MINNEAPOLIS — In the days leading up to this weekend’s series between Notre Dame and after Friday’s overtime win, Minnesota head coach Don Lucia had repeatedly expressed concerns about No. 1 Notre Dame’s ability to hold opponents down after gaining the lead.
On Saturday’s Lucia’s fear of falling behind to the Fighting Irish were realized. After getting off to a 2-0 lead, Notre Dame held off just about anything the Gophers threw at the Irish as Notre Dame salvaged a weekend split with a 4-1 victory at 3M Arena at Mariucci on Saturday.
Based on the numbers, Lucia has a point. Coming into this weekend, the Irish (20-5-1, 13-2-0-0) ranked third in the nation with a 2.00 goals against average. In Big Ten play, Notre Dame gives up just 1.53 goals per game.
“They’re very structured to their game defensively,” said Minnesota forward Brannon McManus. “They play a really good defensive game. You have to support the puck and get to the net against them.”
For the Irish, that defensive dominance starts with goaltender Cale Morris. The nation’s leader in save percentage heading into the weekend (.952) allowed just two goals on 51 shots in this two-game series.
“Cale has been our rock back there,” said Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson. “He has some real good defenders in front of him, which helps. We dress seven (defensemen) each night and every one of them is talented.”
Notre Dame was able to show its defensive prowess after it got out in front thanks to Jordan Gross. He tallied the first regulation goal of the series late in the first period. His power-play goal would be the first of three for the Irish.
“We took some undisciplined penalties tonight,” Lucia said. “Against a team like this, you can’t do that.”
All four goals for Notre Dame came against Minnesota (16-13-1, 7-10-1-1) netminder Mat Robson. After shutting out the Irish on Friday, the nation’s No. 1 team came out ready to pounce on the Gophers.
“I think the more determined team won tonight,” Lucia said. “We knew there would be push back from them. They had the puck a lot and won the races and came away with the puck in any scrum or battle.”
Minnesota’s best chance to pull off the sweep came when it cut the lead to 2-1 late in the second period thanks to McManus.
In the final frame, Notre Dame put the clamps down and extended its lead to 4-1 thanks to a pair of goals from Dylan Malmquist.
With the Irish having a stranglehold over the Big Ten this season, Saturday’s game had more to do with just getting back at the Gophers and getting back on track. The Irish came into the game on their second two-game losing streak of the season. The most recent pair of losses came following 16 consecutive wins.
For the Notre Dame seniors, this game was a chance to avenge the pair of losses that came in Minneapolis during their freshman season and Friday’s heartbreaking defeat.
“These kids are more resilient than I am,” Jackson said. “Those types of losses are generally tough to come back from. I give our guys a lot of credit. They showed some toughness and mental maturity. We were led by our veteran guys tonight.”
Meanwhile, Minnesota leaves the series getting two points and staying in the muddled middle of the Big Ten. The Gophers continue to live below their lofty preseason expectations. But with 30 games under their belt, Lucia is starting to see what his team is going to do to continue to contend.
“If we’re going to be successful, we’re going to have to win 2-1 games and lock it down,” Lucia said. “We’re going to need good goaltending and play well defensively. When we beat top teams, it’s not 5-4. That’s how we have to win.”
