A hot start gave the third-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team a two-goal lead in the first period before the Wolverines ceded three goals to No. 18 Notre Dame to fall 3-2 in overtime at Compton Family Ice Arena.
Stalwart netminder Erik Portillo made 27 saves on 29 shots to get the contest to overtime before a relatively harmless Notre Dame possession in the U-M zone resulted in the puck being pushed into the net inadvertently by a sliding Wolverines defender.
Michigan (9-3-0, 2-2-0 Big Ten) took advantage of Friday night's 5-1 win by riding the wave of momentum into a hot start for Saturday's rematch. Early on, it was Luke Hughes showing off his wheels in a stellar backcheck to dismiss a dangerous Notre Dame (5-5-2, 2-3-1 Big Ten) chance and keep the game scoreless.
Shortly thereafter, Michigan's hot start manifested itself in a game-opening goal when the nation's leading scorer Adam Fantilli created some magic from a tight opening near the left half wall. The freshman forward put an intelligent shot on the net to produce a rebound that bounced out to the slot, where Ethan Edwards had jumped into the play to bury the goal and put Michigan ahead 1-0. Mackie Samoskevich also assisted on Edwards' first marker of the season.
Late in the first period, Michigan's third-ranked power play capitalized on its first opportunity of the night following a Notre Dame penalty for slashing with 4:31 to go. Late in the advantage, Samoskevich used the layers of Irish penalty killers as a screen to pinpoint a perfect shot in the top corner without giving the goaltender a chance to see the shot. Luke Hughes and T.J. Hughes earned assists on Samoskevich's team-high 10th goal that put U-M up two with 2:46 left.
U-M continued to dictate the pace throughout the first half of the second period before the Irish appeared to find their stride by netting a pair of goals to close out the middle frame and tie the game at two goals apiece.
The first UND goal came at even-strength at 10:55 following an effective shift from a checking line for the Fighting Irish, resulting in a tic-tac-toe tally.
In the final minute of the period, Notre Dame notched a power-play goal to knot it up at 2 after the Wolverines were tagged with a minor penalty for too many skaters on the ice with 2:07 left.
Michigan was tagged with an ill-advised penalty for roughing after the whistle after a netfront scrum in Portillo's crease with 4:05 left. The Irish threatened but failed to register a second power-play goal before the teams returned to even strength and the buzzer rang on regulation.
The Wolverines threatened to end the game with several dangerous shot attempts from the first two units that were deployed, but a harmless UND possession in the U-M zone ended up funneling the puck toward the blue paint, where a sliding Michigan defender accidentally knocked it across the goal line to give the Fighting Irish the win in extra time.
Shots on goal ended up at 33-31 in Michigan's favor while the Wolverines also edged out the Irish in the faceoff dot, 30-29. U-M's power play ended the night 1-for-3 while UND was 1-for-4.
On Thursday and Friday (Nov. 17-18), the Wolverines will welcome Minnesota to Ann Arbor for a pair of games at Yost Ice Arena. Puck drop on Thursday (Nov. 17) is set for 6:30 p.m., while Friday's (Nov. 18) contest is slated to start at 6 p.m. Both games will be televised on Big Ten Network.
