Notre Dame Holds Off Michigan for 3-2 Win

By Sean · Saturday, January 31, 2009 · 11:56 PM |  Share | 1 Comment 

A sweep of the #1 team in the nation would have been quite the weekend for Michigan, but Notre Dame wasn’t about to let that happen. Not in the first two periods, at least. The Fighting Irish got off to a 3-0 lead before Michigan woke up and made a comeback in the third period. Ultimately the game ended with a score of 3-2 in Notre Dame’s favor, but unsurprisingly, this game didn’t end without controversy.

The first controversy was actually when Notre Dame scored its first goal. The puck deflected off of a Notre Dame player’s skate and went into an open net. The initial call was a goal, and the referees confirmed that it was a goal after reviewing the play. Here’s the catch: CCHA reviews only allow referees to see an overhead view of the play. In this situation, the ND player that had the puck hit off his skate was not in the frame for the overhead replay. Because of that, the referees couldn’t get a look at what actually happened. The FSN replays showed that the ND player angled his skate when the puck deflected off of him, meaning the goal should have been waived off.

In the second period, Notre Dame scored two more goals. The second goal of the game for the Fighting Irish came on a penalty shot. Steve Kampfer tried to prevent Ryan Thang from scoring when he was on a breakaway and hooked him. The refs ruled that a penalty shot would take place, and Thang put the puck past Bryan Hogan for a goal. In the final four minutes of the period, ND added another goal to take a 3-0 lead into the third period.

Michigan thankfully finally started to get some offense going once they got on a power play. Aaron Palushaj scored a power-play goal about four and a half minutes into the third period. Chris Summers and Robbie Czarnik picked up assists on the goal. Just four or so minutes later, Czarnik scored and was assisted by Palushaj and Summers, making this a one-goal game with over eleven minutes left on the clock.

Michigan’s best scoring chances didn’t come until the final minute, when Steve Kampfer actually put the puck in the net. After a Chris Summers one-timer went just wide of the net, the puck eventually got back out in front of Notre Dame’s Jordan Pearce. Tim Miller proceeded to shoot it at the net and Pearce was there to make the save. The rebound came back out at a pair of Michigan players and was shot back at Pearce. This is when things got interesting.

A referee with a direct view of the action blew the play dead just before Steve Kampfer knocked the puck into the net. The ref thought the puck was frozen by Pearce, but it was never actually covered, as it came through the crease, allowing Kampfer to knock it in for what should have been a goal. The refs reviewed the play, but the overhead angle — the only replay they got to see — showed nothing. Again, FSN Detroit’s replay showed that the puck was never actually covered, but that was a moot point anyway since the ref blew the play dead.

Michigan couldn’t get anything going in the final 30 seconds of the game, meaning Notre Dame managed to hang on for a 3-2 victory. I was definitely happy with the fact that Michigan actually made this a game, but I was just as frustrated with the way it finished. Michigan shouldn’t have even been losing in the first place since Notre Dame’s first goal wasn’t legal, but to see the red light go on only to have the goal not count was just angering. Even so, at least Michigan came away with a split and ended Notre Dame’s winning streak, though a sweep of the Fighting Irish would have been so much sweeter.