By Virg Foss
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- It's not all bad being ejected from a college hockey game for fighting. Just ask UND Fighting Sioux junior Rylan Kaip (Radville, Sask.) about that.
"I watched the rest of the game from the hot tub,'' Kaip said.
His second-period fight with Alaska Anchorage defenseman Chad Anderson was part of the fighting spirit the Sioux used tonight to blank the Seawolves and skate away with a 4-0 Western Collegiate Hockey Association victory in front of 11,368 fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Parlayed with Friday's 3-3 overtime tie, the Sioux took three of a possible four points from the Seawolves to move into sole possession of fifth place in the WCHA, one point ahead of Wisconsin, a 1-0 loser at home to Minnesota tonight,
Sioux senior captain Chris Porter (Thunder Bay, Ont.) snapped a streak of 13 games without a goal when linemate Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Sask.) found Porter cruising all alone in the high slot at 10:42 of the opening period. Porter snapped off a quick high wrist shot for his fifth goal of the season and first since Nov. 4.
Porter was thrilled to break his streak of goal-less games. "It gets frustrating at times, but I just try to stick with it and contribute any way I can,'' Porter said.
Five minutes earlier, Sioux sophomore forward T.J. Oshie (Warroad, Minn.) shoveled in a loose puck in the slot after defenseman Taylor Chorney (Hastings, Minn.) had partially fanned on his original shot. It was the sixth goal of the season for Oshie, who has been snake-bitten on his great chances of late,
Sioux senior defenseman Robbie Bina (Grand Forks), who assisted on all three UND goals Friday, ripped a high wrist shot to the stick side of Anchorage goalie Nathan Lawson for his fourth goal of the year. That goal for No. 28 came 28 seconds into the second period and staked the Sioux to a 3-0 lead. It also came three minutes before Kaip and Anderson duked it out with linesmen breaking up the fight after Kaip knocked down Anderson with a hard right to the head.
Sioux junior goalie Philippe Lamoureux (Grand Forks) pitched his first shutout of the season, stopping 29 shots, including 13 of them in the final period when the Seawolves pressed for a goal,
"I knew they were going to come at me with a similar game,'' said Lamoureux, who was frustrated after Friday's tie. "It was important for me to make sure I smothered pucks and not give out any rebounds.''
The Sioux played an animated game, with most every player delivering a hard hit. The Sioux set the tone in the pre-game warmups, when four UND players lined up at the red line after warmups and refused to let Lawson cross into UND's end of the ice, as he did after the conclusion of Friday's warmup.
"We definitely made a point to make sure everyone knows this is our home ice,'' Kaip said. "I think that was what we were lacking earlier this year.''
The point came across loud and clear when the Sioux confronted Lawson upon completion of the warmups.
"He's got his pre-game rituals, and some of us might take exception with the way he treats our fans and the way he presents himself in our rink,'' Kaip said. "We just wanted to let him know that's not going to happen in the Ralph.''
Kaip drove that point home later with his fight. Did he win it? "I think so,'' he said.
The Sioux were much sharper for 60 minutes tonight. "Coach kind of said it before the game tonight, everyone needed to play better,'' Lamoureux said, "and I think everyone did that, top to bottom.''
Sioux sophomore wing Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alta.) closed the scoring at 7:52 of the second period. He threaded a wrist shot into a narrow opening on the stick side of Lawson on a power play.
His goal was one of two power plays the Sioux converted on five chances while they blanked Anchorage on its seven extra-man opportunities. It was Duncan's team-leading 17th goal, one more than he scored last season as a rookie.
UND coach Dave Hakstol professed to know nothing of the near-skirmish to start the game. "I didn't see anything,'' he said.
Hakstol was very pleased with the intensity the Sioux showed tonight. "I thought we played the whole weekend with maybe little more of an edge,'' he said. "Maybe that's what that was about.''
He wants to see more of that. "It's important to play with that edge at home, but I think it's something this team needs to play that way to become a complete team,'' Hakstol said. "Every team is different. Some teams need to play that way, some don't. I think this team needs to play with that edge.''
It certainly worked tonight, ending with a four-goal edge in UND's favor on the scoreboard. It was the biggest margin of victory for the Sioux since a 6-1 win over Quinnipiac on Oct. 6.
Hakstol said he had nothing to do with the tension shown after pre-game warmups when the Sioux stepped up to protect their ice. "That's for the players to take care of,'' he said. "If that's the case, it's a good tone to set.''
The Sioux took 13 of the 24 penalties called.
"I thought it was plain and simple, playing with an edge, playing hard for each other,'' Hakstol said. "This is a sport where you have to play hard for one another. You have to be there for the guy next to you. You have to fight for him. I don't mean that literally, but you've got to battle together.''
The Sioux did that tonight in battling past a team that had swept them earlier this season in Anchorage.
The Sioux improved to 7-9-2 in the WCHA and squared their overall mark at 11-11-2. Anchorage fell to 6-11-1 in the WCHA and 10-11-3 overall.
The Sioux step outside league play next weekend to face Bemidji State on Friday in Bemidji, Minn., and on Saturday at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
