OMAHA, Neb. -- If Friday's opener with Omaha is any indication of what's to come, the final month of the regular season will be action-packed. North Dakota and the Mavs began a stretch where the teams will meet six times over UND's final eight games and the Fighting Hawks' 6-2 win was hard-fought, scrappy and North Dakota actually trailed in the second period before five unanswered goals lengthened UND's lead in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. 

Just 1:25 in the game, the Fighting Hawks gave themselves the early advantage. Shane Pinto came out of a tie-up in the corner and backhanded a pass to freshman Cooper Moore at the point. Moore fired a shot that traveled through tons of traffic but found its way past Isaiah Saville. It was his second goal in as many weeks and helped give the visitors an edge off the jump. 

UND would find itself in the penalty box for 11 minutes in the opening period and the Mavs cashed in on one of the man advantages just under two minutes later to tie the score. It would stay there until UNO took the lead 2:06 into the second on a Martin Sundberg goal. But, North Dakota would finish the frame with goals from Pinto and Mark Senden to regain control. 

Pinto's goal came off a great feed from Riese Gaber behind the goalline. Gaber fed Pinto in the slot and he popped it past Saville to tie it, 2-2. Just over four minutes later, Senden took a pass in the neutral zone and zoomed past defenders and sliced across the crease, sliding it into the net for another UND lead. 

The Hawks added three more in the third to run away with the 6-2 victory for its eighth win in 11 games at Baxter Arena this season (7-2-1 in the NCHC pod). Moore mishandled a pass from Jordan Kawaguchi to Saville's left, but recovered in time to make a nice pass to Grant Mismash, who scored his ninth and it was 4-2 UND. 

North Dakota was forced to kill another major penalty late in the third and effectively did so after Omaha added a minor a few moments later. With the empty net,  Jasper Weatherby jumped aboard the opportunity to all but seal it. But, North Dakota wasn't done as Judd Caulfield got his second of the season just five seconds later. The sophomore won a race to the puck off the faceoff, racing past Jonny Tychonick and jamming one in five hole for a 6-2 final. 

Pinto had a goal and an assist to give him a team-leading nine goals and 21 points. Grant Mismash tied Pinto in the goals column with his ninth as well. Caulfield had a pair of points with a goal and an assist. 

Adam Scheel made several big saves and stopped 30 of 32 shots he faced to earn his 12th win of the season. 

The teams will finish this series Saturday with a 6:07 p.m puck drop on nchc.tv. 

NOTES
*Scheel picked up his 19th career win over a nationally-ranked team.
*Pinto has multiple points in three straight games and has tallied at least two points in eight games this season. 
*Mismash has scored in his last three games played and has five goals in his last six games. 
*Caulfield and Ethan Frisch were each +3 for the game. 
*North Dakota (38) now leads the NCHC by five points over second-place St. Cloud State (33) with seven games remaining. Minnesota-Duluth sits in third with 30 points with a game in hand. 
*UND has won 9 of the last 12 meetings with Omaha.