Michigan
25-8-1, 16-7-0
Notre Dame
24-9-0, 16-7-0
U-M Falls to Notre Dame in First Loss in Regulation Since Dec. 11
2/25/2022 10:56:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Nick Blankenburg opened the scoring with an early goal, his 13th of the year.
» Mackie Samoskevich earned the primary assist with a nifty backdoor pass to find Blankenburg.
» The loss marks Michigan's first defeat in regulation since Dec. 11, a 6-1 decision at Ohio State.
Site: South Bend, Ind. (Compton Family Ice Arena)
Score: #9 Notre Dame 4, #2 Michigan 1
Records: U-M (25-8-1, 16-4-0-0-3 B1G), ND (24-9, 11-6-0-5-1 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Feb. 26 -- at Notre Dame (South Bend, Ind.), 6:00 p.m. ET
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- An early goal for the Wolverines was outweighed by four straight tallies from the home team as the second-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team fell to the ninth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Friday night (Feb. 25) by a score of 4-1 at Compton Family Ice Arena. The game marked Michigan's first loss in regulation in two and a half months.
Erik Portillo was stout in net for U-M (25-8-1, 16-4-0-0-3 B1G), making 25 saves while ceding three goals before Notre Dame (24-9, 11-6-0-5-1 B1G) added a late, empty-net marker before time expired.
The Swedish netminder made his first big stop for the navy-clad Wolverines just two minutes into the contest on the first of several partial breakaways as the Irish looked to seize momentum by consistently sending a skater out of the zone early.
Captain Nick Blankenburg opened the scoring for the Wolverines at 2:24 when a lapse in coverage created ample space for the mobile defenseman to slide up into the low slot and open himself up for a backdoor pass.Mackie Samoskevich was weighing his options on the left flank when he saw Blankenburg dash into space toward the far post. The freshman winger immediately threaded a pass through traffic and into Blankenburg's wheelhouse for the senior to convert. Johnny Beecher earned the secondary assist on Blankenburg's 13th goal of the season.
At 8:45, Notre Dame tied the game by finishing off a rebound from the bottom of the circle.
The home team nearly took a one-goal lead with 21 seconds left before the first intermission, but their two-on-one rush and scoring chance were stymied by the wrong side of the left post.
After 20 minutes, the game was tied at one but Michigan held a 10-4 lead in shots on goal.
As the ice resurfacing began, a play from late in the period was challenged for a possible penalty. After an official review, Beecher was assigned a major penalty and game misconduct for contact to the head following the final faceoff of the opening period.
Notre Dame started the middle frame with a long advantage and converted for a power-play goal 3:03 into the second stanza to take a 2-1 lead with 1:57 of power-play time remaining. Over the course of the five-minute advantage, the Irish outshot Michigan 10-0 but only scored once as Portillo was phenomenal and the Wolverines killed off the remainder of the major penalty.
Late in the period, Notre Dame doubled its lead at 14:56 to pull ahead 3-1.
Michigan received its first power play of the evening with 3:41 left in the second period when a Notre Dame defender was penalized for interference. Although it took a handful of entries before sustaining pressure in the Notre Dame end, U-M did threaten with a series of dangerous shots before ultimately failing to capitalize. Moments after returning to even strength, Portillo turned aside a breakaway to provide momentum despite Michigan's failure to notch a power-play goal.
With 49 seconds remaining in the second period, the Wolverines went back on the power play after a tripping penalty but the team failed to cash in with the extra skater before the buzzer rang for intermission.
After two periods, Michigan was facing a two-goal deficit with the score at 3-1. Shots were 19-18 in favor of Notre Dame with one period left in a critical conference matchup.
The Fighting Irish penalty kill, ranked second-best in the nation at 91.5 percent, continued to frustrate and freeze out Michigan's talented power-play unit, which eventually ended the night 0-4.
The Wolverines went back to the man-advantage with 2:25 left in regulation after Luke Hughes was hooked while driving the UND net, and with the faceoff down in the Fighting Irish zone, U-M pulled Portillo to create a six-on-four advantage. Again, the Wolverines threatened but failed to net the team's second goal of the game. With 37 seconds left to play, Notre Dame slid the puck into Michigan's empty net to ice the game at 4-1.
With the loss, U-M remains at 51 points in the Big Ten Hockey Conference. The Wolverines are guaranteed a top-two spot in the Big Ten tournament, but need help to claim the regular-season championship.
Saturday night (Feb. 26), the longtime rivals will close out the regular season as the Irish celebrate their annual Senior Night. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET and the game will be streamed live on Peacock.
