Michigan
10-4-0, 5-3-0
Notre Dame
10-3-0, 4-2-0
Michigan Falls to Notre Dame in OT for Second Straight Night
11/20/2021 11:27:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Mackie Samoskevich notched three assists for his first collegiate multi-point game.
» Thomas Bordeleau scored twice and contributed an assist for a three-point game.
» Owen Power extended his point streak to six games with a second-period assist.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Yost Ice Arena)
Score: #14 Notre Dame 5, #1 Michigan 4 (OT)
Records: U-M (10-4-0, 5-3-0 B1G), ND (10-3-0, 4-2-0 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Nov. 26 -- vs. Niagara (Yost Ice Arena), 7:30 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A raucous crowd was treated to a back-and-forth, offensive battle on Saturday evening (Nov. 20) at Yost Ice Arena, as the top-ranked University of Michigan men's ice hockey team fell in overtime to No. 14 Notre Dame by a score of 5-4.
The Wolverines outshot the Fighting Irish 41-21 but failed to claim a second point in the extra session for the second consecutive night. Erik Portillo stopped 16 of the 21 shots that he faced.
After the game had settled into a bit of a rhythm, Mackie Samoskevich accepted a pass from Michael Pastujov while their line cycled the puck around the offensive zone. Samoskevich curled out into the middle of the ice at the top of the right circle before ripping a hard shot off the post to create a rebound in the slot. Aided by a chaotic net-front scramble, Pastujov made his way from the corner toward the top of the paint to bang home the loose puck and put Michigan (10-4-0, 5-3-0 Big Ten) on the board 12:12 into the contest. Samoskevich received the primary assist, while Thomas Bordeleau was credited with the secondary on Pastujov's 27th tally as a Wolverine.
At 15:35, it was Bordeleau's turn to finish off a play in front. The sophomore skated to the blue paint and capped off a great effort by burying an idle puck on the goal line. Samoskevich carried the puck down the ice while defenseman Steve Holtz sprinted the length of the sheet to create a two-on-one odd-man rush for U-M. Holtz fed a slick pass across the heart of the ND zone, but Samoskevich's one-timer settled in the blue paint for Bordeleau to smash home, reminiscent of the Wolverines' first goal.
Twenty-six seconds after Bordeleau's goal doubled the Michigan lead, Notre Dame (10-3-0, 4-2-0 Big Ten) got a low shot past the post between Portillo's pad after a deflection off of a Wolverine shin pad.
After one period of play, Michigan held a 2-1 lead, powered by an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal.
Less than two minutes into the second frame, Notre Dame scored into a yawning cage to tie the game at 2 after a long shot was redirected backdoor to a wide open Irish skater.
With 15:29 remaining in the second period, the Fighting Irish scored a wraparound goal off a Portillo puck-handling miscue behind the U-M net to pull ahead 3-2.
Despite failing to cash in on a two-man advantage after the Irish took back-to-back penalties, the Wolverines struck back at even strength with 10:12 to go in the middle stanza. Nick Blankenburg finished off a Dylan Duke wraparound attempt to tie the game at 3, and Owen Power picked up the secondary assist. The goal was Michigan's third of the night off rebounds.
Holtz was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for hitting from behind after the officials huddled at the monitor with 2:44 left to go in the second period, giving Notre Dame an extended power play including more a minute with a two-man advantage.
The Irish potted their fourth goal on the power play 58.2 seconds before the second intermission to take a 4-3 lead into the dressing room.
With one period to play, the Wolverines trailed 4-3 and still had 2:16 of Holtz's major to kill off when play resumed for the third period.
After dismissing the remainder of the ND power play, the Michigan offense went back to work in search of a tying goal.
Samoskevich surveyed his options around the Notre Dame end before passing across the zone to Bordeleau, who dusted off the puck above the left circle before firing a low-percentage shot from above the half-wall that ended up trickling through the netminder's equipment to tie the game at 4. Mackie and Kent Johnson collected assists on the game-tying goal at 13:29 of the third period.
The Wolverines dominated the game's closing minutes, threatening with shots from every part of the offensive zone, but failed to break the tie before the end of regulation. U-M led in shots on goal (38-19) and faceoffs (32-20), but were knotted at 4 heading into the extra frame as fans inside Yost were treated to free hockey for the second consecutive night.
With Bordeleau, Blankenburg and Power out to start the 3-on-3 session for Michigan, the team searched for a game-winning goal. The Irish scored with 1:31 remaining to take the extra point in the conference standings, earning four on the weekend to Michigan's two.
Next week, the Wolverines will return to Yost Ice Arena for a pair of non-conference games against Niagara. The contests are scheduled for Friday (Nov. 26) at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday (Nov. 27) at 7. Both games will be streamed live on B1G+.
