Hockey: Stastney’s OT goal lifts No. 13 Irish past No. 15 Buckeyes, 3-2

COLUMBUS, Ohio — When it comes to overtime, Notre Dame hockey coach Jeff Jackson knows two of the players he wants on the ice in the 3-on-3 sudden-death period: senior center Jake Pivonka and senior defenseman Spencer Stastney.

For the second straight game, No. 13 Notre Dame prevailed in the five-minute fourth period, this time with Pivonka getting the puck to junior left wing Landon Slaggert who fed the fast-skating Stastney who beat Ohio State goalie Jakub Dobeš for the game-winner 31 seconds into the overtime for a 3-2 Big Ten Hockey Conference victory before 8,350 at the Value City Arena.

Notre Dame’s fourth straight victory (and third straight on the road) lifted the Fighting Irish (16-6-0 overall, 9-4-0 Big Ten) into a third-place tie with coach Steve Rohlik’s Buckeyes (15-7-1, 7-5-1 Big Ten) with 24 points. The two teams are two points behind Michigan (a 3-2 winner over Penn State) and one behind second-place Minnesota (which beat Alaska 4-1 in a non-conference game). The Irish and Buckeyes, who entered Friday’s game 6-0-1 in their last seven games, concluded their series Saturday night.

Last Saturday night at Wisconsin, Jackson sent out Pivonka and Stastney in the final seconds with leading scorer Max Ellis. Pivonka won a draw in Notre Dame’s defensive end back to Stastney, who raced down the ice with the final seconds of overtime ticking away and took a shot that rebounded to Ellis for the game-winner with 0.2 of a second remaining for a 5-4 overtime victory.

The game-winner for Stastney was his fourth of the season. The assist for Slaggert was his second of the game – he assisted on brother Graham’s game-tying goal at 3:20 of the second period. Landon Slaggert also had a go-ahead goal at 13:36 of the third period to highlight his three-point night.

The Buckeyes, who led 1-0 after the first period on a goal by Kamil Sadlocha at 9:56, sent the game into overtime at 17:10 of the third period when Jake Wise skated onto the ice after Rohlik had pulled 6-foot-4 freshman goalie Jakub Dobeš for a sixth attacker and beat screened Irish junior goaltender Ryan Bischel.

Bischel finished with 27 saves, 10 in the third period, while Dobeš finished with 34 saves, 15 in the third period when the Irish outshot the Buckeyes 16-11. Six of Dobeš’ saves in the period came when Notre Dame was shorthanded after the Buckeyes had tied the game at 2-2 and with Ellis off the ice for hooking. Ohio State, meanwhile, managed just one shot in two third-period power plays against Notre Dame’s penalty-kill units which were ranked No. 3 nationally in the country coming into the contest. 

Dobeš sent the game into overtime when he stopped Trevor Janicke’s partial breakaway at 19:59 of the third period.

Notre Dame started slowly in the game with Ohio State testing Bischel four times before Stastney tested Dobeš at 7:09 with the first Irish shot from along the goal line.

The Buckeyes then took a 1-0 lead when Sadlocha’s 15-foot backhander inside the faceoff circle to Bischel’s right squeezed itself between the Irish goalie and the goal pipe for a 1-0 lead at 9:56. Sadlocha was sent in on a pass from Wise, and Notre Dame appealed that the Buckeyes were offside, but the goal stood after a review.

 Notre Dame’s best chance to tie the game in the first period came at 18:29 when Solag Bakich broke in alone. But Dobeš turned the shot aside. A little over a minute later, Dobeš stopped a shot by Zach Plucinski. The Buckeyes got the puck down ice quickly and Bischel made a save on a partial breakaway by Joe Dunlap with 16 seconds remaining in the period.

Notre Dame tied it at 3:20 of the second period when Landon Slaggert’s pass between two Ohio State defenders ended up on the stick of brother Graham Slaggert. Dobeš had little time to react as Graham Slaggert put it behind him for his sixth goal of the season.

The Irish went on the power play 28 seconds later when Ohio State’s Gustaf Westlund went off for a cross check. But the Buckeyes didn’t allow the Irish any shots on the two-minute advantage.

