Jan. 21, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Dan Carlson delivered on Friday night as the
cover boy on the Notre Dame hockey game program, as the junior left wing
scored the game-tying goal with 1:23 left in regulation and then scored 52
seconds into overtime, lifting the Irish to a frenetic 4-3 victory over
visiting Western Michigan-and spoiling Jeff Reynaert's 52-save night-in the
first game of a Central Collegiate Hockey Association series at the Joyce
Center.
The wild game saw Reynaert stop 48 of Notre Dame's first 49 shots
on goal while his WMU teammates had scrapped their way to a 3-1 lead, after
junior right wing Brett Mills had converted on what would be the Broncos
only shot of the third period (compared to 25 for the Irish). But the hosts
put the puck past the sophomore goaltender on three of their final seven shots,
including a goal by sophomore center David Inman that cut WMU's lead to 3-2
with 3:26 left to play.
Notre Dame (9-13-5, 6-7-4 CCHA) continued to edge up the CCHA
standings, moving into a tie for sixth with Western Michigan (8-11-2,
7-8-2), just one point out of the fifth and final home-ice spot for the
CCHA first-round playoff series.
The Irish finished with a huge 56-12 edge in shots on goal (plus
four shots off the pipes), representing the team's most shots in a game
since Notre Dame rejoined the CCHA in the 1992-93 season.
Senior right wing Joe Dusbabek continued his recent surge by being
credited for the first Irish goal (his pass deflected off a WMU player and
went into the net) before assisting on each of Carlson's clutch scores.
Both teams scored on their second shots of the night-WMU on a
power-play score from freshman defenseman Dan Cousineau-but Reynaert
stopped the next 48 Irish shots on net while the Broncos added to their
lead, including a goal from freshman center Ben Gagnon early in the second
period.
The victory ends a string of 11 straight overtime games in which
Notre Dame had failed to record a victory (0-1-10), stretching back to a
5-4 win at Bowling Green on Jan. 24, 1998.
GOAL RECAPS (reverse order)
The game-winning goal came on the power play, after a rare "illegal
stick" penalty on WMU's Mike Bishai in the closing moments of regulation
(19:30) ... Reynaert had lost his own stick off to his left and borrowed
Bishai's stick while the sophomore center went to fetch the goalie stick
... but Bishai made the mistake of playing the puck with Reynaert's stick,
leading to the penalty ... senior D Tyson Fraser set the winning sequence
in motion by nudging the puck to Dusbabek as he skated by Fraser near the
right boards ... Dusbabek managed to avoid several WMU players as he fought
his way down the boards before sending a pass towards the right circle for
senior C Ben Simon ... the WMU defense converged on the Irish captain but
Simon calmly slid the puck to the top of the slot for Carlson, who drilled
a low wrister into the left side of the net for his eighth goal of the
season (0:52).
Carlson's earlier goal game just 15 seconds after an Irish timeout ... 10
seconds after the timeout, the Irish pulled freshman G Tony Zasowski with a
faceoff in the WMU end ... Simon beat WMU junior RW David Gove on the
faceoff and Irish junior LW/C Jay Kopischke tracked down the puck behind
the net before shoveling a backhanded shot on goal from the bottom of the
left circle ... Reynaert made the save but Dusbabek flicked a rebound shot
that found its way through a jammed crease area before clanging off the far
right post ... Kopischke and Carlson then were among a scramble of bodies
lunging after the puck, with Carlson nudging the puck into the right side
of the net-igniting the crowd and sending the game into overtime (18:37).
Inman's team-leading ninth goal of the season was set up by a shot from
the top of the right circle by senior D Sean Seyferth ... the shot
deflected off Irish senior LW Andy Jurkowski near the right side of the
slot but kicked towards the other side of the goalmouth ... Reynaert was
positioned to his left, leaving the other half of the goal open for an easy
flick-in by Inman (16:34).
Mills' third goal of the season had given WMU a two-goal cushion five
minutes earlier ... the power-play goal was set up by passes in transition
from Bishai and Gove, with Mills rushing down the left side of the slot and
beating Zasowski to the far post (11:03).
Gagnon notched his sixth goal of the season early in the second period,
with assists from senior LW Corey Waring and freshman D Andy Townsend ...
Gagnon skated into the top of the slot and showed good patience before
firing a low stick-side shot into the left side of the net (2:50).
Dusbabek was credited with his sixth goal of the season after attempting
a pass from the bottom of the right circle ... the puck kicked off the leg
of a WMU player and angled in the other direction, sailing past Reynaert's
right leg and into the net (4:52).
Cousineau opened the scoring with his sixth goal of the season, launching
a low shot from the blue line that beat t Zasowski to the stick side, with
assists from junior LW Steve Rymsha and Bishai (3:18).
NOTES: The Irish improved to 17-3-5 (.740) at home during CCHA
regular-season games over the past two seasons ... 11 of Notre Dame's last
17 games have been decided by 0-1 goals (5-3-3 in those games) ... Dusbabek
has 3G-4A in the last six games while Carlson has 5G-4A in the last 10 ...
Carlson became the first Notre Dame player with multiple game-winning goals
this season (seven others have one each) ... ND improved to 5-2-2 in first
games of CCHA series this season ... ND had managed just five goals in its
previous four games before Friday's explosion ... six of the last 10 Irish
goals have been scored on the power play, plus one 6-on-5 ... Notre Dame is
6-3-1 in its last 10 games vs. WMU (5-0-1 in the last six games of the
series at the Joyce Center) ... Simon has 13 career points in 10 games
versus WMU (2G-11A) while Carlson has 10 in seven games (6G-4A) ... prior
to Friday, Dusbabek had totaled just two points in seven games vs. WMU (2G)
... Kopischke has four assists in eight career games vs. WMU ... Inman has
3G-2A in four career games vs. the Broncos ... other CCHA action Friday saw
first-place Michigan (14-4-0) pull away in the third period for a 6-4 win
at 11th-place Ohio State (4-11-1) ... fourth-place Lake Superior (10-6-1)
won yet another one-goal game, with a 2-1 win at Nebraska-Omaha (5-8-4)
that dropped the Mavericks into ninth ... Ferris State (8-8-1) moved into
sole possession of fifth place with a 4-4 tie at Miami (6-6-3), which
dropped back to eighth.
WESTERN MICHIGAN (8-11-2, 7-8-2 CCHA) 1 1 1 0 - 3
NOTRE DAME (9-13-5, 6-7-4 CCHA) 1 0 2 1 - 4
1st: WMU 1. Cousineau 6 (Rymsha, Bishai), PP, 3:18, ND 1. Dusbabek 6
(unassisted), PP, 4:52. 2nd: WMU 2. Gagnon 6 (Waring, Townsend) 2:50.
3rd: WMU 3. Brett Mills 3 (Gove, Bishai), PP, 11:03, ND 2. Inman 9
(Jurkowski, Seyferth) 16:34, ND 3. Carlson 7 (Dusbabek, Kopischke) 18:37.
OT: ND 4. Carlson 8 (Simon, Dusbabek), PP, 0:52.
SHOTS: WMU 5-6-1-0/12, ND 9-21-25-1/56. SAVES: WMU (Reynaert) 8-21-23-0/52,
ND (Zasowski) 4-5-0-0/9.
POWER PLAY: WMU 2-for-4, ND 2-for-6. PENALTIES: WMU 8 for 16:00,
ND 6 for 12:00.
