MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Irish hockey program took game one in Minneapolis Friday night, topping Big Ten rival Minnesota 4-2 behind goals from Grant Silianoff, Patrick Moynihan, Drew Bavaro and Landon Slaggert.
The Irish found themselves down a man early after a high-stick call was whistled at 2:28 of the opening period behind the Gopher net. Cole Knuble won the draw and raced up the ice for a shorthanded opportunity but was denied and and Minnesota regained possession. A trip was called against the Irish as they receded onto the defensive side of the puck and were faced with 1:39 of a two-man disadvantage when play resumed.
Despite controlling play much of the opening minutes, the Irish found themselves down a goal after the gophers capitalized on a rebound given up at 10:10 of the opening stanza. It did not take long for the Irish to answer as Grant Silianoff intercepted a pass in the defensive end and used the boards to send a pass up ice to Brennan Ali who set up the equalizer less than two minutes later.
The two teams remained deadlocked at 1-1 as they headed to the first intermission of the night.
Patrick Moynihan put the Irish out in front just 47 seconds into the second period with a wraparound goal to give the visitors the 2-1 lead.
The Irish recorded a big penalty kill halfway through the contest following a cross checking call against at 8:21 of the second period.
The Gophers evened the score with 1:21 to play in the second period, scoring on the powerplay to snap the Irish penalty kill unit’s streak of 15-straight kills dating back to game one at Penn State (Nov. 4).
Neither team could break the netminding on either end of the ice in the final seconds of the middle frame and at the second intermission the score remained tied, 2-2.
Drew Bavaro scored the go ahead goal just 3:30 into the final period of regulation to regain the lead, 3-2. The eventual game-winner was his second of the season and lifted the Irish to victory Friday evening.
Landon Slaggert would score his team-best ninth goal of the season on the empty net to ice the win and clinch game one of the series for the Irish.
Ryan Bischel finished the night with 32 saves on 34 shots faced.
GOALS
- Back in his home state, Grant Silianoff got the Irish on the board at 12:08 of the opening period to even the score up, 1-1. The senior from Edina, Minnesota, batted the puck out of mid-air on a Gopher pass before finding Brennan Ali rushing up ice where the rookie backhanded a pass back to Silianoff who tipped it over the stick of Justen Close in the Gopher net.
- Patrick Moynihan kept his scoring streak alive when he stole the puck from a Gopher defender behind their net and wrapped it around, beating Close in goal for the 2-1 tally.
- The Irish veteran core put the team back on top at 3:30 of the third period behind a goal from Drew Bavaro. Moynihan poked the puck off the stick of a Gopher skater in the defensive end and chipped it over to Landon Slaggert who created the odd-man rush. The captain fed the puck back to Moynihan at the blue line who found Bavaro closing in on net. The senior defenseman caught the pass on his boot before firing a shot into the back of the net for his fourth of the season.
- Landon gave the Irish the 4-2 lead with less than a minute to play in regulation, finding the back of the empty net for his team-best ninth goal of the year. With two points on the evening the senior now boasts 13 (9-4-13) through 12 games played.
KEY STATS
- Four Irish skaters scored in the team’s 4-2 win over Minnesota Friday night, including Grant Silianoff with the opening goal in his homecoming. Justin Janicke and Danny Nelson also highlighted the box score, picking up assists in their return to their home state.
- The Irish blocked 24 shots in the contest with Danny, Paul Fischer and Zach Plucinski each eating three pucks to finish the game on top against Minnesota.
- With four shots on goal, Danny led the team in the category. The rookie forward’s assist on the fourth goal of the game extended his point streak to seven games (0-7-7).
- After stopping 32 of 34 shots faced, Ryan Bischel improved to 7-3-2 on the season and boasts a .941 save percentage. His 1.91 season goals against average ranks seventh nationally while his save percentage leads all NCAA DI netminders.
- At the faceoff circle, the Irish were successful on 54.2-percent of chances with all five individuals taking draws finishing at, or above, .500.
UP NEXT
The Irish and Gophers return to 3M Arena at Mariucci Saturday night for the series finale before Notre Dame hosts longtime rival Boston College for a Black Friday matchup November 24 at 4 p.m.
Tickets for the tilt between Notre Dame and Boston College are available at FightingIrish.com/tickets.