For the second-straight weekend, North Dakota picked up a last-gasp win on the road. The visitors sealed their win in the third period after playing two scoreless sets, much to the relief of the traveling faithful.
Taking four points from the weekend, the Fighting Hawks sealed their place on home ice for the NCHC quarterfinals. The team can finish no lower than third in the NCHC standings, setting them up for a respectable regular season finish – even if they fail to win the Penrose.
Chaos is the new Black
The NCHC conference faceoff had every fan on edge, producing tantalizing twists and turns to keep the crowd in the AMSOIL rocking. Both teams had equal chances to pull ahead in the first two periods, but neither could find the opener.
North Dakota took three penalties in the opening ten minutes, putting the side immediately on the back foot.
“We talk so much about trying to stay out of the box,” Dane Jackson said after the game. “(It was) not how we wanted to go, but I liked our composure to just say, ‘okay, let’s get back to it,’ and (Špunar) being able to (keep them out), obviously that was huge.”
At the end of the first, the Hawks had taken 4 penalties. The difference in their play from the night before was evident. Despite going down a man – at times under dubious circumstances – Matt Smaby’s penalty kill stayed intact, denying the Bulldogs every chance with a man advantage.
UND’s golden opportunity came in the first few minutes of the third period, when Kyler Kovich sent a Fighting Hawk into the boards. The Bulldogs played down a man for five minutes, giving up both the go-ahead goal and the eventual game-winner.
An Extra Push
As Cole Reschny was helped off the ice in the final minutes of the second period, the North Dakota players knew they had something else to play for.
“I think, obviously, it gave us a little bit of a spark to play for him,” said junior defenseman Abram Wiebe. “It sucks watching one of your best players go down like that. It’s unfortunate. (I) hope that he’ll come back soon.”
North Dakota Head Coach Dane Jackson said after the game that he thought the forward’s injury was not as bad as it seemed, though he conceded that it is too early in the process to know anything concrete. The Hawks’ bench boss described the injury that Reschny took as looking “like a contusion and not ligament damage.”
Shiny Spoon
Freshman goaltender Jan Špunar shone for the visitors in the series finale. The netminder stopped 25 of 26 shots on target, making key plays in the process.
“I (felt) like it was a little bit too much,” the freshman said, describing his workload in the first period. “I mean, I liked it – but, at this one point, I was like breathing really heavily – so it was pretty hard.”
Špunar was denied a shutout by a single goal, which came off his boot into the side netting. Though the Bulldogs had just pulled into one-goal range, he knew he had the players in front of him to see out the win.
“I trust my guys,” said the Czech. “We’ve played many games where (the score) was like, by one goal, or it was pretty tight (at) the end – so I trust my teammates. And, we won. That’s the most important (thing).”
Point Palooza
Abram Wiebe picked up a career-high three assists in the game, taking his season total to 16. The defenseman, whose draft rights were recently traded to the Calgary Flames, took his season points total to 19 with his contributions.
Dylan James scored two goals in the series finale, continuing his recent run of form. The forward – who leads the Hawks in goals scored – is poised to cap off a solid senior season, recording 12 (9-3—12) of his 24 (17-7—24) points this season since the turn of the new year.
Will Zellers (14-9—23) and Mac Swanson (5-15—20) both came away with a goal and an assist on Saturday. Zellers ranks fifth among UND forwards in points, with Swanson close behind in sixth.
Next Up
Upon their return to Grand Forks, the Hawks go straight into preparation for the Miami RedHawks, who visit over Feb. 13-14. The RedHawks (17-9-2, 8-8-2 NCHC) have not played in Grand Forks yet this season and sit sixth in the conference after taking two points away from a series against Western Michigan. After the series, Miami sits twentieth in the National Collegiate Percentage Index (NPI).
Puck-drop in Grand Forks will be at 7:07 p.m. on Friday and 6:07 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will feature on Midco Sports, streamed on NCHC.tv, and available for audio listeners on the Fighting Hawks Radio Network via iHeart Radio, the Fighting Hawks website, or on 96.1 FM for local listeners.
Anthony Dillett is a Dakota Student Sports Reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].
