One night after suffering a 1-0 shutout at the hands of Ohio State, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish returned the favor, blanking the Buckeyes 1-0 for Notre Dame’s fourth road win of the season.
And just as Dave Caruso tied an Ohio State career shutout record Friday, Irish junior David Brown did the same, earning his sixth career shutout — second of the season — to tie former teammate Morgan Cey for Notre Dame’s all-time shutout record.
“It was a really good team effort,” said Brown. “We played very well defensively. We killed off all the penalties. I got pretty good looks at most of the shots. The defense played really well, clearing the guys in front of me, communicating, which is key for us which we’ve been working on down the stretch.”
“I actually thought we were better on the cycle…and I thought Ohio State was much better in the offensive zone tonight, but that was partially due to us not having it as much, too,” said Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson. “We made a few adjustments. I thought our game last night was very good; it was just a matter of trying to find a way to beat Caruso.
“Both goaltenders gave up one goal on the weekend, so I don’t know how exciting it was for the fans. This isn’t the new NHL.”
Mike Walsh had the only goal of the game at 3:45 in the second on the Notre Dame power play, a result of that improved cycling down low. Erik Condra fished the puck out of the left corner and passed to Josh Sciba. Caruso stopped Sciba’s close-range shot but could not regroup for Walsh’s quick rebound.
The game marked the fourth time the Buckeyes have been shut out in as many weekends, a statistic head coach John Markell calls “frustrating.”
“I don’t know what to say. You have my quotes for the last three weeks. Pick one.
“You know we had eight on a breakway, we had 26 on a breakaway — two of our leading scorers — and I think Nate Guenin even got in behind him. Those are the guys you want there.”
Eight and 26 are Tom Fritsche and Mathieu Beaudoin, respectively, OSU’s two leading goal scorers. Late in the second, Brown made a save low to the ice on Fritsche, who streaked in all alone, full speed, and early in the third, Notre Dame’s Brock Sheahan broke up a Beaudoin breakaway before the OSU junior — who had last night’s goal — could get a shot off in front of the Irish cage.
“It went in for us last night,” said Markell. “It didn’t go in tonight.”
The Irish were 1-for-2 on the power play, the Buckeyes 0-for-4. Caruso had 22 saves as Notre Dame outshot OSU 24-23.
Next up for Notre Dame (9-14-3, 7-10-3 CCHA) is a home-and-home series with Michigan State Feb. 3-4, while Ohio State (13-11-4, 9-9-2 CCHA) head to Ann Arbor to face Michigan twice next weekend.
