DULUTH, Minn. - At this rate, North Dakota may never again be invited to help open an opposing team's arena.
Senior center Brad Malone scored twice, sophomore winger Danny Kristo had three points and sophomore goalie Aaron Dell stopped all 35 shots he faced in a 5-0 UND win over Minnesota Duluth tonight, spoiling the Bulldogs' first game in the new Amsoil Arena.
Earlier this season, North Dakota defeated Bemidji State in the opening game of BSU's new arena.
Kristo, who had just one goal during a difficult first half of the season, opened the second half with a vengeance tonight, scoring a goal and setting up two others. Kristo, last season's WCHA Rookie of the Year, assisted on UND's first two goals -- a Malone power-play tally midway through the first period and a Carter Rowney goal late in the second period. But it was Kristo's own goal, just his second of the season, which proved to be the backbreaker for the fifth-ranked Bulldogs.
Rowney's goal had put the Sioux up 2-0 with just 2:41 left in the second period. Just 14 seconds later, Kristo rushed through the right circle and beat UMD goalie Aaron Crandall while falling down to make it 3-0.
Kristo's goal deflated the Bulldogs and their sellout crowd. One minute later, UMD defenseman Mike Montgomery turned the puck over at his own blueline, setting up an Evan Trupp breakaway. After getting Crandall to commit, Trupp slid a pass over to right winger Matt Frattin, who coolly one-time the puck into the open net for his NCAA-leading 18th goal of the season.
"Danny's been playing pretty well, he just hasn't been able to get anything to go (in the net)," said UND senior captain Chay Genoway. "Hopefully a game like this will kick-start him."
UND's three-goal outburst came in a span of just 74 seconds and vaulted the Sioux to their fifth straight win and their NCAA-best 14th victory of the season (14-5-2).
"The boys were pretty fired up," said Kristo. "We knew it was a huge game. We played hard in the first and stepped it up in the second to kind of put the game away."
Malone rounded out the scoring with his second of the game, this time shorthanded, with 9:30 remaining in the third period.
The red-hot Fighting Sioux, who sit atop the WCHA standings, have just one loss in their last 11 games (9-1-1). UND also improved to a blistering 8-1-0 in WCHA road games.
Prior to the offensive fireworks late in the second period, it was sophomore goalie Aaron Dell who stole the show. Dell made several spectacular saves to preserve UND's 1-0 lead and was particularly effective while the Sioux were killing penalties; his 10 saves while shorthanded enabled the Sioux to kill all seven UMD power-plays.
Dell's play stymied the Bulldogs, the highest-scoring team in the WCHA, and resulted in his third career shutout.
"He was solid," said UND senior captain Chay Genoway. "He made a lot of first saves. He played big, I thought, and he saw the puck well."
Crandall made 20 saves through the first two periods before being relieved by Kenny Reiter. Reiter stopped eight of nine shots for the Bulldogs, who dropped to 12-4-3 on the season.
UND returns home to face Robert Morris on Friday and Saturday at Ralph Engelstad Arena in a non-conference series. It will be the first-ever meetings between the two programs.
Notes: Tonight's game was the annual U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game. UND evened its record at 3-3-1 in those games ... The game was also a non-conference matchup and did not affect the WCHA standings ... The teams were sent to the locker room with 6:25 remaining in the first period due to a shattered pane of glass. Following the repair and an ice resurfacing, the remainder of the period was played. The teams then switched sides and began the second period ... Frattin, who is tied for the WCHA scoring lead with 26 points, is in the midst of a seven-game point streak and six-game goal streak, both the longest of his career ... Genoway extended his point streak to seven games with a first-period assist ... All three of Dell's career shutouts have come on the road ... Rowney's goal was his first since the season opener at Alaska Anchorage, snapping a nine game drought.
- Go Sioux -
