OXFORD, Ohio — North Dakota came to Oxford needing just a single point in the standings to claim sole possession of the NCHC regular-season championship.
A narrow 2-1 win over No. 5 Miami was what it took to award the No. 1 team in the land the Penrose Cup.
“They’re a really good team and we knew they were going to come out and play desperate,” North Dakota captain Stephane Pattyn said. “That’s what good teams do when they’re down. We knew we just had to play simple and coming out on the road, it’s important to score early.”
The visitors did just that.
UND wasted no time in jumping to a 1-0 lead on what looked like an innocent first shot of the game from behind the goal line. Keaton Thompson surprised even himself with the near-side shot that sneaked past Miami’s Jay Williams at the 2:43 of the opening frame. Drake Caggiula assisted on the goal and momentum remained sided with North Dakota for the remaining 17-odd minutes.
The second period opened to another North Dakota tally, this time just 1:56 into the frame on Connor Gaarder’s sixth of the season. His low-slot wrist shot beat Williams cleanly and it looked like the North Dakota might run away with it.
The RedHawks dug deep, found an offensive rhythm and shelled North Dakota goaltender Zane McIntyre for a total of 21 second period shots. Only Sean Kuraly’s team-leading 17th tally sounded the horn for Miami – the rebound brought the RedHawks within one – and the remainder of the period saw the teams trading scoring chances and well-finished checks.
“They go up by two, you’ve got to push back a little bit and we scored that power-play goal,” RedHawks’ coach Enrico Blasi said. “I thought we played fairly well after that. Give them credit, though. They didn’t break.”
Good goaltending abounded in the third period. Both squads rang shots off the post and the defenses were tested, but would not be beaten.
Miami took control of the contest in the final 10 minutes and ultimately outshot UND 18-5 in the third, but McIntyre was an unsolvable riddle to Miami. He turned aside 43 of the 44 shots Miami wired in on him, including a few with an extra attacker in the final minute, en route to his NCAA-leading 25th victory of the season.
“We had 40-something shots, that gives you momentum,” Kuraly said. “We’ve just got to get higher quality shots, I guess.”
In the other locker room, obviously, the general feeling toward McIntyre’s play was much warmer.
“Our goaltender was real key for us tonight,” UND coach Dave Hakstol said. “It was a nice win and this is a group that has stayed with it all year long.”
For the RedHawks (20-12-1, 13-9-1-1 NCHC), Saturday’s game is a big one. A win could mean a potential second seed in the conference tournament. A loss could knock them down as low as fifth, depending on how Nebraska-Omaha, Minnesota-Duluth and Denver fare. Miami currently sits second in the poles, but just one point separates each of the previously-mentioned teams.
North Dakota improves to 25-6-3 overall (16-5-2-0 NCHC) and also keeps the top spot in PairWise rankings after Friday’s win and though UND has locked up the top seed in the NCHC tournament and a first-round matchup against cellar-dwellers Colorado College, it’s still one day at a time for Hakstol.
“It was a gritty win by a great group of guys,” Hakstol said. “They’re having fun. I want the guys to enjoy tonight’s win and the regular-season championship, but we’re going to wake up tomorrow and it’s a new game.”
