IrishIllustrated.com - Irish hold off Ohio State in league opener

October 31, 2009

Jake Brown
IrishIllustrated.com Recruiting Analyst

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Perhaps this was the kind of win the Notre Dame hockey team needed to break out of its early season funk.

The No. 11-ranked Irish used a power-play goal by Dan Kissel at the 9:17 mark of the third period and an empty net tally by Billy Maday to slip past Ohio State by a 3-1 score at the Joyce Center on Friday.

Notre Dame hopes to use Friday's Central Collegiate Hockey Association opener as a spring board to more consistency after splitting its first six games.

"I even talked to my line mate Benny Ryan on the bench," Kissel said. "I believe there was 12 minutes left in the third, and as soon as we scored I went up to him and was like, 'that's exactly what we needed.'"

"We haven't played well at home and we have sellout crowds almost every game. We needed to play for the fans (Friday) ? That's exactly what we needed."

Ohio State (2-5-0, 1-2-0-0 CCHA) took an early one-goal lead when center John Albert flipped a wrist shot over Notre Dame goaltender Mike Johnson's glove and just under the cross bar at the 13:04 mark of the first period.

The Irish answered with a power-play goal of its own at the 14:53 mark. Defenseman Brett Blatchford put a shot on goal from the point and Buckeyes goaltender Dustin Carlson let the rebound squirt into the slot.

Winger Calle Ridderwall pounced on the bouncing puck and put it past Carlson to tie the game at 1-1.

Notre Dame (4-3-0, 1-0-0-0 CCHA) missed some opportunities in the second period, but so did Ohio State as the period ended with the game still tied.

Kissel's game-winning goal came on the power play as a result of Matt Bartkowski's five-minute major for checking from behind, which left Irish winger Christiaan Minella face down on the ice for a time.

The officials assessed Bartkowski a 10-minute game misconduct, which results in an ejection.

Just 15 seconds into the ensuing power play, Kissel found the back of the net to make it 2-1 Notre Dame.

"It was great that we scored that power-play goal," Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said. "No question, it was a huge advantage. But then it would've been nice to get another one because of the fatigue of some of the guys that had just been on the ice every other shift for the last five minutes ? Without question, it was a huge goal for us."

The finish was not without drama.

Irish defenseman Sean Lorenz was sent to the penalty box with 2:41 left in the game. Ohio State decided to turn it into a two-man advantage by pulling Carlson.

But even at a 6-on-4 disadvantage, Johnson found a way to make big saves and preserve the one-goal lead until Maday cleared the puck into Ohio State's empty net. Johnson finished with 27 saves for his second win of the year and his career.

"You can't play nervous," Johnson said. "You just gotta play your game. I think everyone did that tonight, especially on the penalty kill. We were very poised with the puck. I thought we did a great job."

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