Bischel made back-to-back saves on Will Riedell and Cam Thiesing at 7:44 before Irish defenseman Nick Leivermann had back-to-back shots which Dobeš turned aside at 8:30.

 After the media timeout, the Irish dominated the rest of the period only to be stoned by Dobeš, who stopped shots by Jake Boltmann, Ellis, Graham Slaggert and Hunter Strand.

Westlund went off again, this time for tripping, at 17:56, and Notre Dame’s power play was more productive. But Dobeš stopped Blackmun, Trevor Janicke and Ellis as Ohio State killed off the penalty and sent the game into the intermission tied at 1-1. 

NOTRE DAME 3, OHIO STATE 2 (OT)

Value City Arena at Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio

Notre Dame  0-1-1-1—3

Ohio State     1-0-1-0—2

 First Period—Scoring: 1. Ohio State, Kamil Sadlocha 6 (Jake Wise, Cole McWard) EV 9:56. Penalties: Notre Dame 0-0, Ohio State 0-0.

Second Period—Scoring: 2. Notre Dame, Graham Slaggert 6 (Landon Slaggert, Chase Blackmun) EV 3:20. Penalties (total): Notre Dame 0-0 (0-0), Ohio State 2-4 (2-4).

Third Period—Scoring: 3. Notre Dame, Landon Slaggert 7 (Ryder Rolston, Cam Burke) EV 13:36. 4. Ohio State, Jake Wise 7 (Ryan O’Connell, Cole McWard) EX 17:10. Penalties (total): Notre Dame 2-4 (2-4), Ohio State 0-0 (2-4).

Overtime—Scoring: 5. Notre Dame, Spencer Stastney 4 (Landon Slaggert, Jake Pivonka) EV (3-on-3) 0:31. Penalties (total): Notre Dame 0-0 (2-4), Ohio State 0-0 (2-4).

Shots on goal: Notre Dame 37 (9-11-16-1), Ohio State 29 (9-9-11-0). Goalie saves: Notre Dame, Ryan Bischel 27 (8-9-10-0), Ohio State, Jacob Dobeš 34 (9-10-15-0). Power-play opportunities: Notre Dame 0 of 2, Ohio State 0 of 2. Faceoffs won: Notre Dame 29 (12-10-7-0), Ohio State 31 (9-11-10-1). Blocked shots: Notre Dame 12 (4-1-7-0), Ohio State 13 (2-9-2-0).

Referees: Sean Fernandez and Brett Sheva. Linesmen: Bill Hancock and Jake Davis. Attendance: 8,350 (18,809).

Records: Notre Dame 16-6-0 (9-4-0 Big Ten for 24 points), Ohio State 15-7-1 (7-5-1 Big Ten for 24 points).

BIG TEN STANDINGS

(Conference)

Pts, GP, W-L-T, OW-OL, SOW, GF-GA

Michigan 26, 13, 8-5-0, 0-2, 0, 48-36

Minnesota 25, 12, 8-4-0, 0-1, 0, 43-30

Notre Dame 24, 13, 9-4-0, 4-1, 0, 41-30

Ohio State 24, 13, 7-5-1, 0-1, 1, 41-32

Michigan State 14, 13, 5-8-0, 1-0, 0, 30-45

Wisconsin 13, 13, 4-8-1, 1-1, 0, 32-43

Penn State 9, 13, 3-10-0, 1-1, 0, 34-53

(Overall, W-L-T, .Pct, GF-GA)

Michigan 17-6-1, .729, 92-56; Minnesota 13-8-0, .619, 75-54; Notre Dame 16-6-0, .727, 76-44; Ohio State 15-7-1, .674, 83-52; Michigan State 11-11-1, .500, 54-65; Wisconsin 7-13-3, .370, 48-71; Penn State 12-11-0, .522, 78-73.

Friday, Jan. 14

Notre Dame 3, Ohio State 2 (OT)

Michigan 3, Penn State 2

Wisconsin 5, Michigan State 2

Minnesota 4, Alaska 1

Saturday, Jan. 15

Alaska at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Penn State at Michigan, 7 p.m.

Notre Dame at Ohio State, 8 p.m.

Michigan State at Wisconsin, 9 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 19

Boston College at Notre Dame, 7 p.m.