ST. PAUL, Minn. — In a game that could have major consequences for both teams, North Dakota clarified its playoff possibilities with a 4-1 win over Minnesota Duluth in the NCHC third-place game on Saturday.
While at the start of the day there were scenarios where North Dakota could lose and still make the NCAA tournament, the win means that if either Boston University or Princeton win later Saturday, North Dakota will be out.
For the seniors on North Dakota who won the national championship two years ago, the preparation for Saturday’s game was bittersweet knowing it might be their final time in a Hawks uniform.
“It’s something we thought about and it’s definitely something you don’t really want to keep in the back of your mind, but in our locker room we had trust and faith that we would win tonight and we would have another chance next weekend,” said Austin Poganski, who scored the game’s first goal. “It’s definitely something we look back at the last four years and we’re so thankful and honored to be part of the University of North Dakota. It’s been the best four years of my life.”
For Minnesota Duluth, there are multiple scenarios that will have the Bulldogs scoreboard watching. Even if both BU and Princeton win, Duluth can still get in if Air Force, Denver and Michigan Tech win their respective games. Duluth is in if either BU or Princeton loses.
“I think it’s been one of our goals to make the regional tournament and be one of the last 16 teams standing, and I think if we get there, anything’s possible,” said Bulldogs captain Karson Kuhlman. “I think we can learn a lot from this weekend, especially with our young group, just how hard these games are. It’s so hard to end a team’s season and continue on, so I think if we are fortunate enough to be playing next weekend, this will be a good lesson.”
The North Dakota win also means that Denver is locked into the No. 5 overall seed no matter the result of the conference championships.
Duluth carried the early part of the play, but a turnover by Nick Wolff at the North Dakota blue line during a four-on-four sent Poganski racing up the left side on a two-on-one, and he beat Hunter Shepard top corner glove side at 7:22 for the early North Dakota lead.
“I think it’s always important to play with the lead,” said Poganski. “If you have a good start and pop some offense, you can be a little more relaxed for your team to play their game.”
That goal gave North Dakota a boost, and the Hawks missed a golden chance to take a 2-0 lead when Jordan Kawaguchi had the puck at the hashmarks to Shepard’s left and shot high.
Duluth started the second period slowly, and North Dakota had the first good chance when Johnny Simonson was alone on the doorstep, but Shepard made the save. Duluth then had a couple of chances to get back into it, with some decent pressure on a power play, and a rebound try by Kuhlman, but the Bulldogs couldn’t score. Instead, North Dakota went in front 2-0 when Joel Janatuinen picked up a rebound at the crease and knocked it in at 7:09 of the second.
“They did a good job penalty killing, and sometimes you need that spark, that goal, off the power play to kind of get jump-started offensively,” said Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin. “We never really seemed to get anything going offensively with sustained offense and second and third chances.”
Late in the game, with Duluth already short-handed, Wolff was whistled for a five-minute major and game misconduct for a knee on Nick Jones. That major put Duluth short-handed for the rest of the game, and killed any chance for a Bulldogs comeback. Shane Gersich scored to make it 3-0 at 15:51 when he picked up a rebound to Shepard’s left and slammed it past a diving Shepard.
Mikey Anderson spoiled Johnson’s shutout bid at 16:37 with a short-handed goal on a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Johnson low stick side.
“That’s why I was so mad when I got scored on,” said Johnson. “If it was my last game I wanted to go out on a goose egg. I didn’t really try to think about that. I have faith that we’re going to get a couple of bounces. We worked hard all year, and we’re playing the right way, so I think we’ll get rewarded here.”
Duluth’s Scott Perunovich was then called for hooking, putting North Dakota on a five-on-three power play, and with 55.6 seconds left, Ludvig Hoff stationed himself in the slot and beat Shepard top corner. Hoff got a nice pass from Christian Wolanin, who circled toward the back of the net and sent the pass to Hoff.
“We were all happy in there to get the win and kind of help ourselves out a little bit more, but now it’s just a waiting game and we’ll probably be checking [scores] the whole way home,” said Johnson. “Hopefully, we’ll get a couple bounces and be playing next weekend.”
