Michigan
20-11-3, 12-10-2
Notre Dame
15-14-5, 10-10-4
Michigan Takes One Point in OT Loss to Notre Dame; Secures No. 2 Seed for B1G Tournament
2/25/2023 11:57:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Rutger McGroarty scored the lone marker for Michigan to tie the game in the third period.
» Seamus Casey and TJ Hughes assisted on McGroarty's goal for an all-freshman scoring line.
» Michigan outshot Notre Dame by a 49-22 margin after ending regulation with a 49-19 edge.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Sixty minutes of regulation time was not enough to determine a winner for the second-straight night in front of a sellout crowd at Yost Ice Arena on Saturday (Feb. 25), and the fourth-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team ultimately fell to No. 20 Notre Dame, 2-1, in a 3x3 overtime loss.
The Wolverines closed out the 2022-23 regular season as the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Conference, giving the Wolverines home ice for the Big Ten playoffs.
Notre Dame (15-14-5, 10-10-4) scored 1:30 into the extra session on a third shot attempt after creating a pair of rebounds off a rush to claim the extra point in the B1G standings along with a discounted win in the PairWise. The Irish won the lone faceoff in OT before putting the only three shots on goal.
Despite outshooting the Irish 49-22 on the evening, Michigan (20-11-3, 12-10-2) ended its regular-season finale with just one goal while goalkeeper Erik Portillo stopped 20 of 22 shots.
Michigan's power-play unit took to the ice at 7:26 for the game's first special teams opportunity, but failed to convert. When UND embarked on its first power play 12:53 into the contest, they had only put up one shot on goal. U-M killed off the penalty to drop both teams to 0-for-1.
With 32.2 seconds left in the first period, the officials chose to review a play in the Notre Dame zone near the left half wall. After review, freshman Adam Fantilli was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct to bring his active 12-game point streak to an end.
Special team play continued into the second period, as Michigan killed off the major penalty and then had a five-minute power play of its own. Neither team would convert during the extended time.
An early third-period penalty gave Notre Dame the opportunity to cash in and the Fighting Irish did so with a shot from the high slot through traffic that went in for a 1-0 lead.
Michigan's Rutger McGroarty tied it up six minutes later from the netfront area with 10:01 remaining off a feed from Seamus Casey. Casey skated down the left wall, opening his hips to create space in the corner before carving in toward the net and sending a pass into the blue paint that McGroarty was in perfect position for to jam home and tie the game at one. Classmate T.J. Hughes earned the secondary assist to make it an all-freshman scoring line.
The Wolverines kept working throughout the final push in search of an elusive game-winning goal on U-M's senior night. Despite outshooting UND by a 27-6 margin in the third period, the game remained tied at one goal apiece after 60 minutes of play, setting up a second-consecutive night of overtime.Â
Next week, Michigan opens postseason play by hosting the University of Wisconsin in a best-of-three Big Ten quarterfinal series at Yost. Games will take place on Friday (March 3) and Saturday (March 4) at 7 p.m., with a third game taking place on Sunday (March 5), if necessary. Tickets go on sale Monday at 9 a.m.
