By Virg Foss
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- It's always a royal battle when North Dakota and Minnesota get together in the most-played rivalry in college hockey.
The UND Fighting Sioux showed Minnesota they have learned their lessons well with tonight's 6-1 victory for North Dakota completing a two-game sweep of the No. 3-ranked Gophers after UND rolled to an impressive 6-3 win on Friday night.
"Props to them,'' Minnesota senior defenseman R.J. Anderson said. "They came to a war with guns and we came with butter knives. They beat us up and down the ice, every shift, all weekend, so they deserved to win.''
For the second straight night, the Sioux flashed great scoring balance with three lines scoring goals and eight forwards and three defensemen picking up at least one point.
The sweep gave unranked UND (8-5-1 WCHA, 13-10-1 overall) a four-game winning streak, eight wins in its last 10 games and boosted them into a tie for fourth place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with the Gophers (7-4-3 WCHA, 10-5-5 overall).
Junior center Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.) scored just 1:38 into the game on UND's second shot on net, giving the Sioux the lead for good.
Senior center and captain Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) blasted a slapper off left wing through the glove of Minnesota goalie Alex Kangas at 14:49 of the first period for Duncan's ninth goal of the season.
UND then squashed any hopes Minnesota had for a comeback with an electrifying second period.
Senior wing Andrew Kozek (Sicamous, British Columbia) fired his laser of a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Kangas at 11:08 and freshman wing Jason Gregoire one-timed a shot past Kangas 63 seconds later for his eighth goal of the year and a 4-0 Sioux lead.
Freshman wing David Toews (Winnipeg, Manitoba) collected his fourth goal of the season when he busted hard to the net to tip in a perfect pass from Kozek at 14:58 for a 5-0 cushion after two periods.
UND also dominated defensively in the period, blocking 10 Minnesota shots of the 17 the Sioux blocked for the game.
Duncan's second goal of the game and team-leading 10th of the season on a 5-on-3 power play at 6:12 of the third period made it 6-0, much to the delight of a roaring, sellout crowd of 11,838 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Sioux freshman goalie Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) lost his bid for his first career shutout when he was beaten by Gopher defenseman Cade Fairchild at 12:10 of the final period, one second after a Minnesota power play had expired.
Even so, Eidsness (23 saves on 24 shots) had a great game in outplaying Kangas, who came into the weekend as the WCHA's top-ranked goalie but gave up 11 goals in the two games and didn't finish either game.
It was perhaps a sign that the Sioux are on their way to their typical second-half run under coach Dave Hakstol that has landed them in the last four NCAA Frozen Fours.
"It's a great time for us to come together,'' Kozek said. "We had a bit of a hiccup there in Detroit (two losses in the Great Lakes Invitational), so it was a great time for us to come together and get the wins.''
It was easily North Dakota's most consistent weekend of the season. "We definitely played 120 minutes this weekend,'' Kozek said.
"Some weekends we've had a tough time putting both games together. This was one of those weekends we had every guy going in the lineup. Minnesota is a great team, and for us to go and get two wins like that, is a great confidence builder for us.''
The Gophers were playing without defenseman David Fischer and leading scorer Ryan Stoa, both injured in Friday's loss. Gopher assistant coach John Hill said that Fischer could be out 3-6 weeks or longer with his lower body injury.
Still, that took nothing away from the satisfaction the Sioux felt in sweeping a bitter rivalry.
It was especially sweet for a senior like Duncan, who may not face the Gophers again as they have completed their regular-season series.
"In my memory, they've come here and swept us,'' Duncan said. "We've had a tough in this building, so it definitely feels good to get a couple of wins against them.''
Duncan, too, hopes this weekend carries the Sioux on to a big finish to the season.
"We've had a tough time with consistency throughout this year,'' he said. "Hopefully it's the same as it's been the last couple of years, but there's no guarantees. It's two big wins against a very good team. Hopefully it's a stepping stone, and we'll continue on and keep rolling here. If we come to play, we'll be a tough team to beat.''
Duncan will relish the sweep of Minnesota. "It's special, no doubt,'' he said. "They're the No. 3-ranked team in the country, and we want to defend our building. It's definitely something we'll remember and enjoy to the fullest.''
The Sioux raised the expectations among themselves and the fans, no doubt.
"I think we've been underachieving the first half of the season,'' Duncan said. "We know we have a good team. We know we have the potential to do some great things if we show up to play. This weekend we showed to play. That's what can happen when we all have that focus and intensity.''
Hakstol certainly liked what he saw. "We played consistent hockey,'' he said. "We played from the drop of the puck last night and tonight. You also have to execute in a lot of different areas. We did that.''
The Sioux at times looked like they had more bodies in motion on the ice than the Gophers -- and maybe the did.
"We have the best fans in college hockey and I think they proved that this weekend,'' Hakstol said. "We had the seventh man, that's a huge factor for us. You need every little edge you can possibly gain in a series like this. Don't be mislead by the score tonight -- it was a very tough, hard-fought hockey game.''
SIOUX NOTES: UND had just a 28-24 edge in shots on goal compared to a 45-24 margin Friday night . . . Duncan and VandeVelde led the Sioux with four shots on goal apiece followed by three apiece by forward Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg) and defenseman Derrick LaPoint (Eau Claire, Wis.) . . . Fairchild and Mike Carman led the Gophers with four shots each . . . UND became the first team to score two power-play goals against Minnesota in a weekend series, collecting one each game. Minnesota entered the weekend as the top penalty-killing team in the country . . . Minnesota head coach Don Lucia missed the series with an illness that has yet to be diagnosed. He remained in the Twin Cities for more medical testing . . . UND had a 42-33 edge in faceoff wins, led by Zajac with 12 draws won of the 16 he took.
