ANN ARBOR – Four of the six meetings between the Michigan and Notre Dame hockey teams were decided by one goal last season.

That trend continued this season as the seventh-ranked Wolverines opened Big Ten play Friday with a 2-1 victory at Yost Ice Arena.

Skating three-on-three in overtime, Notre Dame defenseman Axel Kumlin fired a slap shot wide, sending Michigan on a two-on-one run the other way. Evan Werner got around Kumlin and saw his first shot saved by Owen Say, but he was able to put the rebound past him to give the Wolverines (6-2-1, 1-0) their third straight victory.

The team was coming off a road sweep against No. 5 Boston University in which it scored five goals in the two games, but it struggled to solve Say. Michigan outshot Notre Dame 45-19, but was held scoreless until 15:48 of the second period.

Josh Ernisse fired the puck on net through traffic, and Kienan Draper was up front to drop in a juicy rebound to tie the game.

No. 20 Notre Dame (5-4, 2-1) opened the scoring 6:30 into the second period after a turnover in Michigan’s offensive zone led to a two-on-one going the other way for the Irish. Brennan Ali, a Red Wings draft pick, faked the pass and fired a quick shot over Logan Stein’s glove for his second goal of the year. Michigan freshman Michael Hage attempted to backhand a pass to his teammate on a strange run, but the pass was picked off and the Irish capitalized on the other end.

After tying the game, Michigan was buzzing in the offensive zone the rest of the second. He almost took the lead when Nick Moldenhauer, skating in the slot, charged as if he was going to shoot, but slipped a pass to Werner, who had a gaping cage to shoot at. But Say made a bid for save of the year, stretching out to deny Werner.

The Wolverines’ power play has been inconsistent this season and came up empty Friday, going 0 for 5, including a five-on-three failure for just over a minute in the third period. But they were also 4 for 4 on the penalty kill.

The two teams will conclude the two-game series on Saturday at 7 p.m.