The Spartans played spoiler this weekend, defeating the Irish 5-2 on Friday and Saturday, while Notre Dame honored their seniors and Head Coach Jeff Jackson as he coached his final game at Compton Family Ice Arena.
Photo by The Irish Tribune
Friday:
On Notre Dame’s Senior Night, Michigan State opened up the scoring 11:55 into the first period. Following coincidental roughing after the whistle penalties, the Spartans snuck one past Irish Goaltender Owen Say to make it a 1-0 game during the four on four opportunity.
MSU added another goal 14:12 into the period to extend their lead to 2-0.
The Irish struck back in the second period when senior captain Justin Janicke finished off a rebound on the power play. The PPG, which occurred 5:01 into the frame, was assisted by Danny Nelson and Cole Knuble. Janicke cut the Irish deficit to 1-2 just nine seconds after MSU was assessed a hooking penalty.
Michigan State responded with under two minutes remaining in the period to extend their lead to 3-1.
The visitors added another goal 8:37 into the third period to take a late 4-1 lead.
However, less than a minute later, Notre Dame found a response when Axel Kumlin’s wrist shot off a Spartan defender cut the Irish deficit to two. Knuble and Nelson, again, were credited with assists on the score.
MSU put the finishing touch on this contest when they added an empty net goal to give the visitors a 5-2 win.
Say did all he could between the pipes as the Irish struggled to generate any offense, especially in the second and third periods when they were outshot 28-15 in those forty minutes.
Irish Stars:
Owen Say: 33 saves, 4 goals against
Danny Nelson: 2 assists, 2 shots
Cole Knuble: 2 assists, 3 shots
Key Team Stats:
Shots: MSU (38) - ND (24)
Power Play Success: ND (1-3) - MSU (0-2)
Blocked Shots: ND (17) - MSU (11)
Faceoffs: ND (35) - MSU (28)
Saturday
The Spartans turned the pressure up early into Coach Jackson’s final game behind the Irish bench at Compton Ice Arena. With Nicholas Kempf in net for the home squad, MSU’s Shane Vansaghi got one past the young goalie just 2:25 into the game to give the Spartans an early 1-0 advantage.
Despite allowing the early goal, Kempf played great the rest of the period as he tallied 19 saves. Notre Dame’s offense mustered nine shots on goal in a fairly quiet first twenty minutes. Three of these shots came on an unsuccessful power play opportunity.
It was Notre Dame who struck early in the second period. Grad transfer Grant Silianoff snuck one past the Spartan goalie to tie the game up at 1-1 just 32 seconds into the frame. Hunter Strand and Carter Slaggert assisted on Silianoff’s fourth goal of the season.
MSU responded under four minutes later with a pair of goals in about a two-minute span. Tiernan Shoudy put the visitors up 2-1 4:23 into the period. Then, Vansaghi added his second goal of the contest 6:15 into the frame to extend the Spartans' lead to 3-1.
Following a tripping call against Vansaghi, Notre Dame’s Janicke converted his second PPG of the weekend 9:11 into the third period. Blake Biondi and Knuble assisted the senior’s fifth goal in five games.
The Spartans got their payback with a PPG of their own about three minutes later. This goal that extended the visitor’s lead to 4-2 followed a slashing penalty against the Irish’s Silianoff.
Like Friday, MSU put the final touch on their victory with an empty-netter to secure their 5-2 win.
Kempf finished the night with a career-high 45 saves as the Irish offense lacked production, being outshot 50-31.
Irish Stars:
Nicholas Kempf: 45 saves (career-high), 4 goals against
Grant Silianoff: 1 goal on 4 shots
Justin Janicke: 1 goal on 3 shots
Key Team Stats:
Shots: MSU (50) - ND (31)
Power Play Success: ND (1-2) - MSU (1-2)
Faceoffs: ND (30) - MSU (30)
Blocked Shots: ND (10) - MSU (8)
Notre Dame will face Minnesota this upcoming weekend in the Big Ten Quarterfinals.
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