GRAND FORKS, N.D. – No. 6 North Dakota opened its regular season with a 5-2 victory over No. 13/11 Providence on Saturday night in the annual U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
 
UND (1-0-0) struck three times in the second period to break a 1-1 tie to give the Fighting Hawks their eighth win in 11 tries in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game and improve to 21-2-1 in home openers since 2001-02.
 
Dylan James potted a pair of goals for the third time in his career in the victory, while Cameron Berg, Sacha Boisvert and Abram Wiebe all notched a goal and an assist to tally multiple points in the win. T.J. Semptimphelter stopped 22 shots in his UND debut to improve to 1-0-0 on the season.
 
NoDak jumped out to an early 1-0 lead just before the midway point of the opening period, when Berg finished off a pretty feed from EJ Emery to give the hosts the early advantage before Providence (0-1-0) brought the contest even just 4:10 later on a rebound tally from Braiden Clark to send the teams to the locker room tied at 1-1 after 20 minutes.
 
The Hawks took control in the middle frame, striking for a trio of tallies in the stanza to build a 4-1 advantage after two. James notched his first of the night off a slap pass from Bennett Zmolek to give the hosts the lead for good at the 6:51 mark of the second.
 
Moments later, Cody Croal fired a shot that ricocheted off the goaltender and Jayden Perron's skate before finding the back of the net to increase the lead to 3-1 before Boisvert ripped home his first-career goal on the power play to build a three-goal advantage after 40 minutes.
 
After Providence cut the lead to 4-2 in the third, James iced the game with an empty netter in the final minute for his second of the night and closed out the 5-2 victory.
 
North Dakota hits the road for the first time next weekend to battle Minnesota State beginning on Friday night at 7:07 p.m.
 
Postgame Notes 

• UND improves to 8-3-0 all-time in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game and 6-1-0 at home
• NoDak grabs its first win over a ranked opponent this season, improving to 1-0-0
• North Dakota is 21-2-1 in home openers since 2001-02
• The Hawks improved to 10-5-1 all-time against Providence
• UND now has an eight-game unbeaten streak against PC dating back to 1984
• Sacha Boisvert scored his first-career goal in the win
• Cameron Berg, Dylan James, Abram Wiebe and Boisvert all notched multiple points
• EJ Emery, Andrew Strathmann and Cody Croal all notched assists for their first points in a UND uniform
• James recorded his third game with multiple goals in his career
• UND finished with a 31-24 shot advantage
• T.J. Semptimphelter finished with 22 saves on 24 shots against in his first start with UND
• Both teams blocked 13 shots
• UND went 1-for-2 on the power play while Providence was 1-for-3
• NoDak finished with a 32-27 advantage in the dot, with Jake Schmaltz pacing everyone with 10 wins

How It Happened 

First Period                                                     
08:34 | UND – Cameron Berg (1) from EJ Emery (1) and Owen McLaughlin (1)
12:44 | PC – Braiden Clark (1) from Ryan O'Reilly (1) and Andrew Centrella (1)

Second Period 
06:51 | UND – Dylan James (1) from Bennett Zmolek (1) and Andrew Strathmann (1)
09:25 | UND – Jayden Perron (1) from Cody Croal (1) and Sacha Bosivert (1)
18:30 | UND – Boisvert (1) from Abram Wiebe (1) and Berg (1)

Third Period 
07:32 | PC – Hudson Malinoski (1) from Graham Gamache (1) and Trevor Connelly (1)
19:07 | UND – James (2) from Wiebe (2)

For more information on North Dakota hockey, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmhockey.