By Virg Foss
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- It was a case of too little, too late for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux men's hockey team tonight.
The Sioux, who scored four times in the third period Friday night to beat the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers 4-2, couldn't quite find enough of that magic potion tonight to avoid yet another split of a two-game series.
Minnesota built a 4-1 lead going into the third period on two goals by freshman Mike Hoeffel and one each by Blake Wheeler and Ben Gordon. Hoeffel came into the game with just one goal in 17 games before burying a pair.
It proved to be enough to offset a furious rally by the Sioux. Down 4-1 and with a sellout crowd of 11,857 largely sitting quietly at Ralph Engelstad Arena, the Sioux ignited some late fireworks that fell just short.
Junior forward Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) saw his shot bounce off traffic and past Gopher goalie Alex Kangas at the 16-minute mark of the final period, bringing the Sioux to within 4-2.
Linemate Chris VandeVelde (So., Moorhead, Minn.) got the crowd roaring when a shot by senior defenseman Robbie Bina (Grand Forks, N.D.) bounced off VandeVelde's body and into the net at 17:43, chopping the Gopher lead to 4-3.
But Minnesota held off the Sioux, who, despite pulling senior goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (Grand Forks) for a sixth attacker with 1:23 left on the clock, couldn't get the equalizer.
The Sioux, 6-6 in the WCHA and 8-6-1 overall, continued a frustrating pattern of weekend splits. The Sioux have now played 12 consecutive home series without sweeping an opponent, dating back to Oct. 6-7 of last season when UND swept Quinnipiac in a non-conference series.
It marked the sixth straight WCHA series split this season for the Sioux, who came into the weekend ranked 7/8 in two national polls compared to a No. 15 ranking for Minnesota.
After Hoeffel's first goal at 2:37 of the first period put Minnesota ahead 1-0, the Sioux drew even just once the rest of the game.
Junior forward T.J. Oshie (Warroad, Minn.) directed a pass off the right wall by sophomore Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba) into the net with his skate at 13:47 of the opening period for a 1-1 tie.
The goal was reviewed by the officials, but allowed to stand since Oshie did not kick the puck into the net with his skate.
But Wheeler gave the Gophers a 2-1 lead after one period with his deflection past the catching glove of Lamoureux at 18:45 and it was an uphill battle the rest of the way for UND.
The Sioux mustered just 12 shots on net over the first two periods before throwing 13 shots at Gopher goalie Alex Kangas (22 saves) in the final 20 minutes.
UND coach Dave Hakstol talked about a failed Sioux power play in the first period with the game tied 1-1 as pivotal in the outcome.
"I look back to that first-period power play,'' Hakstol said. "That was a great opportunity for us to really swing the momentum in our favor. We didn't take advantage of it.''
The Sioux had just two power plays in the game, mustering just two shots and no goals,
"You can break the game down any way you want,'' Hakstol said. "But for me, that's a real critical point I look back to. Rather than a momentum-building power play, it was a little bit deflating within the whole building.''
VandeVelde was initially credited with both Sioux goals in the final period. However, a review of the tape afer the game changed the first of the two Sioux goals to Duncan, whose backhand shot from the right side deflected in off a Minnesota player.
The Sioux were unable to build on the energy from Friday's electrifying 4-2 win with their four-goal final period.
"Too bad we couldn't get something generated earlier,'' VandeVelde said. "We kind of took the first two periods off. It was an exciting finish, but we just came up short.''
VandeVelde had a two-point night on a goal and an assist on Duncan's goal. Junior defenseman Taylor Chorney (Hastings, Minn.) joined him with two points with assists on UND's last two goals.
The Sioux, who are now idle until a home non-conference series with New Hampshire on Dec. 28-29, will have time to work on breaking this pattern of weekend splits.
"The big thing is we need to be more consistent and not get outworked,'' VandeVelde said. "A lot of guys are down right now. We've just got to get some confidence back. We've got to start playing a full 60 (minutes) and not take periods off.''
Hakstol said he thought Minnesota played very well, an opinion shared by Minnesota coach Don Lucia, who called it Minnesota's best series of play this season.
"I'm disappointed in our overall performance,'' Hakstol said. "I don't want to be overly critical or anything of that nature. But to sweep a series in this league, you have to have desperation through 60 minutes. We couldn't put that together for 60 minutes tonight. That's what's disappointing.''
He didn't fault any individual players. "That's us as a team, and it starts with the coaches,'' Hakstol said. "Let me change that -- it starts with the coach.''
Another sellout crowd had little to cheer about. "I thought we did a really good job of keeping the crowd out of the game,'' Lucia said. "We feel really good about getting a win out of here. Now we'll have a happy bus ride home.''
UND hasn't swept a regular-season series since beating the Gophers twice in Minneapolis on Jan. 26-27 of last season. Since then, the Sioux have now played 10 WCHA regular season series (home or away) without sweeping.
The Sioux have, however, now played 18 consecutive regular season series in which they have come away with points.
UND is now off until playing host to New Hampshire on Dec. 28-29 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
SIOUX NOTES: Lamoureux tied the UND record for consecutive starts of 40, set by Al Finkelstein from 1951-53. His 40 straight starts is the longest active streak of any goalie in the country and is second-longest in WCHA goalie history behind 76 straight starts by Minnesota Duluth's Brant Nicklin (1996-98) . . . The loss tonight prevented the Sioux from establishing their longest winning streak of the season at three games. They have won two in a row three times . . . Oshie's goal was his team-leading eighth, while Duncan and VandeVelde, who play on a line with Oshie, picked up their sixth each . . . UND has played before capacity crowds in each of its seven home games this season . . . This weekend's attendance figures were the fourth-largest and fifth-largest in the history of the new Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Virg Foss covered UND hockey for 36 years for the Grand Forks Herald before retiring in 2005. He can be reached at virgfoss@yahoo.com.
