GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Just call it a good Knight for the Fighting Sioux men's hockey team.
Freshman wing Corban Knight (High River, Alberta) and sophomore wing Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg, Manitoba) scored two goals apiece as the UND Fighting Sioux rolled to a 4-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Minnesota State at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The goals were the first for Knight since he scored in the season opener on Oct. 13 against Merrimack.
Gregoire's two goals continued the hot streak for UND's leading goal scorer. Gregoire now has 10 goals, including five in his last eight games.
The victory also helped the Sioux (11-6-4 overall, 7-6-1 WCHA) on the national scene. It boosted them to No. 9 nationally in the unofficial pairwise rankings used to select the 16-team NCAA field. The Sioux were ranked fifth in two other national polls this week.
Gregoire can't explain why his scoring touch has turned hot.
"I wish I knew,'' he said. "I've always been a second-half (of the season) player. If I knew why that was and could pinpoint it, hopefully I could change that to be a full-season guy.''
The Sioux will gladly take a hot second half from Gregoire as they battle for the WCHA title and look to improve on their stock in the all-important pairwise rankings heading into the NCAA tournament later on.
"We're usually a second-half team as well,'' Gregoire said.
Knight and Gregoire staked the Sioux to a 2-0 lead before the game was seven minutes old.
Knight broke free coming down left wing and went around goalie Phil Cook to score uncontested at 2:07 of the opening period on UND's first shot on goal.
Gregoire made it 2-0 at 6:48, whipping a backhand past Cook on UND's fourth shot of the period, marking the end of Cook's night in goal.
After the Mavericks' Ben Youds scored on a power play at 10:13, UND took control in the second period.
Knight capped a 3-on-1 rush by tapping in a perfect feed from center Darcy Zajac (Sr., Winnipeg, Manitoba) at 9:41 to make it 3-1.
Gregoire then completed his second two-goal game of the season at 16:41 on a Sioux power play. After senior center Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.) won the offensive zone faceoff, Gregoire cut sharply to his left and beat Mankato goalie Austin Lee with a quick wrister.
Sophomore goalie Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) stopped 18 of 19 Mankato shots in a solid outing. The only goal he gave up came after a defensive zone giveaway by UND on a Maverick power play.
Knight limped into the interview room after the game after injuring himself crashing into the net in the closing seconds in a bid to complete his first college hat trick.
"I hurt my ankle a little bit, but I'll be fine,'' said Knight, named the game's No. 1 star.
Because of the injury, he was unable to skate onto the ice to be recognized as No. 1 star when the game ended.
"That's kind of a bummer,'' Knight said. "Nothing I can do about that. Hopefully there will be a couple more down the road.''
With the Sioux lineup a bit shorthanded because of injuries, freshmen such as Knight have come through with big goals the last two weeks. In the Notre Dame tournament last week, rookies Carter Rowney (Sexsmith, Alberta) and Brett Bruneteau (Omaha, Neb.) scored their first collegiate goals.
"With all the injuries, all the freshmen have taken a little more responsibility,'' Knight said. "I think we're answering the bell. We've got to keep it going for the stretch here, and hopefully it carries into the playoffs.''
The Sioux are playing without veterans Brett Hextall (So., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Chay Genoway (Sr., Morden, Manitoba), both sidelined with injuries.
"If we can continue playing this hockey with those guys out of the lineup,'' Gregoire said, "it's kind of scary to think what can happen when they're back in.''
UND coach Dave Hakstol liked what he saw in a game in which UND outshot Minnesota State 33-19.
"Overall, we did a good job for 60 minutes,'' he said. "We had a lot of guys who played well and hard through 60 minutes.''
The added offense from Gregoire is a big boost as well.
"He's starting to play at the level he expects out of himself,'' Hakstol said. "He and Chris (VandeVelde) are really starting to read off each other well. Between the two of them, there's been more plays over the last three games than maybe the entire previous month.''
SIOUX NOTES: Gregoire has 12 points (5g, 7a) in his last 10 games ... Both UND and Minnesota State were 1-for-5 on the power play . . . Gregoire led the Sioux in shots on goal with six, followed by Knight and Mario Lamoureux (So., Grand Forks) with four each . . . VandeVelde and defenseman Derrick LaPoint (Jr., Eau Claire, Wis.) finished with two assists each . . . LaPoint is riding a career-best four-game point streak, the longest current streak oni the team ... The Sioux had a 29-24 edge in faceoff wins, paced by 10 wins in 15 draws for junior center Brad Malone (Miramichi, New Brunswick). . . Even with students gone for Christmas break, the announced attendance still was 11,388.
Virg Foss covered Fighting Sioux hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald until his retirement. He now reports exclusively on UND home games for FightingSioux.com.
~Go Sioux~
