Notre Dame Rallys Again, Takes It 3-2 in OT

Well the short of it is, they lost another lead. The Nanooks took control of the game early on in the 3rd period, but couldn't hang on as TJ Tynan tied it up. And Maday got the game winner in OT. We are turning into a lot like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole...

To recap, in the first period all the action came in the form of penalty minutes, and Alaska dominating that category. Notre Dame wound up with 3 power plays, of which only one should have happened. But that's a conversation for another time. Regardless, I think Tateson just gets penalized just because he's bigger than everybody. A lame excuse, but thats exactly what it seems like. Anyone he touches just falls hardly into the boards. I mean the guy's sticks have to be like 7 feet long...  Anyway, the Nanooks did a great job killing them and took it to the second period with no score.

The second went a little differently. The game picked up pace wise, and a lot of back and forth action. Notre Dame controlled play early, getting 5 shots on Thompson before the Nanooks got their first shot--a clear that went about 180' to get out of a bind.--on net. However, a faux-boarding call on Scott Enders put ND on the power play (again), and this time Anders Lee scored, and a play that was basically created and engineered by TJ Tynan.

Now I don't usually comment on the other teams players, but it bears mentioning. Tynan is one hell of a player. I wasn't sure what to think of him last year, mostly he seemed like a bit of a whiny freshman, who yelled at somebody after every play that he was taken out of when I saw them play the 'Nooks last year. He had some impressive stats, but didn't really 'wow' me. He did tonight. But, I don't think he was the best player on the ice.

Andy Taranto in his first game back tonight looked like the Andy Taranto of old. That kid plays at 110 miles an hour, and that summer he spent up here has really improved his skating. His stick work tonight, coupled with his speed and his drive for the puck really created some opportunities tonight. One of which resulted in the go ahead goal on a pass from Cody Kunyk.

Just 33 seconds earlier, Carlo Finucci demonstrated what patience can do. Fortunately, he was given the time to out-wait Summerhays after collecting his own rebound. The box score shows the goal as unassisted, but I'm pretty confident they are going to give Yaremchuk a helper on that one as he occupied a defender, and tipped the rebound back to Carlo for the score.

As the 3rd period wore on, Coach Ferguson put Beck-Kunyk-Taranto together on the same line, and I loved every second of it. I know coach likes to split some of these guys up to add some balance, but I think this one is going to stay. I'd also be curious how Granberg could change things up with centering that line instead of Kunyk. No offense to Cody by any means, but they play the position differently. Granny parks in front of the crease and creates screens, Kuny floats in the slot area to try to create angles. While both styles have their place, with the shots that Taranto and Beck have, putting Granberg in the middle and just getting in front of their goaltender could be huge. Interesting developments to watch for...

Anyway, Tynan scores to tie, Maday wins it in OT, blah blah blah.

I really hope Steve Thompson is proud of himself for his 2nd Star-performance tonight. Throughout the game, he was strong when he needed to be, and his defense really helped out in front of him. They played tighter, and kept the puck to the outside. I'm going to use Dallas' coined motto here, but you want to see your goaltender make the saves that he should, and make a few that he shouldn't. I definitely thought he did that tonight. I noticed that he gets a bit frantic when he's not sure where the puck is exactly. During the 2nd period, a puck nailed him straight in his cage. Once the puck bounced off, he had no idea where it was at, and he's moving around a bit trying to get a bead on it, and eventually did, but it took him a bit to seem like he got his bearings back.

Throughout the game, the consensus was clear that Thompson could steal this one from them. He robbed people consistently throughout the night. Jeff Costello and Riley Sheahan each had pretty good chances at a goal that Steve's glove said no to. I don't know if I'm to early in saying this, but he might be the guy in goal going forward. Don't get me wrong, Greenham is the better of the two all things considered, but the team plays better defensively as a whole when Thompson is there. Maybe they trust Greenham too much between the pipes, I don't know. But we'll find out next week when the Nanooks host Ferris State back in the Carlson Center. 6 more points on the line. If we can get any of them at this point, I'll be happy.

So long from South Bend, I'm off to Green Bay to go check out the Packers taking on the Vikings on Monday Night Football before heading back up north for the Ferris State series.