GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- You know you're in for a big night when a senior defenseman who has missed more than half of the season with a concussion is your leading point-getter with a career-best four-point night against the top team in the league.
UND senior defenseman Joe Finley (Edina, Minn.) led the Fighting Sioux with a goal and three assists as the Sioux blitzed Western Collegiate Hockey Association leader Denver University 8-3 tonight in front of a sellout crowd of 11,748 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The victory moved the 15th-ranked Sioux (10-5-2 WCHA, 15-10-2 overall) within one point of the fourth-ranked Pioneers (11-5-1 WCHA, 15-7-2 overall) for the WCHA lead heading into Saturday's rematch with first place at stake.
Eight different players scored a goal for the Sioux, now 6-0-1 in their last eight games and 10-2-1 since the first of December. The victory snapped Denver's string of seven straight WCHA wins.
While the impressive performance put the Sioux in sight of the WCHA lead, it was not the focus of coach Dave Hakstol following the game.
"That (first place at stake) is not even a concern,'' Hakstol said. "It's two points on the line. We're scratching, clawing to keep moving forward. Whatever the two points does for us, that's our goal tomorrow night. It's a grind from here on in and there's a lot of good teams. We're not going to sit and standings-watch right now. It's way too early for that.''
Even so, it was a strong showing by the Sioux tonight, coming on the heels of an emotional sweep of arch-rival Minnesota in Grand Forks two weeks ago.
And once again, the formula for success for the Sioux was balance. Along with eight different goal scorers, 12 of the 18 skaters had at least one goal or an assist.
Finley led the way, but senior captain Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) had a three-point game with a goal and two assists as did senior wing Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) and sophomore defenseman Jake Marto (Grand Forks).
UND blitzed Denver sophomore goalie Marc Cheverie for seven of the goals and his replacement, Lars Paulgaard, for one.
Cheverie had come into the weekend leading the WCHA in goals-against average (2.19) and save percentage (.935), but was pulled from the game twice, a rarity. He was replaced by DU coach George Gwozdecky after giving up Duncan's goal for a 4-0 Sioux lead at 13:37 of the first period and again after Matt Frattin (soph., Edmonton, Alberta) made it 7-3 at 8:20 of the third period.
UND raced to a 4-0 lead on a power-play goal by Chris VandeVelde (sr., Moorhead, ,Minn.) at 7:29 of the first period, a wrist shot by senior Ryan Martens (Selkirk, Manitoba) at 8:35, Marto's fourth goal in the last three games at 11:52 and Duncan's rocket of a wrist shot just under the crossbar to the far corner at 13:37.
Denver never recovered from UND's dynamic start. The Pioneers did crawl to within 5-3 at 19:20 of the second period on rookie Luke Salazaar's goal, but a misplay by Cheverie took away that momentum.
Early in the third period, Cheverie was caught behind the net on a moment of indecision. UND's Andrew Kozek (Sicamous, B.C.) got to the puck in the corner and fed freshman David Toews (Winnipeg, Manitoba) in front for an easy goal in the wide-open net for a 6-3 lead.
The eight goals is second-most for the Sioux this season, trailing only the 10 their scored in a 10-1 win at Harvard on Dec. 5 that keyed this current hot streak.
Denver came into the weekend leading the WCHA both offensively and defensively, but was upstaged by the Sioux in both areas tonight even though the Sioux owned just a 30-28 edge in shots on goal.
"It's the same focus (for us),'' Hakstol said, "We have worry about playing well, getting better and winning games.''
It was certainly a night to remember for big Joe Finley, all 6-foot-7, 250 pounds of him. He had four total points in the 10 games he has played this season before matching that all in one night,.
"Just advancing the puck up to the forwards,'' Finley said. "I got lucky, made a couple of nice passes and guys put it away. It's nice, but I like keeping it out of our net, too.''
Watkins was a force with three breakawys, only one of which he converted. His three-point game was his season best, too.
Watkins says he sees the Sioux growing trust in their performance every game. "I think there's more confidence amongst our group,'' Watkins said. "When you're winning, confidence builds. It's not the same when you're inconsistent like we were at the start of the year.''
The Sioux did to Denver what they did to Minnesota in the recent sweep, steamrolling the Pioneers with the big first period.
"With our starts, every game I think we're really focused to come out on the ice and get a good start and drive the other team back,'' Watkins said. "I don't think much has changed, other than we're burying more of our opportunities.''
Indeed, the Sioux scored on four of their 14 shots in the first period, all highlight goals that weren't the fault of Cheverie in a period where the Sioux could easily have scored 7-8 goals. Cheverie made a highlight-reel save on freshman Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) to open the game, diving across the crease to get a stick on Hextall's shot that appeared headed into an open net.
Every Sioux line had at least one goal.
"I think that's the most important thing for our team, contributions from all four lines and the six D (defensemen),'' Watkins said. "I think we got that again tonight. Usually when we score a lot of goals in a game, it's not one or two guys getting a hat trick or two goals each. Everyone's contributing, everyone's getting on the scoresheet. That's exciting.''
And so is the chance to wrestle the WCHA lead from the Pioneers Saturday night if the Sioux can duplicate their win for a series sweep.
SIOUX NOTES: Defenseman Zach Jones (Lisle, Ill.) was a healthy scratch and replaced in the lineup by freshman Ben Blood (Plymouth, Minn.). Hakstol said Jones will likely return to the lineup tonight . . . Tempers flared through with Denver called for 22 penalties for 68 minutes, UND 19 for 46 . . . UND was 2-of-8 on the power play, Denver 1-7 . . . UND freshman goalie Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) finished with 25 saves, including some big stops early when the game was up for grabs.
Foss covered UND hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald until his retirement. He now reports on UND home games exclusively for FightingSioux.com. Contact him at virgfoss@yahoo.com.
