GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- UND senior defenseman Brad Miller (Alpharetta, Ga.) has his own weekly Internet show bearing his name on the FightingSoux.com web site, featuring humorous interviews with his teammates.
The show he put on tonight at Ralph Engelstad Arena had far more meaning, however.
Three assists by Miller -- the third time he's done that this season -- sparked the Fighting Sioux to a 5-1 win over Michigan Tech in the opening game of a best-of-three Western Collegiate Hockey Association series.
Another win Saturday would wrap the series for the Sioux and send this year's MacNaughton Cup champions to St. Paul next weekend as the No. 1 seed in the WCHA Final Five Tournament.
Miller assisted on Chris VandeVelde's goal at 17:04 of the first period to open the scoring and put the Sioux ahead to stay. It was the 15th goal of the season for VandeVelde, a junior center from Moorhead, Minn.
Miller also made a perfect backdoor pass to set up senior captain Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) for his team-leading 16th goal of the season on a power play at 3:00 of the second period.
Miller rounded out his three-point game when he assisted on freshman Mario Lamoureux's goal at 11:13 of the final period to close the scoring. It was the third goal of the season for Lamoureux, from Grand Forks.
"The first two (assists) were on plays you try to practice,'' Miller said. "The third was kind of a cheesy assist, but I'll take it nonetheless.''
The Sioux certainly will take the win over the Huskies, the last-place team in the WCHA who were 1-1-1 against the Sioux in three meetings coming into this weekend.
Miller's big night won't be the lead story on his show next week, he promised.
"I don't know about that,'' he said. "I don't know how the guys would feel about that. It was a team effort. Guys have to put them in net. I wasn't putting them in net. Guys have to finish those plays.''
As has been the story most of the season for the Fighting Sioux, guys did just that in the balanced attack that has become the storyline of Sioux hockey this season.
Five diferent players scored one goal each and all four lines figured in the scoring. In addition, the Sioux had a power-play goal (by Duncan) and the first career shorthanded goal by junior center Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba).
Zajac's goal made it 4-1 and capped on 2-on-1 rush with defenseman Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba). Zajac made a quick move across the crease to deke Tech goalie Rob Nolan out of position and slipped a backhander into the open net.
The Sioux started slowly against the defensive-minded Huskies, not getting a shot on net until the 8:40 mark of the first period.
"I just think it comes down to hard work,'' Miller said. "We've got to play to our strengths, which is cycling and speed and hope we draw some penalties.''
All that worked out for UND. The Sioux had nine power plays, but converted on just one. The Sioux gave up a power-play goal to Michigan Tech at 6:13 of the third period on a deflection by Alex MacLeod, but answered that on Zajac's shorthanded goal four minutes later.
Sophomore Evan Trupp (Anchorage, Alaska) had UND's other goal, scoring on a rebound after VandeVelde won a faceoff in the offensive zone at 6:08 of the second for a 3-0 lead. Trupp's shot landed in the goal crease, but was swept across the line by the handle of Nolan's stick as he sprawled backwards in an attempt to smother the puck.
The Sioux did not overlook Tech, despite the Huskies coming into the series with a 6-23-7 record compared to UND's 22-12-4 mark.
"Everyone on our team understands what kind of a team they are,'' Miller said. "They beat us in Detroit and tied us in Houghton. That 5-0 game (won by UND in Houghton), everyone who was there can tell you it was more of a 1-0, 2-1, 2-0 game. We knew they were going to be tough.''
But after a sluggish start by the Sioux, a breakaway by sophomore Matt Frattin (Edmonton, Alberta) that was stopped, was slapped into the net by VandeVelde on the rebound to get the Sioux going.
Zajac, who has five goals on the season, has two of them in his last two home games. His previous one was an overtime winner against Colorado College on March 1.
"I've been getting the bounces, I think,'' Zajac said. "I was always getting shots earlier in the year. Eventually they've got to start going in. You're hoping so.''
A win Saturday would be followed by the presentation of the MacNaughton Cup to the Sioux in honor of their 14th WCHA title, most of any team in the league.
It's not what's on the mind of Sioux coach Dave Hakstol. "No,'' he replied when asked that question. "Honest to God, it's not. There's one thing on our mind -- we want to get to St. Paul and we have to win one more game to do that.''
A sellout crowd of 11,680 watched the Sioux take a giant step toward St. Paul with tonight's win, though.
"They (Michigan Tech) made it tough on us,'' Hakstol said. "In the first period, we weren't coming out of our own end very well. We didn't have a whole lot of possession in the offensive zone. I give our guys credit -- they worked their way, and continued to get better.''
Good enough to get the important first win in a best-of-three series.
UND outshot the Huskies 36-21 with freshman goalie Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) finishing with 20 stops. It was his 23rd win of the season, tying him with Karl Goehring for most wins by a Sioux rookie goalie behind the school record of 29 by rookie Ed Belfour in 1986-87.
UND moved into a tie for fifth in the PairWise Rankings, which mimic the process used by the NCAA to select its 16-team tournament field. It is UND's highest rating of the season.
Saturday night's game begins at 7:07 p.m.
SIOUX NOTES: Duncan's goal stood up as the game-winner, the 17th game-winning goal of his career. He needs one more to tie the school record held by Mark Taylor (1976-80) ... Freshman D Ben Blood (Plymouth, Minn.) picked up his first career point with an assist on Lamoureux's goal. He was also a +3 .... Miller led the Sioux in plus/minus ratings Friday with a +4 . . . VandeVelde led the Sioux in shots on goal with five, followed by Genoway with four and Duncan, Lamoureux, Trupp and senior Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) with three each.
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.
