Slaggert brothers push Notre Dame past North Dakota in NCAA OT victory
The officials at MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y., needed a lot more time Thursday night to decide that Notre Dame had not scored a game-winning goal in the final seconds of regulation than the Irish needed to end the game for good in overtime.
Notre Dame senior forward Graham Slaggert scored a power-play goal 1:38 into overtime to defeat North Dakota 2-1 in the second Albany Regional semifinal.
Notre Dame’s actual game-winning goal came after the officials spent nearly 13 minutes reviewing whether Irish defenseman Adam Karashik’s short-handed goal beat the clock at the end of the third period. The shot, which Karashik whacked in following a rebound of a Landon Slaggert shot, was ruled a goal initially and crossed the goal line before the green light meant to signal the end of the period lit up behind the boards.
That light should be synced up with the official clock, but it was apparently delayed enough to prevent Karashik’s goal from counting.
“I just base it with what’s on the scoreboard and they’re telling me there’s two different clocks,” Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson said after the game. “We’re playing to the scoreboard, not to a clock that’s not visible to anybody.
“When the green light went on, I assumed that meant there was still time on the clock. At least that’s the way it is in the NHL. The green light’s attached to the scoreboard or the clock. The green light went on. To me, that means it’s a goal.”
Fortunately for the Irish (28-11-0), the controversy didn’t prevent them from winning in overtime and advancing to Saturday’s regional final (6:30 p.m. EDT) against Minnesota State. The Mavericks (36-5-0), seeded No. 1 in the region and No. 2 overall in the 16-seed, beat Harvard 4-3 earlier Thursday. A win over Minnesota State would send Notre Dame to the Frozen Four for the fifth time in program history.
Fittingly, Notre Dame’s penalty kill allowed the Irish to win the game. It didn’t come on what would have been Notre Dame’s eighth short-handed goal of the season at the end of regulation. But the Irish still had 26 seconds of a power play to kill to start overtime.
North Dakota didn’t get to take advantage of all those seconds because Notre Dame drew a interference penalty on defenseman Chris Jandric 14 seconds into overtime.
“They made a great play to get a puck past us,” said North Dakota head coach Brad Berry. “We had to take a penalty on it. The resulting goal they scored was on their power play. Special teams are a big difference this time of year, and they made one more play than we did.”
Notre Dame, which entered the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 2 in Div. I in penalty kill percentage (.904), successfully killed all three of its two-minute minors. The game-winning goal from Graham Slaggert was the lone converted power play of the game on Notre Dame’s three opportunities.
Graham Slaggert used a screen his younger brother Landon Slaggert, a sophomore forward, to shoot the puck past goaltender Zach Driscoll’s right shoulder. It’s a play the Irish have been working on for weeks and similar to one that worked against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
“Landon just does a great job of screening the goalie,” Graham Slaggert said. “I knew where he was going to let me shoot. There was a big enough gap to let me score there.”
Driscoll made it hard on the Irish with 23 saves including a few worthy of a highlight reel. But Notre Dame goaltender Matthew Galajda had the slightly better night with 23 saves himself.
Galajda kept the game tied at one 10:30 into the third period when forward Riese Gaber was awarded a penalty shot. Notre Dame defenseman Nick Leivermann was whistled for hooking when Gaber broke ahead of him. But Gaber, North Dakota’s leading scorer, shot wide of Galajda who was expecting the blocker-side shot Gaber attempted.
The Irish have been riding Galajda, a Cornell graduate transfer, since mid-February.
“He’s been dialed in,” Jackson said. “When he’s playing the way he’s capable of, he plays a quiet game, doesn’t give up a lot of rebounds, is very calm in the crease area and does a great job of situational awareness in his angles and positioning. I’m proud of what he accomplished in the past and this is a great opportunity for him in the NCAA Tournament.”
Galajda allowed the first goal of the game 18:43 into the first period. North Dakota defenseman Brent Johnson slung a shot through traffic that avoided any deflections and made it past Galajda.
Notre Dame tied the game just 1:03 into the second period when Landon Slaggert took advantage of North Dakota turnover in the neutral zone. Mark Senden’s pass deflected off Graham Slaggert’s skate and made it cross ice to the other Slaggert, who then won a race to the net and slid the puck under Driscoll.
In previous years, Notre Dame would have resumed play on Friday. But the NCAA changed the regional schedule at the beginning of the season to allow a day off between the semifinals and the final. That’s a bonus for the Irish, who finished their game six hours after Minnesota State.
“It’s super nice to be able to recharge,” Graham Slaggert said. “If guys are banged up, it gives us a little more time to get ready for the next game and have another day to be with each other as well. Play a little NHL (video game), who knows what we’re going to do at the hotel. But just have a good time with each other.”
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