GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- It was Brad Miller Time tonight, on the ice and above it at a sold-out Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The senior defenseman from Alphraretta, Ga., broke a 15-game drought without a goal with a pair of them to spark the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux men's hockey team to a 4-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Minnesota State University, Mankato in front of 11,844 fans.
Miller hosts his own popular local televised show called "Brad Miller Time'' each week, featuring zany interviews and antics with his teammates, a show available on FightingSioux.com.
His two goals were a bigger story tonight, however. He scored a 5-on-4 power-play goal at 15:26 of the first period to break a scoreless tie and followed with a
5-on-3 power-play goal at 19:39.6 for what proved to be the game-winner and a 2-0 Sioux lead.
The goals, the fifth and sixth of the season for Miller, means that six of his 21 career goals have come against the Mavericks, including his only hat trick two seasons ago.
Goals by sophomore wing Evan Trupp (Anchorage, Alaska) at 6:05 of the second period and by senior wing Andrew Kozek (Sicamous, British Columbia) were the sixth for Trupp and seventh for Kozek this season and closed the Sioux scoring.
Miller scored his first on a backhander high into the net and his second on a left point shot low to the stick side of Maverick goalie Mike Zacharias (36 saves).
The victory was UND's seventh in its last eight home games (7-0-1) and boosted the Sioux to 17-11-3 overall and 12-6-3 in the WCHA.
REA officials showed a replay of this week's Brade Miller Time show on the scoreboard screen after the second period.
"We were waiting to get on the ice for the third period and we could hear it playing from the speakers and the laughs coming from the building,'' Miller said. "It was kind of cool.''
Cool indeed. Meanwhile, Miller's stick was sizzling hot in leading a strong showing by the Sioux, who outshot the Mavericks 40-26 and got a stout 25-save performance from freshman goalie Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta).
The Sioux won the game with outstanding play on specialty teams. They were 2-for-7 on the power play after coming into the game scoreless on their last 14 power plays. They killed all six Mankato power plays, including a critical 5-on-3 advantage for Mankato for 74 seconds in the opening period with the game scoreless.
UND now has killed off the last 20 power plays by the opponents.
Miller said on both of his goals, he was just trying to get the puck to net and didn't pick a particular target. "I was just trying to get it through,'' he said of second goal. "It must have had eyes, because I wasn't sure it was in.''
Mankato just missed going ahead early on the 5-on-3 power play. Maverick Mick Berge hit the post on one chance, and a pass just slipped by a Mankato skated on a back-door attempt on the same power play.
"An inch here, an inch there,'' Mankato coach Troy Jutting said. "We score, and it would have been very important obviously. We had our chances, and just didn't capitalize.''
Trupp made the most out of nothing to score his goal in the second period, dominated by the Sioux with a 21-4 advantage in shots on goal.
As Trupp battled with a defenseman behind the Maverick net, the puck went off his stick, flipped into the air, bounced off the back of Zacharias and dropped into the net.
"It was just one of those goals, lucky bounce,'' Trupp said. "Work hard, and every now and then you'll get one.''
Trupp said it was one of the strangest goals he's ever scored. "Probably not as strange as Robbie Bina's (from 180 feet against Minnesota), but it's up there,'' Trupp said.
The victory in the opening game of a two-game series moved the Sioux to within one point of second-place Wisconsin in the WCHA standings and to within first-place Denver University, which tied Colorado College 3-3 on Friday.
If the Sioux can win Saturday night, they'd tie Denver for the WCHA lead and go ahead of idle Wisconsin by a single point.
It's not what's on the mind of Sioux coach Dave Hakstol, however.
"It doesn't matter what happens out of town,'' Hakstol said. "We control one thing. We're going to battle for two points tomorrow night, no more than that.''
Still, two points would put the Sioux in a tie for the race for the MacNaughton Cup with five games remaining in the regular season for most teams.
"Every team in the league knows what their situation is, what they're fighting for, what the big picture looks like,'' Hakstol said. "But you can look those things on Sunday and Monday. Right now there's two points on the line tomorrow night. It's going to be one heckuva tough battle, and that's what we're going to get prepared for. This is our home building, and you have to take advantage of every possible point you can get at home.''
Both Mankato and the Sioux were coming off bye weeks, and perhaps the rustiness showed on both sides early on,
"I thought we had to work our way into it with out 5-on-5 play,'' Hakstol said. "The two power-play goals really allowed us a chance to get going.''
Mankato chopped UND's lead to 3-1 on a shorthanded, 2-on-1 rush with Geoff Irwin breaking Eidsness' shutout bid with a wrist shot to the far side 59 seconds into the third period.
"I certainly give them (Mankato) a ton of credit,'' Hakstol said. "As is the case with their team, they're going to come out and find a way to get themselves back in the game, and they did that with the shorthanded goal.''
It was the fourth shorthanded goal scored by the Mavericks in three games against UND this season.
UND erased that Mankato momentum, though, when senior defenseman Joe Finley (Edina, Minn.), blasted a slapper from the left point at 10:28 of the final period that was tipped in by Kozek.
SIOUX NOTES: Eidsness' win was his 17th of the season, tying him with Aaron Schweitzer (1996-97) for third-most by a Sioux freshman. Only Ed Belfour (29, 1986-87) and Karl Goehring (23, 1997-98) won more as rookies ... Kozek, Trupp, senior captain Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) and freshman Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) led the Sioux with five shots on goal apiece . . . UND's 21 shots on goal in the second period is the most for the Sioux in the second stanza this season, surpassing the 19 against Minnesota on Jan. 9 . . . Mankato had a 40-32 edge in faceoff wins, led by Trevor Breuss (13-5) . . . The Sioux had 15 shots on goal during their seven power plays, the Mavericks but five shots on their six chances ... Duncan collected an assist for his 157th career point, tying him with David Hoogsteen (1995-99) for 17th on UND's all-time scoring list. Current Sioux associate head coach Cary Eades ranks 16th with 164 points ... Duncan also played in his 163rd career game, tying him with three others for sixth all time.
Virg Foss reported on UND hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald until his retirement. He now covers UND home games exclusively for fightingsioux.com. Contact him at virgfoss@yahoo.com.
