UND coach Dave Hakstol might have qualified himself for a Master Chef award tonight.
Hakstol stirred up his lineup and came up with a prize-winning dish in the form of a 3-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association over visiting Alaska-Anchorage at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
A stout 23-save performance by freshman goalie Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) and two power-play goals along with one shorthanded tally sparked UND's fourth straight weekend split.
Freshman Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) snapped a 1-1 tie at 10:29 of the third period, banging in a juicy rebound left by Anchorage goalie Bryce Christianson.
It was the fourth straight game in which Hextall has scored a goal, making him the first Sioux rookie since Ryan Duncan, UND's senior captain, did that as a rookie.
Sophomore Brad Malone (Miramichi. New Brunswick) iced it when his backhand effort on a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush with Duncan at 12:31 of the final period banked under Christianson off the skate of a Anchorage defenseman. It was his first goal in the last 33 games.
Specialty team play factored heavily into the victory. The Sioux were 2-for-9 on the power play, blanked Anchorage on its seven power plays, and threw in the shorthanded goal to boot.
"All the elements you would expect in a hard-fought win,'' Hakstol said of the stellar play by Eidsness and major contributions from the specialty teams. "That's probably a pretty good recipe.''
Eidsness was beaten only by a shot from Anchorage defenseman Kane LaFranchise that bounced off the body of Sioux forward Darcy Zajac at 11:06 of the second period, tying the game at 1-1. That goal came just four seconds after a tripping penalty on UND's David Toews (Fr., Winnipeg, Manitoba) had expired.
Sophomore forward Matt Frattin (Edmonton, Alberta) had given UND a 1-0 lead after one period with his first goal in the last 15 games dating back to last season.
Frattin took a pass across the goal mouth from fellow rookie Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and beat Christianson to the short side at 12:47 of the first period on a power play.
Then after Anchorage tied it at 1-1, the Sioux outshot the Seawolves 8-5 in the last period and collected the big goals from Hextall and Malone much to the delight of 11,865 fans, the 42nd straight sellout at the Ralph.
Eidsness played perhaps his best game in a Sioux uniform. "He was certainly a difference-maker for us, especially early on,'' Hakstol said. "But he was very solid throughout. To be able to win the third period to win a hockey game, I think was important for our team. We haven't had a whole
lot of things go our way or bounce our way over the past couple of weeks.''
Frattin had 15 shots on goal in seven games prior to tonight, but hadn't found the back of the net once.
"It was nice to see the puck going in,'' Frattin said. "It's been a while. Since last year.''
The Sioux mustered a more determined effort tonight after a flat performance in a 3-2 loss to the Seawolves on Friday night.
Eidsness was in the groove early with big saves Brian Bales and Tommy Grant early in the game and stopped Sean Wiles on a 2-on-1 rush later in the opening period.
"That's the most comfortable I've felt definitely in this building,'' Eidsness said. "It was kind of one of those nights where both goaltenders were called upon, and we were both able to make some big saves early.''
Christianson (24 saves) had no chance on the back-door setups for goals by Frattin and Hextall and caught a bad break on the goal by Malone that went off the skate of his own defenseman and slithered through his legs.
The Sioux, who improved to 4-4 in the WCHA and 4-6 overall, knew they needed a bounce-back game.
"We knew this was a real important game for us,'' Eidsness said. "We really didn't want to go down to 3-7 on the season and be down a couple games in the WCHA. I don't try to put any extra pressure on myself. I just try to go out there and do my job and worry about what I can control.''
Malone was trying to make a pass to Duncan on the goal he scored. "I'm trying to get him going back door,'' Malone said. "I got a lucky bounce, and hopefully that's the start of things.''
Hakstol shook up his lineup slightly, making senior Andrew Kozek (Sicamous, British Columbia) and sophomore Evan Trupp (Anchorage, Alaska) healthy scratches and inserting sophomore Brent Davidson (Morden, Manitoba) and freshman Mario Lamoureux (Grand Forks) in the lineup.
"This team is going to be successful with balance, this team is going to be successful with everybody in the lineup playing to the best of their ability,'' Hakstol said. "I thought we had a couple of guys who came into the lineup tonight and did a good job. The guys that who were out of the lineup, they'll be back. We need them playing well for us to be successful in the long term.''
SIOUX NOTES: Duncan and junior center Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.) led the team in shots on goal with four each . . . Senior defenseman Zach Jones registered his first shot on goal of the season . . . The Sioux had a 36-33 edge in faceoffs won, led by VandeVelde with 13 draws won in 21 chances . . . Frattin's goal came just nine seconds into UND's fourth power play of the opening period.
