KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- North Dakota entered tonight's game at Western Michigan missing a combined 71 points from its lineup due to injuries and illness, including Hobey Baker candidates Drake Caggiula and Nick Schmaltz and reigning NCHC Rookie of the Week Rhett Gardner.
No matter. The second-ranked Fighting Hawks still had an ace up their sleeve in the form of sophomore goaltender Cam Johnson.
The Michigan native was brilliant for third time in as many starts in his home state, stopping all 31 WMU shots he faced in a 2-0 shutout.
A product of Troy, Mich., Johnson took center stage for the first 55 minutes of a bruising, fast-paced game, buying his team enough time for freshman sensation Brock Boeser to do his thing. Boeser scored the game's first goal at 14:46 of the third period, then sealed the win with an empty-netter in the final minute to pull UND into a first-place tie atop the NCHC standings with St. Cloud State.
UND improved to 21-3-3 overall and 12-2-1-1 in conference play.
Playing in front of 30-40 friends and family, Johnson was pleased with the effort in front him.
“Western plays well in their building. They came out hard and put us on our toes right off the start,” said Johnson. “They had a couple quality chances, but for the most part I thought we played well. I don't think we played bad. We stuck to the process later in the third and finally banged one home.”
Johnson's performance improved him to a perfect 3-0 in his home state this season, with a sparkling 0.67 goals against average and .978 save percentage.
His home-state contingent waited patiently for him while he met with the media after the game.
“It's obviously a beautiful state we're in here,” Johnson said with a smile. “It's always a lot of fun to play here. It's close to home so I get to play in front of friends and family who don't get to see me play in Grand Forks.”
The Broncos tested Johnson early and often, but never more so than in the second period when they dominated zone time and held a 17-8 advantage in shots on goal.
Johnson stopped each one, helped by his goal post on one Aidan Muir shot, and enabled the Fighting Hawks escape the period still in a scoreless tie.
“That second period wasn't pretty,” said UND head coach Brad Berry, “but I thought we responded in the third period, played the right way and found a way to win. We call it a greasy road win and that's what we like to have.”
To Berry's point, UND limited the Broncos to just five shots in goal in the final 20 minutes.
Berry was effusive in his praise for Johnson, who leads the nation in goals against average (1.33) and save percentage (.946).
“He was in the zone tonight,” said Berry. “He was focused. He was challenged a lot in the second period and had to come up with a couple big saves. That's what he's done all year."
Western Michigan nearly opened the scoring minutes before Boeser's goal, but a Frederik Tiffels shot was confirmed to have hit the post after a near-eight minute review. While both benches emptied during the lengthy delay so the players could skate around and stay loose, Johnson said he welcomed the break.
“I knew that was no goal from the start. If anything, I was kind of happy. it gave me a little break. My legs were kind of gassed so it was nice to sit there and get a couple minutes to myself,” said Johnson.
Boeser took it from there, scoring his team-leading 16th and 17th goals of the season, the most by a UND freshman since NHL stars T.J. Oshie (24) and Jonathan Toews (22) in 2005-06.
On his first goal, Boeser initially lost the puck on a 2-on-1 rush. But defenseman Paul LaDue intercepted a WMU clearing attempt and threw a puck at the net that hit traffic and bounced right to Boeser at the bottom of the left circle. The Vancouver first-round pick beat Broncos goalie Lukas Hafner with a nifty backhand move for what proved to be the game-winner.
“I just kind of found it on my stick. I knew the goalie comes out far if you fake a shot, so I just went to my backhand and luckily scored,” said Boeser, who sealed the win with his empty netter with 22 seconds remaining.
Junior captain Gage Ausmus said Boeser's goals were the reward for a hard night's work.
“I was happy for him. He had chances all night. He finally scored at the right time for us. That was a huge turning point,” said Ausmus.
Johnson and Boeser were named the game's first and second stars, respectively, but UND also received key minutes from the likes of Mike Gornall, Coltyn Sanderson, Trevor Olson and others in the absence of Caggiula, Schmaltz and Boeser.
“We just expect the guys coming in to do a job,” said Ausmus, matter-of-factly. “The coaches recruit guys who can be ready whenever called upon and I think that's what we have in this locker room. It's nice to have those guys step in and play the way they did tonight.”
Berry said his message to the team before the game was to focus on who was in the lineup, not who was out of it.
“I said to our guys in the locker room…we have a really special group to the point where it doesn't matter who's in the lineup – we find a way to win,” said Berry. “Hats off to our seniors and our juniors and the captains in our lineup.”
Notes: UND improved to 7-0 all-time at Lawson Arena, including a 5-0 mark since both became members of the NCHC … Johnson's shutout was his fifth of the season, a number topped by only four goalies in UND single-season history: Karl Goehring (8 in 1999-2000), Aaron Dell (6 in 2010-11), Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (2007-08) and Jordan Parise (5 in 2002-03) … UND went 0-3 on the power play and did not register a shot on goal, but killed all four WMU power plays … Senior forward Bryn Chyzyk assisted on Boeser's empty-net goal, giving him eight points (3g, 5a) in seven January games.
