Miami faces struggling Notre Dame

By John Lachmann

WHO: No. 13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (16-13-3) at Miami RedHawks (17-13-2).

WHERE: Cady Arena, Oxford, Ohio.

WHEN: Friday—7:35 p.m.; Saturday—7:05 p.m.

TV: Friday—CBS Sports Network (DirecTV Ch. 613, Dish Network Ch. 152); Saturday—ONN.

MIAMI RADIO: Friday—None. Saturday—WMOH-AM (1450), Hamilton, Ohio; WBKV-AM (1490), Richmond, Ind.

NOTES: Notre Dame has picked a bad time to slump, having lost three straight games and seven of its last 10.

The Fighting Irish split a home series against Bowling Green and were swept in a home-and-home vs. Ferris State, scoring a total of five games in their last four games.

Notre Dame’s offense has been led by sophomores T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee, and junior Riley Sheehan.

Those three – all NHL draftees – have accounted for 35 of the Irish’s 88 goals this season. Tynan, a second round draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets who was the NCAA’s rookie of the year last season, has 12 goals and leads the team in assists (26) and points (38).

Lee, a New York Islanders draft pick who was a Minnesota Mr. Football finalist, leads the team with 14 goals, and also has 16 assists for 30 points – second-best on the team.

Detroit Red Wings draftee Sheehan has nine goals and 15 assists, and undrafted senior Billy Maday has recorded eight goals and 12 assists.

Other notable Notre Dame forwards are freshman Austin Wuthrich, who leads the Irish in rookie points (7-9—16); Pittsburgh Penguins draftee sophomore Bryan Rust, the younger brother of Michigan’s Matt Rust, who has five goals and five assists, Ottawa draftee sophomore Jeff Costello (3-6—9) and junior Calgary draft pick Nick Larson (5-3—8).

On defense, junior Sam Calabrese leads Irish blueliners in points (3-12—15), and Islanders draft pick freshman Robbie Russo has four goals and 10 assists.

Other regular starting defensemen are Wild draftee senior Sean Lorenz (3-10—13), Blackhawks draft pick sophomore Stephen Johns (4-6—10), undrafted sophomore Shayne Taker (2-4—6) and Anaheim draft pick sophomore Adam Lind (1-1—2).

Notre Dame has held opponents to 24 shots per game, but its goaltending has been mercurial. Junior Mike Johnson is 9-7-3 with a 2.59 goals-average but just an .889 save percentage in 23 games.

Sophomore Steven Summerhays is 7-6, 2.93 with a save percentage of .887 in 15 games.

It’s difficult to predict which goalie Notre Dame will start vs. Miami, since neither has fared well recently. Summerhays was pulled last Saturday after stopping just 3 of 5 shots, and he gave up three goals on 24 shots in his previous outing, a 3-2 loss vs. BGSU.

Johnson relieved Summerhays last Saturday and turned aside 25 of 28 shots, and as a starter the previous night he allowed three goals on 23 shots and took the loss.

Notre Dame is allowing 2.78 goals per game, last in the CCHA. The Irish have struggled on the penalty kill with just an 81.0 percent success rate, 10th in the CCHA.

Teams have succeeded in scoring early against Notre Dame, which has allowed a conference-worst 34 goals in the first period.

Speaking of goals allowed by period, Miami is actually first in the CCHA in goals allowed in the final frame with 20. The RedHawks have surrendered just two goals in the third period in their 12 games since Christmas break.

Junior Reilly Smith has taken over the Miami offense since the break, scoring nine goals and dishing for four assists in the 12 games since the beginning of 2012. No other RedHawk has more than eight points in that span.

Freshman forward Austin Czarnik has not scored in 13 games – and it’s not a coincidence he spent ample energy playing for the U.S. in the world juniors during the break – but he has recorded eight assists.

Senior defenseman Chris Wideman also has eight assists in that span, including five in his last six games.

Miami is 10th in the CCHA on the power play (13.5 percent) and has an 8.5 percent efficiency rating in conference games. The RedHawks have scored on the man advantage in just three of their last nine games.

RedHawks coach Enrico Blasi has been even more unpredictable than usual this season in deciding on a starting goalie.

Senior Connor Knapp is 6-2 with a .950 save percentage since the break, and senior Cody Reichard has stopped 60 of 68 shots (.882) and is 2-2 since the start of 2012.

Yet Reichard has started three of Miami’s last five games.

Miami is 8-1-2 in its last 11 games against Notre Dame, and 9-1-1 in the RedHawks’ last 11 home games vs. the Irish.

These games are crucial for conference tournament seeding, as both teams are tied for seventh but could move into a tie for fourth with a win on Friday. The top five teams receive byes in the first round of the CCHA tournament.

Contact John at kypostsports@yahoo.com