of the season.
For the game, Notre Dame outshot Wisconsin 34-29. But McClellan showed why he is the nation’s top goaltender – he led the nation with a 1.62 goals-against average, a .939 saves percentage and five shutouts coming into it – by making six of his saves in the final 10 minutes, including three after Jackson pulled Bischel at 18:05 of the third period.
The Badgers goaltender also got help from his teammates, especially senior defenseman Anthony Kehrer who finished with four blocked shots.
“They are playing (Wisconsin coach) Mike Hastings’ hockey,” said Jackson of the Badgers’ first-year coach who came over from the CCHA’s Minnesota State to replace Tony Granato behind the Badger bench. “They play a very disciplined game. They are very structured in the way they play, and they play hard and compete hard. They do the little things and don’t give up much. We had chances to score, but you’re not going to get a lot of high quality of chances. So you have to take advantage of the ones you get.”
Notre Dame played without freshman center Danny Nelson who earlier in the day played along with Wisconsin’s Quinn Finley for Team USA in its 6-2 gold-medal victory over host Sweden in the World Junior Championships.
“We knew they would be hard to score on,” Justin Janicke said. “We had to be patient and take advantage when they were undisciplined. We lost the discipline battle today taking too many penalties. That cost us in the end.”
The Irish had five penalties to the Badgers’ four, including two penalties for too many men on the ice.
“(McClellan) gave up rebounds – they were there,” Strand said. “We just didn’t win the net front.”
WISCONSIN 2, NOTRE DAME 1
At Lefty Smith Rink/Compton Family Ice Arena, South Bend
Wisconsin 0 1 1—2
Notre Dame 0 1 0—1
First Period—Scoring: None. Penalties: Wisconsin 1-2, Notre Dame 1-2.
Second Period—Scoring: 1. Wisconsin, Owen Lindmark 8 (Joe Palodichuk, William Whitelaw) EV 12:40; 2. Notre Dame, Hunter Strand 3 (Justin Janicke, Paul Fischer) SH 19:25. Penalties: Wisconsin 1-2 (2-4), Notre Dame 2-4 (3-6).
Third Period—Scoring: 3. Wisconsin, Charlie Stramel 3 (Owen Lindmark, Tyson Dyck) PP 7:02. Penalties: Wisconsin 2-15 (4-19), Notre Dame 2-4 (5-10).
Shots on goal: Wisconsin 29 (11-6-12), Notre Dame 34 (10-11-13). Goalie saves: Wisconsin, Kyle McClellan 33 (10-10-13), Notre Dame, Ryan Bischel 27 (11-5-11).
Power-play opportunities: Wisconsin 1 of 5, Notre Dame 0 of 3. Faceoffs won: Wisconsin 29 (6-11-12), Notre Dame 26 (8-6-12). Blocked shots: Wisconsin 12 (2-4-6), Notre Dame 13 (6-5-2).
Referees: Jake Rekucki and Sean Fernandez. Linesmen: Pat Richardson and Justin Cornell. Records: Wisconsin 17-4-0, 9-2-0 Big Ten for 27 points; Notre Dame 10-9-2, 4-5-2 Big Ten for 15 points. A: 5,069 (4,852).
Big Ten standings: 1. Wisconsin 9-2-0, 27 points (17-4-0 overall); 2. Michigan State 7-1-2, 25 points (13-4-3); 3. Minnesota 5-4-3, 17 points (9-5-4 overall); 4. Notre Dame 4-5-2, 15 points (10-9-2 overall); 5. Michigan 3-5-2, 12 points (8-7-3 overall); 6. Penn State 2-5-3, 11 points (9-7-3 overall); 7. Ohio State 0-8-2, 4 points (7-8-4 overall).
Friday: Wisconsin 2, Notre Dame 1; Ohio State 6, Bowling Green 2; Michigan State 5, U.S. Under-18 National Team 2 (exhibition).
Saturday: Wisconsin at Notre Dame, 5 p.m.; Army at Penn State, 6 p.m.; Ohio State at Bowling Green, 7 p.m.; Michigan at U.S. Under-18 National Team, 7 p.m. (exhibition).
Sunday: Colorado College at Minnesota, 6 p.m.
Monday: Colorado College at Minnesota, 8 p.m.