SOUTH BEND, Ind. - A night that began with so much promise ended with Michigan's hockey team unable to finish the job.

The Wolverines failed to secure a first-round bye in the CCHA playoffs, surrendering four second-period goals in a 5-3 loss to Notre Dame Saturday night at the Joyce Center.

With the loss, Michigan (19-17-1, 14-13-1) will open tournament on Friday at Yost Ice Arena against Lake Superior State. The Wolverines, who finished seventh in the regular-season standings, won both games this season against the Lakers, who were swept this weekend by Northern Michigan to finish 10th.

Tickets for the best-of-three series go on sale Monday.

After Notre Dame opened up a 4-2 lead, Louie Caporusso drew the Wolverines to within one with his second goal of the game at the 3:51 mark of the third period. But Michigan was unable to notch the equalizer before Notre Dame's Dan Kissel closed out the win with a goal.

Shawn Hunwick made 20 saves in his first career start, but allowed the four goals during the second period when the Irish erased a 2-0 deficit. Hunwick got the start after Michigan goalie Bryan Hogan suffered a groin injury in the Wolverines 4-0 win over the Irish in Ann Arbor Thursday night.

"I liked the way he started the game," Michigan coach Red Berenson said during a post-game interview with The Big Ten Network. "I think the game got away from him, but it got away from our team, too."

While Notre Dame made the most of its chances, Michigan struggled after taking an early lead. The Wolverines finished 1-for-9 on the power play, scoring only on David Wohlberg's first-period power play goal that gave Michigan a 2-0 lead.

Michigan was also uncharacteristically undisciplined often taking bad penalties while on the power play. Notre Dame, which snapped a 5-game winless streak with the victory, also registered a short-handed goal in the second period when Brett Blatchford scored to tie the game at 2.

On three occasions in the second period alone, Michigan found itself with power-play chances, but negated the opportunity by taking a penalty of its own.

During a fateful second period that included 38 penalty minutes, Notre Dame (13-15-8, 9-12-7 CCHA) scored three times during a 5-minute stretch. The Irish tied the game at 2 after Chris Brown appeared to pad Michigan's lead back to two goals on a shot that, upon review, seemed to hit just under the crossbar.

But after a video review, game officials determined the shot had not hit the back of the net, keeping Michigan's lead at 2-1.

"We don't have the luxury of a TV broadcast at ice level, but we thought it was in," Berenson said. "Sure enough, they went down and scored on the next shift so that's how quick the game can turn around."