MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota freshman forward Wyatt Cullen scored three times and added an assist to help the Golden Gophers defeat No. 3 North Dakota, 5-3, and sweep the series on Friday night from 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, Minn.
North Dakota (4-2-0) suffers its first sweep away from Grand Forks since Nov. 1-2, 2024 at Cornell and is swept for the first time in Minneapolis since Nov. 4-5, 2011.
Senior forward
Hudson Malinoski (2), junior forward
Cody Croal (3) and sophomore defenseman
Sam Laurila (1) potted the goals for North Dakota, as the Fighting Hawks finished the night with a 45-22 shot advantage. Malinoski also dished out an assist to give him a multi-point night and extended his point streak to five straight.
Sophomore netminder Jan Špunar finished with 17 saves on 22 shots against, but suffered his first back-to-back losses of his collegiate career.
It was a much better start for North Dakota in the opening period in terms of limiting turnovers and creating chances, but for the second straight night, Minnesota struck first on a 2-on-1 rush to give the hosts an early 1-0 advantage.
UND battled back as the frame wore on, however, with Malinoski cashing in on the power play with a blast from the point for his second goal of the season and leveled the game at 1-1 after 20 minutes.
The Fighting Hawks grabbed their first lead of the series early in the second period, when Croal finished off a slick feed from
Connor Davis to make it 2-1 in favor of the visitors. The lead didn't last, however, as Minnesota evened the game on the power play before pulling ahead, 3-2, in the final minutes of the second period.
NoDak nearly drew even early in the third period, but Croal was unable to beat the goaltender on a shorthanded breakaway. Moments later, Minnesota extended its advantage to 4-2 off the rush with just under 16 minutes to play in regulation.
Cullen finished off the hat trick just beyond the midway point of the third stanza to give the Gophers a 5-2 lead before Laurila snuck one home to pull the Hawks within two at 5-3, but that was as close as the visitors would get.
North Dakota will head to Austin, Texas to battle Michigan State in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game next Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. on Midco Sports, NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- UND falls to 138-148-16 all-time against Minnesota and 54-79-8 in Minneapolis
- North Dakota was swept on the road for the first time since Nov. 1-2, 2024 at Cornell
- The sweep was the first by Minnesota against UND since Nov. 4-5, 2011
- UND falls to 0-1-0 this season following a loss
- Hudson Malinoski extended his point streak to five games with a goal and an assist
- Carson Carels recorded an assist to give him points in four straight – all assists
- Jan Špunar finished with 17 saves and dropped to 2-2-0 this season
- The loss was the first back-to-back defeats in Špunar's career
- Sam Laurila became the 11th-different Hawk to score a goal this season
- UND went 2-for-5 on the power play while Minnesota was 1-for-4
- NoDak has scored a power play in every game this season
- Cole Reschny recorded an assist to give him eight points over the first six games
- Gavin Lindberg tallied an assist to take over the team lead with five
- Shots were 45-22 in favor of UND
- Faceoffs were 37-24 UND, with Gavin Lindberg leading everyone at 10-4
How It Happened
First Period:
05:58 | UMN – Brodie Ziemer (3) from Beckett Hendrickson (2)
12:42 | UND –
Hudson Malinoski (2, PP) from
Carson Carels (4) and
Cole Reschny (4)
Second Period:
05:38 | UND –
Cody Croal (3) from
Connor Davis (3) and
Gavin Lindberg (5)
08:47 | UMN – Wyatt Cullen (1, PP) from LJ Mooney (1) and Brodie Ziemer (2)
13:58 | UMN – Christian Humphreys (3) from Austin Burnevik (2) and Cullen (2)
Third Period:
06:19 | UMN – Cullen (2) from Burnevik (3) and Jacob Kvasnicka (1)
10:51 | UMN – Cullen (3) from Kvasnicka (2)
17:49 | UND –
Sam Laurila (1, PP/EN) from Malinoski (4)
For more information on North Dakota hockey, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmhockey.
