DULUTH, Minn. ? Minnesota Duluth's Josh Meyers scored the tying goal on the power-play with 1:30 remaining in regulation, allowing the Bulldogs to salvage a 2-2 overtime tie with the Fighting Sioux tonight at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. Special teams dominated a game that featured 29 penalties and 17 power-plays, with all four goals coming with the man advantage.
Meyers' tying goal came at the tail end of a UMD 5-on-3 power-play. The Sioux had successfully killed off Brett Hextall's (Fr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) initial minor, but with 10 seconds remaining on Chris VandeVelde's (Jr., Moorhead, Minn.) penalty, Meyers knotted the game with a bizarre goal. The senior defenseman took a shot from the hash mark that was deflected into the air by Hextall. UND senior forward Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Saskatchewan), stationed at the side of the Sioux goal, tried to bat the puck out of mid-air, but it ricocheted off of the out-stretched glove of UND goalie Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) and into the net.
Nothing was settled in overtime with the two teams combining for just four shots on goal in extra time.
“It was a hard-fought game with two goaltenders who played very well,” said UND head coach Dave Hakstol.
Eidsness stopped a career-high 33 shots for the Sioux.
“Your goaltender has to be your best penalty killer,” added Hakstol, “and he was exactly that for us tonight.”
Sophomore forward Matt Frattin (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta) staked the Sioux to a 1-0 lead with a power-play tally just 6:39 into the first period. Senior forward Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) brought the puck into the Bulldog zone and dropped a pass for Frattin just inside the top of the circle, and Frattin wired a wrist shot high to the glove side of UMD goalie Alex Stalock for his second goal of the season.
The Bulldogs answered with a power-play goal of their own three minutes later when MacGregor Sharp banged home a rebound off of a Meyers point shot and the two teams took a 1-1 tie into the first intermission.
That score would hold up through the second period, thanks largely to 12 saves in the frame by Eidsness.
The Sioux regained the lead 4:26 into the third period with another power-play effort. Junior defenseman Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) worked the puck down low to Hextall at the side of the net. Hextall tried to jam the puck past Stalock and the rebound rolled right to Jason Gregoire (Fr., Winnipeg, Manitoba) on the doorstep. The freshman fought off a UMD defender to knock the puck home for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
UND finished 2-for-9 on the power-play while the Bulldogs went 2-for-8.
Stalock, making his 48th consecutive start, stopped 31 of 33 shots.
The Sioux (4-6-1, 4-4-1 WCHA) and Bulldogs (4-4-4, 1-4-3 WCHA) will square off again Saturday night at 7:07 p.m.
Notes: The announced attendance was 4,680 ... Duncan extended his point-scoring streak to six games with his first-period assist ... Hextall had his goal-scoring streak end at four games, but pushed his point-streak to five games with an assist on Gregoire's goal ... Eidsness made his eighth straight appearance in goal for UND, the longest streak by a Sioux freshman since Karl Goehring played in 10 straight in 1997-98 ...
? Go Sioux ?
