NCAA Hockey: Notre Dame and No. 5 Minnesota Duluth skate to 3-3 tie

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- In what proved to be a mirror image of Friday night’s game, the University of Notre Dame hockey team skated to a 3-3 tie with fifth-ranked Minnesota Duluth at the Compton Family Ice Arena (3,781) on Saturday night.

Notre Dame was leading 3-1 midway through the second period on a pair of goals by freshman forward Dylan Malmquist as well as a Thomas DiPauli power-play tally.

But much like the Irish on Friday night, the Bulldogs fought back to make it a 3-2 game at 10:36 of the second on Tony Cameranesi’s second goal of the night.

Minnesota Duluth’s Neal Pionk then scored the third period’s only goal at 3:45 and the game ultimately ended in a 3-3 tie.

The Notre Dame penalty kill capped off a strong weekend, blanking the Bulldogs on all five of their power play chances Saturday night. For the weekend, Notre Dame held Minnesota Duluth to a an 0-for-12 mark on the power play.

“The penalty kill was much better this weekend,” Head Coach Jeff Jackson said. “But Cal [Petersen] makes the difference, he did a pretty job controlling his rebounds on the penalty kill and that’s a big factor. [Jake] Evans’ ability to win face-offs was a huge factor too.”

With time winding down and on the penalty kill in overtime, Anders Bjork nearly gave the Irish the win, but his partial breakaway attempt was fought off by Minnesota Duluth goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo and the rebound went just wide of the post.

Petersen was strong in the Irish net, turning in a second-consecutive 39-save effort. With Minnesota Duluth pressuring in the early stages of the game, Petersen made one of his best saves of the night when he flashed his left pad to deny Adam Johnson of a goal four minutes into the opening period. He also made a game saving, right pad save on Austyn Young with just over 2:30 remaining in overtime.

Kaskisuo finished with 27 saves for the Bulldogs.

The Irish (1-1-2, 0-0-0 HEA) finished 1-for-4 on the power play, while Minnesota Duluth (2-1-2, 0-0-0 NCHC) was 0-for-5.

Notre Dame opens Hockey East play next weekend with a two-game series against Connecticut. Game one will be played at 3:05 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Game two will be a 2:35 p.m. puck drop on Sunday, Nov. 1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.