DULUTH, Minn. ? Minnesota Duluth goalie Alex Stalock stopped a season-high 37 shots and the Bulldogs got goals from MacGregor Sharp, Josh Fulton and Michael Gergen in a 3-1 WCHA victory over the Fighting Sioux tonight in front of 5,037 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center.
The win allowed the Bulldogs (5-4-4, 2-4-3 WCHA) to take three of four points on the weekend from the 20th-ranked Fighting Sioux (4-7-1, 4-5-1 WCHA).
Stalock played a central role for the second straight night as the Sioux threw 38 shots at the junior netminder, including 16 in the second period, but UND could not get on the board until senior Brad Miller defenseman/forward (Alpharetta, Ga.) scored on a power-play with 7:28 remaining in the third period.
Miller's goal, his third of the season, made it a 3-1 UMD lead and gave the Sioux life, but Stalock and his Bulldog teammates would hold on for their first win in the last six games.
“There's no lack of (scoring) opportunities, but we're in a rut right now,” UND head coach Dave Hakstol said of his team, which has not scored a 5-on-5 goal since Nov. 8 at Colorado College, a stretch of five games.
“Our execution isn't quite good enough. When they (goals) aren't coming easily and you aren't scoring tic-tac-toe goals, you have to get to the top of the crease ...you have to score some ugly goals.”
Gergen staked the Bulldogs to a 1-0 lead just 6:27 into the opening period, deflecting a Trent Palm point shot that also ricocheted off the shoulder of Sioux penalty killer Brad Malone (So., Miramichi, New Brunswick), the first of two UMD goals with the man advantage.
UMD's 1-0 lead held throughout the rest of the first period and for most of the second frame, until Fulton converted a perfect 2-on-1 feed from Justin Fontaine to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead with 1:23 left in the period.
Sharp provided an insurance goal with a power-play tally just 52 seconds into the third period, on a brilliant three-way passing play. UMD defenseman Josh Meyers worked the puck to Mike Connolly in the slot, and Connolly sent a touch-pass to Sharp at the side of the Sioux net, and Sharp re-directed the puck into the yawning cage for a comfortable 3-0 lead.
The Bulldogs finished the night 2-for-5 on the power-play and 4-for-13 on the weekend against a Sioux penalty killing unit that was perfect the previous weekend against Alaska Anchorage.
UND went 1-for-9 with the man advantage despite 11 power-play shots.
Eidsness was strong in defeat, turning aside 26 of the 29 shots he faced.
“We are where we are,” said Hakstol of UND's slow start this season.
“We're going to be men about it. We'll take a look at the things we need to do better and we'll fix them. We are going to get ourselves out of this.”
The Fighting Sioux return home to host non-conference opponent Cornell next Friday and Saturday (Nov. 28-29) at Englestad Arena. Both games will be broadcast on the Fighting Sioux Sports Network and Friday's game will also be shown on the NHL Network.
Notes: Senior F Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) had his six-game point-scoring streak snapped ... Eidsness made his ninth consecutive appearance in goal, the longest streak by a Sioux freshman since Karl Goehring played in 10 straight in 1997-98.
