MINNEAPOLIS - On more than one occasion in recent weeks, North Dakota has come out on the losing end of games it had seemingly dominated in every category other than the scoreboard.
For more than 50 minutes tonight, though, the Fighting Sioux appeared to be on their way to reversing the roles.
With fifth-ranked Minnesota getting stymied by netminder Aaron Dell (Airdrie, Alberta) at every turn and the Sioux protecting a third-period lead, UND was on the verge of securing its first road win of the season.
That all changed in the game's final minutes when the Golden Gophers scored twice to turn a 2-1 UND lead into a 3-2 Minnesota victory.
UM senior Nick Larson converted a centering pass to tie the game with 6:04 remaining, and freshman Kyle Rau banged home a loose puck in the crease with just 45.6 seconds left on the clock to give the Gophers a stunning win over the Sioux.
UND pulled Dell for the final 45 seconds but was unable to get a shot on goal. Danny Kristo's (Eden Prairie, Minn.) point shot with less than five seconds remaining was blocked by Larson, clinching the win.
The Sioux had perhaps their best opportunity to escape with a win just minuntes before Rau's game-winner. UND senior defenseman Ben Blood (Plymouth, Minn.) stepped out of the penalty box with 3:40 left in regulation and led a 3-on-1 rush into the Minnesota zone. Blood slid a perfect pass across the top of the crease to Brock Nelson (So., Warroad, Minn.) for the tap-in, but Gopher goalie Kent Patterson shot his right leg out to rob Nelson of the go-ahead goal.
Patterson finished with 17 saves to earn the win, a victory that improved Minnesota's record to 9-1-0 overall and 6-0-0 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).
UND dropped to 3-5-1 overall and 1-5-0 in the WCHA despite a superlative effort from Dell, who finished with 39 saves, one shy of the career-high 40 he had in last year's WCHA Final Five championship.
Dell was particularly stout in the first period, when he turned aside 18 of 19 Minnesota shots to send the teams into the first intermission tied at 1-1. Nelson got the Sioux on the board with a power-play goal midway through the first period to even score, rifling a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot that beat Patterson high to the glove side.
UND took its first, and only, lead of the weekend midway through the second period on a brilliant play by freshman Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif.). Grimaldi entered the Minnesota zone on a 1-on-2 rush, caused a Gopher defender to fall by cutting across the high slot, then ripped a wrist shot past Patterson from the top of the right circle for his first goal as a Sioux.
The Sioux also turned in another outstanding night of penalty killing, holding Minnesota's league-leading power play scoreless in seven chances.
UND went 1-for-5 with the man advantage.
The Sioux are idle next weekend and will return to action Nov. 19-20 at Bemidji State.
Notes: UND went 14 for 15 on the penalty kill in the series and have now killed 21 of the last 22 shorthanded situations ... The series marked Minnesota's first sweep of the Sioux since 2004-05, and its first home regular season sweep of UND since 1996-97.
~Go Sioux~
