ST. CLOUD, Minn. - During North Dakota's two-game non-conference split at Cornell in January, longtime Sioux radio announcer Tim Hennessy commented that sooner or later, UND's fortunes would change and someone would be on the receiving end of a Fighting Sioux blowout.
Tonight, Hennessy's prediction came to fruition and the opponent was St. Cloud State.
UND exploded for six goals in the second period, including three on the power-play, and cruised to an impressive 8-1 win over host and fourth-ranked SCSU.
The loss was St. Cloud State's worst defeat in 14 years.
Senior forward Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.) led the offensive outburst with a goal and three assists, the first four-point outing of his career, putting the finishing touches on a six-point weekend. His power-play goal 41 seconds into the period gave the Sioux a 1-0 while landing VandeVelde in UND's "Century Club" with 100 career points.
However, despite the fireworks on the scoreboard, the game's pivotal moment was not a goal or an assist, but a key save. Just minutes after VandeVelde opened the scoring, SCSU's Garrett Roe led a 2-on-1 into the Sioux zone and unloaded a wrist shot from the slot. But UND goalie Brad Eidsness (So., Chestermere, Alberta) stoned Roe, and on the ensuing counter-attack, Brett Bruneteau (Fr., Omaha, Neb.) fought off a defender and slid a pass to a streaking Darcy Zajac (Sr., Winnipeg, Manitoba) on the goalmouth and Zajac converted the tap for a 2-0 Sioux lead.
Two minutes later, Zajac would feed Derrick LaPoint (Jr., Eau Claire, Wis.) on a similar play during a 4-on-4 to make it 3-0 Sioux just 5:27 into the second period.
UND made it 4-0 at 6:01 on another 4-on-4 when a Jake Marto (Jr., Grand Forks) point shot deflected off a Husky defender and past goalie Mike Lee.
The 4-0 lead held until the 14:11 mark, when Corban Knight (Fr., High River, Alberta) banged home a Danny Kristo (Fr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) rebound on the power-play for his fourth goal of the season.
Kristo then capped off the second period eruption with 2:08 left in the frame, slipping past a defenseman with a beautiful toe drag before beating Lee along the ice.
SCSU finally spoiled Eidsness' shutout bid midway through the third period on Oliver Lauridsen's second goal of the weekend, but the Sioux responded with a pair of Matt Frattin (Jr., Edmonton, Alberta) goals - his first of the year - in the final eight minutes.
UND finished the night 4-for-7 on the power-play while killing all seven SCSU opportunities.
Eidsness finished with 24 saves. Lee made 27 shots through two periods before being lifted for Dan Dunn to start the third. Dunn finished with six stops.
The Sioux, now 14-11-5 overall and 9-10-3 in the WCHA, will host Minnesota Duluth next weekend.
Notes: Tonight's second period marked the first time the Sioux scored six goals in a game since Feb. 15, 2002 against Michigan Tech, nearly eight years to the day ... VandeVelde finished the weekend with six points ... Knight had a four-point weekend ... The two teams combined for 135 penalty minutes, including 65 at the 15:37 mark ... Junior forward Evan Trupp (Anchorage, Alaska), playing in his 100th career game, had two assists ... UND's Mario Lamoureux (So., Grand Forks) and SCSU's Aaron Marvin's dropped the gloves to fight at 13:06 of the first period, but the officials stepped in and broke it up before any punches were thrown.
