Notre Dame hockey: Irish stave off Big 10 Tournament elimination vs. Wisconsin
Notre Dame and Wisconsin seemed destined for overtime, and anything can happen in overtime. But anything can happen before the final buzzer in regulation, too. And the Fighting Irish made sure that was the case instead.
With 20 seconds left in the third period, junior forward Trevor Janicke received a centering feed from senior defenseman Spencer Stastney and shoveled the puck past Wisconsin goaltender Jared Moe to heroically give the Irish a victory in game two of a Big 10 Tournament quarterfinals series. No. 3 seed Notre Dame (26-9-0) and No. 6 seed Wisconsin (9-22-3) will play for the right to advance to the semifinals at 6 p.m. Sunday in South Bend.
Early on Saturday, that seemed like a given.
South Bend native Graham Slaggert, a senior forward, scored on the power play 1:41 into the game. It was his second power play goal of the series. Playing in his first game since Feb. 13, sophomore defenseman Zach Plucinski rifled a shot past Moe on the rush to put Notre Dame ahead 2-0 late in the first. In an opening 20 minutes marred by seven penalties, Notre Dame came out up by two with superior special teams play.
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The Irish penalty kill relented with a goal against midway through the second period. Then sophomore forward Landon Slaggert, Graham’s brother, was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for illegal contact to the head with just over a minute left in the second. Notre Dame nearly killed off the entirety of the five minutes, but the Badgers scored with just a few seconds left on their extended power play to knot the score at 2-2.
Just like that, there was a new game at Compton Family Ice Arena.
Both teams had chances to take a late lead in an energetic third period. Neither side could capitalize. With 30 seconds left, Notre Dame had a face-off opportunity just outside the Wisconsin zone on the right dot. Graham Slaggert won it back to Stastney, who raced up the left boards and parked himself behind the Badgers’ net. He used it as cover for no more than a second before finding Janicke blanketed by Badgers directly in front of the crease. Somehow, someway, he slid it past Moe for his 14th tally of the season. Stastney recorded his 20th assist.
Graduate senior goalie Matthew Galajda had 34 saves for the Irish, continuing his run of solid play between the pipes. Notre Dame was just 1-for-5 on the power play, but the Irish won a staggering 46 face offs to Wisconsin’s 17. Senior forward Jake Pivonka won 18 of 20 attempts. Graham Slaggert won 13 of 19, none bigger than his penultimate. He lost the one following Notre Dame’s goal, but it didn’t matter. The Irish locked down a tournament-saving victory.
