ST. CLOUD, Minn. — As the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center slowly emptied to the bellowing chants of “6-and-0,” the St. Cloud State Huskies were also ending a 6-0-0 winless drought at home to Minnesota-Duluth. SCSU emerged the winner 5-3 after a battle of attrition and two poised goalies that were beat by perfect shots.
Five different Huskies scored in the winning effort tonight. Ryan Poehling and Kevin Fitzgerald each had a goal and an assist to lead the team with two points. Goalie Jeff Smith backed the triumph with 25 saves.
“I didn’t like the two goals,” said SCSU coach Bob Motzko. “Two bad angle goals where he [Smith] is out of position, but he made saves when we needed him to make saves. Our guy gave us a chance. I thought their goalie stood tall in the net. We weren’t able to get him to move laterally.”
Sammy Spurrell nearly put doubt in the mind of SCSU by bringing UMD within one at 17:02 of the third, and to bolster their final rush with the net empty. Easton Brodzinski scored his first goal of the season to make it 4-2 at 8:18 of the third frame when he received a pass from Jack Ahcan at the top of the high slot. This goal not only enhanced the lead for SCSU but also was the first time a two-goal lead was reached.
When Kevin Fitzgerald scored at 6:33 to make it 3-2 in the third period he gave the Huskies their first lead of the night. The goal was enough to spur a quick offensive a few shifts later that saw Brodzinski take a snapshot from the high slot, near the blue line and made it 4-2 at 8:18. It was also the first time in the night a team looked better than the other.
Scoring was in quick succession. The power play enabled each team to truly impose their forecheck. However, neither side could really find a way to run away with the game. But UMD was able to take their second lead of the night (2-1) with a power play goal that went top shelf from the right circle courtesy of Matt Anderson at 17:11 of the second period. Riley Tufte and Peter Krieger had the helpers on the play. The Huskies found themselves trailing yet again. However, shortly thereafter Ryan Poehling found the back of the net. The tally did not allow UMD to situate itself on the lead.
“Once all the penalties started it took the flow out of the game,” said Motzko. “It was frustrating for both teams. I thought that they handled the adversity better than we did. We made some plays but overall they did handle it better.”
UMD broke the stalemate first with a great individual effort from Karson Kuhlman on a wrap around goal that beat Smith glove side at 2:29 of the middle period. In just 19 seconds, SCSU quickly retaliated with a tip-in goal to even the game after Jacob Benson put a rebound away. With both sides mirroring each other in play and physicality, the second frame initiated with 4-on-4-skating.
To conclude the first period, Jake Wahlin was assessed a charging penalty on UMD’s Dylan Samberg. The scrum that followed turned out to be the greatest action in the opening frame as both Smith and Shepard kept their net on lockdown, ousting the other teams best scoring chances. Ryan Poehling nearly scored on a short-handed breakaway at 5:48 of the period but Shepard remained firm in between the posts.
Instances of brilliant goaltending sprinkled in between each goal made it so the narrow scoring margin stayed in tact. Unlike every other game in St. Cloud this season, both teams failed to immediately establish their game and tilt the ice for the other opponent.
NCHC Roundup
Miami 3, Colorado College 2
Miami standout Louie Belpedio opened the scoring with an unassisted effort at 7:26 of the first period. Although there were no other goals in the first period, two Colorado College power play goals at 6:51 and 15:20 of the second put the Tigers ahead in the scoreboard. Going 2 for 6 on the man advantage was not enough to leave with the win. Miami pushed late and forced overtime at the Steve Cady Arena to win it at 2:37. Alex Leclerc made 26 saves for Colorado College and Ryan Larkin made 28 for Miami.
Western Michigan 6, No. 1 Denver 5
Dawson DiPietro had two goals and a helper for Western Michigan to beat the reigning champions Denver. Henrik Borgstrom had a hat trick for Denver, including a short-handed goal at 12:51 of the first, but even that proved fruitless. Western Michigan’s huge third period got them over the hump thanks to Colton Conrad’s single goal at 18:48 and DiPietro’s second. Denver had its chances to overcome deficit but they failed to capitalize on eight power plays. Despite switching goalies in the second period Western Michigan survived on Austin Cain’s 15 relieving saves.
No. 4 North Dakota 3, No. 7 Wisconsin 2
Nick Jones had the game winning goal on the power play at 11:04 of the third period to make the final score 3-2. Wisconsin was not able to maintain their lead after they gave up a goal to Austin Poganski at 1:25 of the second period. The only two goals in the night for Wisconsin were courtesy of Mathew Freytag who opened the scoring and took the temporary lead at 15:57 of the second period.
