MINNEAPOLIS – Friday nights at the Target Center have not been kind to the University of North Dakota men's hockey team.
For the third time in as many years as the tournament's top seed, North Dakoa was unable to escape the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals after suffering a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Minnesota Duluth this afternoon.
The Bulldogs, ranked 16th in the national polls and seeded fourth in the conference tournament, scored three times in the second period and snapped top-ranked UND's eight-game winning streak.
Minnesota Duluth advanced to Saturday night's conference championship game while UND will play in the afternoon third-place game for the third straight year.
“I thought it was two good teams playing playoff hockey tonight,” said UND head coach Brad Berry. “I thought it was a hard, heavy game. There wasn't a lot of space out there. That's the way it's going to be from here on in. We were okay but could've played a little bit better."
While UND was already assured a spot in the 16-team national postseason field, the Bulldogs were playing for their playoff lives.
Berry said that was not a factor.
“That (perception) was out there, but not with our group. We want to win every game,” said Berry. “We want to make sure we stay a No. 1 seed and play with consistency going into the regionals. It's about us trying to play the same way we have all year and play a good, sharp game.”
The Fighting Hawks appeared primed to shake the ghosts of NCHC semifinals past when it scored just 49 seconds into the game, with sophomore Nick Schmaltz potting his ninth goal of the season and fifth in the last four games.
UND, though, was unable to extend the lead on a pair of power-play opportunities that generated just two shots on goal.
“Give their d-corps props,” said junior defenseman Troy Stecher. “They stuck on our forwards pretty tight and there wasn't much time and space out there.”
UMD came out swinging to start the second period, first tying the game on Dominic Toninato's sharp-angled goal 28 seconds into the frame. Alex Iafallo punctuated a picturesque three-way passing play just three minutes later, and the Bulldogs grabbed themselves a lead they would not reliniquish. Austin Farley scored on a deflection at 12:24 of the second period to put the Bulldogs ahead 3-1.
Stecher hammered a blast past UMD goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo from the right circle with five minutes left in the period, but the Bulldogs put the clamps down defensively the rest of the way.
The Fighting Hawks were able to muster just five shots on goal in the third period, and Toninato sealed the game with his second goal with 5:58 remaining to drop UND to 1-4 all-time at the Frozen Faceoff.
“You only get so many opportunities and you do have to capitalize to close out the game,” said Berry. “They did on a couple of transition plays. They're a good team and hats off to them. But we're going to learn from this. We're going to move forward and reset.
“I feel very good (about our team). I feel we're in a good spot right now. I feel very confident in our group and we're going to have a great effort tomorrow.”
Kaskisuo was steady when called upon, making 22 of 24 saves to improve to 18-13-5 on the season. UND sophomore Cam Johnson stopped 22 of 26 shots in suffering just his fourth career loss.
While the Bulldogs, winners of seven in a row, now turn their sights to a potential conference championship, UND must focus on regrouping for its final game before the national tournament.
“There's no secrets anymore. Every team is on top of their game and tightened up defensively,” said Stecher. “There's something on the line tomorrow. We want to head into the tournament on a winning note. We've got to understand that next week if we lose a game, our season's done. We're not pleased with tonight but tomorrow's another opportunity to rebound and build heading into the regionals.”
UND will await the winner of tonight's Denver-St. Cloud State semifinal.
“I hate to lose. I HATE to lose,” said Berry. “But if you're playing the right way and you have a group you believe in – and we do believe in each other – we'll be fine."
Notes: Toninato, Iafallo and Kaskisuo were named the game's three stars … UND held a 33-27 edge in faceoffs, with Luke Johnson going 10-5 to lead the team … Brock Boeser had a pair of assists to become only the 11th freshman in program history to record 50 points in a season. Boeser at least temporarily moved into sole possession of the NCHC scoring race, pending the outcome of the late semifinal game … Boeser and linemate Drake Caggiula (assist) each extended their point streaks to eight games, while fellow CBS linemate Nick Schmaltz extended his to four games.
