Three observations from Notre Dame hockey win over Boston College

On3 imageby:Tyler Horka01/19/22

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It only took 17 seconds for Notre Dame fans inside Compton Family Ice Arena to have that feeling Wednesday night. And that feeling wasn’t a good one for the home side. Impending doom is never a good feeling, after all.

Boston College scored on the rush on its first shot on goal of the game. But then the Eagles didn’t score again until 1:36 into the third period. Notre Dame put six pucks in the net during the Eagles’ long layoff from doing so.

That feeling was long gone by then.

The offensive explosion in an 8-2 Notre Dame victory was just what Fighting Irish head coach Jeff Jackson needed from his team. Notre Dame couldn’t afford to drop the game for the sake of the PairWise rankings, a key determinant to NCAA Tournament positioning.

Notre Dame went into the night ranked tied for No. 15. The Irish would be better off without losses to RIT and Niagara on their résumé. The win over a quality — even if struggling — Boston College team will work wonders in reversing the damage done by losing to those two lesser opponents.

“They knew the importance of this game, especially with the couple bad losses that we have,” Jackson said. “We needed to find a way to make up for those bad losses in non-conference, and this was our last chance. So, thankfully, that helps us moving forward.”

Here are three observations from the Notre Dame (17-7-0, 9-5-0 Big 10) victory over Boston College (10-9-3, 5-6-2 Hockey East).

Notre Dame takes advantage of five-minute majors

The Irish started the second period with a five-minute power play. Boston College’s Matt Argentina was called for illegal contact to the head in the waning moments of the first period. Jackson’s video crew told him to vouch for the call, which didn’t come when the hit first occurred but rather after the first intermission had taken place.

“I missed it, but they saw it upstairs,” Jackson said.

Junior forward Jesse Lansdell slid a pass across the top of the crease to senior defenseman Spencer Stastney early in the power play, and Stastney roofed the puck home to give Notre Dame a 2-1 lead.

Boston College’s Nikita Nesterenko checked Notre Dame senior defenseman Nick Leivermann into the boards from behind later in the frame and was assessed another five-minute major.

Lansdell tipped a shot-pass from sophomore forward Grant Silianoff into the net 16 seconds into the man advantage, and sophomore forward Ryder Rolston scored his second goal of the game on a nice feed from senior forward Graham Slaggert a minute and a half later.

Notre Dame turned a tie game into a 6-1 lead thanks to executing on the majors.

“If you don’t score on a five-minute major, it’s a huge momentum swing,” Jackson said. “So it was really important we scored on both of them, frankly. The first one, for sure, but even the second one because the game was still within reach.”

The Notre Dame power play hasn’t been a strong suit for the Irish this season. They went into the night having converted on just 13 of 69 attempts (18.8%). Two five-minute majors and a 3-for-5 night on the PP overall might have been the shot in the arm Jackson’s club needed to get going in that department.

“Maybe we found some combinations that might be more effective,” Jackson said.

Notre Dame does just fine without its leading scorer

Notre Dame’s outburst on offensive came without leading scorer Max Ellis. The junior forward who leads the Irish this season with 14 goals and 24 points in 22 games didn’t suit up for the first time this season because of an undisclosed injury.

His teammates didn’t let him down.

Rolston and junior forward Trevor Janicke scored even-strength goals in between the majors. Before then, Silianoff deftly deflected a Leivermann shot midway through the first to tie the game at 1-1.

Slaggert scored on a 2-on-1 on a feed from his brother, sophomore forward Landon Slaggert, 8:19 into the third period to respond to Boston College’s goal less than two minutes into the final frame. Rolston notched his first career hat trick on the rush with 18 seconds remaining in the game.

Rolston, the first star of the game and now Notre Dame’s second-leading scorer behind Ellis with nine goals, hadn’t scored in his previous six games.

“Bounces weren’t going my way, but I still felt my game play was pretty good,” he said. “I think it was only just a matter of time. Playing with great line mates, it’s pretty easy to find areas. Luckily I got some bounces tonight, which felt good.”

Ten different Irish players registered at least one point. Silianoff, the second star of the game, had a goal and three assists. Stastney had a goal and two assists. The Slaggert brothers, Janicke, Rolston and Lansdell all had two points apiece in the Irish’s highest-scoring output of the season.

Matthew Galajda still shines in lopsided matchup

Notre Dame goalie Matt Galajda stopped 40 of 42 shots in the Irish’s 8-2 victory over Boston College. (Photo by Notre Dame Athletics)

Notre Dame net-minder Matthew Galajda had one of the most impressive games a goalie on the right side of a six-goal margin could have. The score didn’t properly signify just how solid he was between the pipes.

Galajda, the third star of the game, stopped 40 of 42 Boston College shots on net. Two of his biggest were a breakaway denial on Trevor Kuntar and a last-second robbery of Liam Izyk, who was fresh out of the penalty box serving the Eagles’ second five-minute major.

“Matt is a such a good goalie, and I think what makes him special is consistency,” Rolston said. “We know that we can trust him back there, and he’s going to make a save when we need it. He energized us. Every time he made a save it gave us belief on the bench that we could go down there other way and score for him.”

Galajda, a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year and former first-team All-American at Cornell, stopped all 15 Boston College shots on goal during five power play attempts. He told reporters after the game 40 saves is a new collegiate career high for him. He improved to 10-3-0 this season with the win.

“Definitely not the way you want to start any game, letting in the first shot,” Galajda said. “But there was no panic in me or my game. I knew what i had to do.”

Notre Dame has the weekend off before a two-game home series against No. 11 Minnesota (13-9-0, 8-4-0 Big 10) on Jan. 28 and 29. Jackson said Notre Dame will take Thursday off, skate Friday then potentially take Saturday and Sunday off as well.

“We’ll get ready to go again on Monday preparing for a big week against Minnesota, who in my opinion is probably the biggest challenge we’ll face in the second half,” Jackson said. “Although, Michigan is no slouch.”

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