GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- For at least a few more hours, North Dakota's season is still alive.

In a game it had to win in order to have a chance at an NCAA tournament berth, North Dakota used a pair of Connor Gaarder first-period goals and a 25-save shutout from Zane Gothberg to defeat Western Michigan 5-0 in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff third-place game.

While UND's postseason hopes were temporarily preserved with the victory, it also needs wins by Wisconsin and Massachusetts-Lowell tonight to secure a tournament berth. If Wisconsin falls to Ohio State, UND would need wins from UMass-Lowell, Miami, Ferris State and Canisius.

North Dakota could only control one game, however, and that was their matchup with the Broncos, who battle UND to three 1-goal games in four regular season meetings.

One night after being blanked by Miami, UND received a boost in the first period from Gaarder's two net-front goals. The first was a deflection of a Keaton Thompson point shot, the second coming on a rebound on top of the crease.

“It's always good to establish good net front early in the game, give the goalie some hard pucks to see and push him back in his crease. I think we did that early on and throughout the game,” said Gaarder, who hadn't scored in his previous seven games.

When asked what adjustments he made to get UND's offensive going, Hakstol said with a grin, “Just put Gaarder on the ice.”

“When I look back at last night's game, we missed several opportunities. The puck just didn't go in. It's a game of inches,” continued Hakstol. “We penetrated a little bit better and tonight the puck went in those empty nets.”

UND's 2-0 lead carried over through into the third period. In the final 20 minutes, UND used even-strength goals by Jordan Schmaltz and Rocco Grimaldi and a power-play goal by Paul LaDue to turn a nail-biter into a rout.

Hakstol said UND's resolve was solidified immediately following last night's loss.

“We took a step back and said, 'This one is done.' We have to take care of on what we can control and that's what we put our focus on,” said Hakstol. “That's a real credit to the leaders in our locker room. There's no question we were going to be ready to play today.”

One of those leaders was Stephane Pattyn, who assisted on two of UND's goals.

"We really wanted to have a chance at a championship tonight. After the game we had to turn the page and make sure we won this one today. I think our team did a good job of doing that,” said Pattyn.

Zane Gothberg made 29 saves for his third career shutout – all coming this season – and helped UND kill a pair of WMU power plays in the first two periods.

“We did all we could do today,” said Gaarder, who also won nine of 13 faceoffs and was named the No. 1 star. “It's in the hands of a couple of other teams for us. We've just got to pray to the hockey gods at this point.”

Hakstol noted that the win was UND's 23rd of the season, a total that didn't seem realistic three months ago.

“From where we were waking up Nov. 30 with four wins, we couldn't be prouder of this group and the type of team they have become,” said Hakstol. “Although we don't control our own destiny, we gave ourselves a chance. It's going to be a long three, four hours sitting and waiting and watching.”

Notes: Gothberg and Pattyn were named the second and third stars, respectively … UND had a 28-26 edge in faceoffs and 29-25 advantage in shots on goal … LaDue (8 games), Gaarder (7) and Grimaldi (6) all ended lengthy goal droughts … Mattson's two assists gave him a career-high 21 points and gave UND three defensemen with 20-plus points this season, joining Schmaltz (23) and Simpson (22). Simpson broke his eight-game point drought. UND also received goals from Rocco Grimaldi, Nick Mattson and Jordan Schmaltz. UND can advance to the NCAA tournament with wins by Wisconsin and Massachusetts-Lowell. Detailed recap, box score and video coming soon.