GRAND FORKS, N.D. - North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol has frequently pointed to his team's depth as a strength entering the 2010-11 season. That depth was on display tonight as UND received goals and multi-point efforts from five different players in a 5-2 exhibition win over the University of Manitoba.
Junior forward Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg, Manitoba) led the offensive charge with a goal and two assists, keying a mostly sound all-around preseason effort by the second-ranked Sioux.
"We did a lot of good things," said Hakstol. "There were flashes of some good team chemistry, but nothing sustained. That's probably to be expected."
Gregoire and linemates Corban Knight (So., High River, Alberta) and Brett Hextall (Jr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) flashed promising cohesion as a unit, combining for seven points between them. Knight and Hextall each had a goal and an assist.
It was Knight who got the offense rolling for the Sioux, who found themselves trailing less than four minutes in. Straddling the goal line to the right of Manitoba goalie Steve Christie, Knight, with his back to the net, used his backhand to swat a puck out of mid-air, sliding it along the goal line and past Christie to knot the game at the 14:20 mark.
Three minutes later, UND defenseman Derek Forbort (Duluth, Minn.) stepped up into the neutral zone to intercept a Manitoba breakout attempt, creating a 2-on-1 rush the other way. Forbort deftly slid a pass to Gregoire on the left wing, and UND's leading goal-scorer from a year ago beat Christie high to give the Sioux the lead heading into the first intermission.
UND extended the lead just 71 seconds into the second period. Gregoire's wrap-around try was denied, but Hextall fought off a Bisons defender in front to stuff home the rebound.
The Sioux used a pair of power-play goals a minute apart late in the period to effectively put the game away. First, senior forward Matt Frattin (Edmonton, Alberta), manning the point, unloaded a rocket from the blueline to make it 4-1 with 5:44 left in the frame. Frattin would finish with a goal and an assist.
Then with 4:49 left, senior Brad Malone (Miramichi, New Brunswick) broke loose in the slot and muscled a shot past Christie.
Manitoba captain Mike Hellyer rounded out the scoring midway through the third period, blowing a howitzer over the glove of Aaron Dell (So., Airdrie, Alberta) from the right faceoff dot.
Dell and Eidsness split time in the Sioux goal and combined for 22 saves. Dell stopped seven of eight shots while Eidsness, who started, stopped 15 of 16.
"I was happy with the play of both (goalies). I thought they were both sharp and both did what they had to do," Hakstol said.
Christie made 27 saves for the Bisons, who were out-shot 32-24.
UND went 2-for-8 on the power-play while the Bisons went 1-for-4.
The Sioux will open the regular season next weekend at the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage, Alaska. UND faces host Alaska Anchorage on Friday and 12th-ranked Alaska on Saturday.
Notes: Freshman Derek Forbort (Duluth, Minn.) had a pair of assists in his Fighting Sioux debut ... The announced attendance was 10,059 ... UND has opened the season with an exhibition win over Manitoba in each of Hakstol's seven seasons behind the Sioux bench.
- Go Sioux -
