GRAND FORKS, N.D. – No. 5 North Dakota cruised to a 5-0 win over No. 9/10 Denver on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd of 11,571 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
 
The win extends UND's (18-5-0, 10-3-0 NCHC) lead in the NCHC standings to eight points over second place Denver (12-10-2, 8-5-0 NCHC) while also giving the Fighting Hawks 10 straight wins in regulation and 14 total victories over their last 16 contests.
 
Anthony Menghini remained hot offensively in the win, striking for a pair of goals for his second straight game with multiple points and his first two-goal contest at North Dakota. The Minnesota Duluth transfer also continues to torch league opponents, potting 21 of his 24 career goals against NCHC foes.
 
Cole Reschny also made it back-to-back contests with multiple points, dishing out an assist and adding a goal to give the rookie 18 points (3G, 15A) over his last 12 games and 14 points in NCHC play. Tyler Young was the final Fighting Hawk with a pair of points, as the senior had two helpers to give him three points over his last two contests.
 
Rookie netminder Jan Špunar recorded his third shutout of the season with 18 saves to improve to 12-1-0 on the season.
 
UND got off to the start it wanted and grabbed the lead just 63 seconds into the game. Ellis Rickwood pounced on a loose puck right at the side of the net to give the Fighting Hawks a 1-0 lead and give the senior 10 points in the last seven games.
 
The hosts kept up the pressure in the opening half of the first and doubled its lead when Sam Laurila made a great pinch to hold the puck in the zone and feathered a pass to Menghini for his first goal of the night to make it 2-0 UND. Špunar came up big in the closing moments of the opening stanza, as the freshman made a breakaway save to keep the lead at two after 20 minutes.
 
After a good push from Denver to start the second due to a pair of power plays, UND capitalized on its first second of the frame on a 2-on-1 rocket from Kernan to extend the lead to 3-0 just over seven minutes in before Menghini added his second of the game and made it 4-0 NoDak with a blast of his own off the rush to double the advantage heading into the final period.
 
The Hawks were clinical over the final 20 minutes, holding a 16-5 shot advantage and adding a fifth goal in the final 74 seconds on a Reschny snipe to seal the 5-0 victory.
 
North Dakota will aim for a series sweep tomorrow night at 6:07 p.m. (CT) on Midco Sports, NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
 
Postgame Notes 

• UND improves to 161-138-16 all-time against Denver and 95-48-10 at home
• The Hawks have won 10 straight games decided in regulation and 14 of the last 16 overall
• NoDak moves eight points ahead of Denver for first place in the NCHC standings
• The 5-0 win is the largest over DU since a 6-1 triumph on Feb. 23, 2013 at Denver
• It's the largest win over the Pios in Grand Forks since an 8-3 victory on Jan. 23, 2009
• Anthony Menghini scored a pair of goals for the first time in a UND sweater
• Menghini also has multiple points in back-to-back games and seven in his last 10 contests
• UND finished plus-1 in the third period to improve to plus-22 this season
• NoDak holds a 22-5 scoring mark over the final 20 minutes in NCHC games
• Cole Reschny had multiple points for the second straight game – scoring a goal and adding an assist
• Reschny has 18 points (3G, 15A) over his last 12 games and seven multi-point outings this season
• Jan Špunar made 18 saves to record his third shutout of the season and improve to 12-1-0
• UND went 0-for-4 on the power play while Denver was 0-for-3
• The Hawks have killed 30 of the 32 penalties (93.8%) since Nov. 15
• Tyler Young also had multiple points for the second time this season
• Ellis Rickwood has four goals and six assists for 10 points over his last seven games
• Friday marked the 16th time in 23 games allowing two-or-fewer goals
• The win was also the 11th this season for UND by at least three goals
• Jack Kernan scored his sixth goal of the season and has five goals since Dec. 5
• Cade Littler tallied an assist to give him six points (1G, 5A) over the last nine games
• UND last shutout Denver on Feb. 12, 2021
• Shots were 36-18 in favor of UND
• Faceoffs were 24-20 in favor of DU, with Ellis Rickwood leading UND at 8-4

How It Happened 

First Period:                                                     
01:03 | UND – Ellis Rickwood (5)
08:32 | UND – Anthony Menghini (3) from Sam Laurila (5) and Tyler Young (3)

Second Period: 
07:08 | UND – Jack Kernan (6) from Young (4) and Cade Littler (7)
10:47 | UND – Menghini (4) from Cole Reschny (18)
 
Third Period:
18:46 | UND – Reschny (4)

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