OXFORD, Ohio - Since coming to Miami, sophomore goalies Cody Reichard and Connor Knapp have generally rotated starts.
Reichard usually starts on Friday nights, and Saturdays belong to Knapp.
Among other reasons, teams often use a rotation in college hockey to help goalies push each other through competition.
The system worked to perfection this weekend. Reichard shut out No. 15 Notre Dame, 1-0 on Friday.
And Knapp responded by blanking the Fighting Irish, 4-0 on Saturday at Cady Arena.
It was the first time No. 1 Miami has ever thrown zeroes at an opponent in both games of a weekend series. The RedHawks had posted back-to-back shutouts three times before, most recently in early 2008, when the RedHawks held Lake Superior State scoreless on Jan. 19 and shut out Alaska on Jan. 25.
Knapp stopped 18 shots to record his second shutout of the season and the fourth of his career.
Connor Knapp watches the puck during his shutout of Notre Dame on Saturday. Knapp displays the Miami throwback jersey the RedHawks wore for both games over the weekend (Cathy White/CNATI.com).
Miami's junior class accounted for all four of Miami's goals.
Forward Tommy Wingels gave Miami an early lead with a backhanded shot that beat Notre Dame freshman goalie Mike Johnson on the power play just over halfway through the first period.
The score remained 1-0 until center Pat Cannone skated laterally between the faceoff circles and fired across his body and into the net less than four minutes in the third period, also on the power play.
Forward Carter Camper scored his fifth goal in five games and forward Justin Vaive broke a nine-game scoreless streak to ice the game.
Sophomore defenseman Cameron Schilling finished with a career-high three points - all on assists - and became the first defenseman this season to record a three-point game. He assisted on each of the first three RedHawks goals.
BOTTOM LINE: Wow. This was the best game Miami (11-2-5) has played all season, and this is the team I envisioned seeing after watching the returning talent combined with the freshmen infusion at the exhibition in early October.
The team should be proud of the way it played this weekend. The offense, defense, goaltending, hitting, passing, forechecking, backchecking, power play and penalty kill all were vastly superior to Notre Dame's, and the Irish were a top-five team entering the season.
Notre Dame (7-7-4) is not a bad team - the Fighting Irish have nine NHL draft picks, have ample scorers and one of the top college defensemen in the country in junior Teddy Ruth - but the RedHawks ran the Irish out of Cady Arena.
Despite Notre Dame getting seven power play chances to Miami's five, the RedHawks outshot the Irish, 36-18.
GRADES
FORWARDS: A. It took a while for the puck to start going in, but Miami finally netted three in the third period after scoring just twice in the first five periods of the weekend.
The forwards scored all four Miami goals.
Johnson was very good in net for Notre Dame, and did a great job keeping his team in the game. He had to, because Miami had multiple opportunities to light the lamp in the first two periods, and Johnson only let one shot by in the first 40 minutes.
Camper had two more points and has really caught fire lately.
DEFENSEMEN: A+. Notre Dame managed 19 shots despite seven power plays. The Fighting Irish had two decent scoring chances the entire game. Two. The Irish had four shots in the first period, none of which were from inside the top of the faceoff circles.
When the Fighting Irish really needed a goal in the third period, and the officials tried to oblige by giving them three power plays, Notre Dame did not get one shot during any of those man-advantage opportunities.
The seven Miami defensemen absolutely shut this solid offensive team down.
The pairing of sophomore Will Weber and freshman Joe Hartman continues to impress. They've both kept their penalty minutes down despite playing physical hockey. Although their size an important attribute, they've both been exceptional at moving the puck out of danger.
They've been Coach Enrico Blasi's starting defensive duo recently, and face opponents' top forwards often, making their accomplishments even more impressive.
GOALTENDING: A+. I think a grade of 'A+' should only be given on special occasions (although I'm giving two tonight), and I did not give Knapp one for his first shutout vs. St. Cloud State, but he gets one for Saturday's performance.
He didn't face many tough shots, especially early, but when Notre Dame did start firing the puck out of desperation late in the game, Knapp was there to shut the door every time.
With Miami's exceptional defensive six/seven, RedHawks goalies are going to have many more games like this in which they face minimal scoring chances. Those games can be the toughest for them because it can be difficult to remain sharp.
Knapp also showed his improved puckhandling skills, helping himself avoid trouble and aiding his team on power plays.
Because of his 6-foot-5 build, Notre Dame did not try to run Knapp like it did with Reichard on Friday.
LINEUP CHANGES: Blasi only made one move for from Friday to Saturday: Senior Brandon Smith played, and senior Gary Steffes sat for the fourth time in five games.
Smith went plus-1, but did not have a point or a shot on goal.
Steffes played pretty well on Friday, and has always been a hard-worker who deserves the chance to regain last season's form, but it's going to be tough when he plays on the fourth line and does not get power play shifts.
EXTRA SPECIAL TEAMS: Miami was 2-for-5 on the power play, netting two man-advantage goals for the first time since Halloween at Northern Michigan.
AND...
Miami killed all seven Notre Dame power plays, allowing just five shots. The Fighting Irish had zero shots on three man-advantage opportunities in the third period. It was the fifth time in the last six games Miami has not allowed a power play goal.
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