The Ralph Engelstad Arena erupted as Abram Wiebe calmly slotted his overtime game-winner past Matteo Drobac (So.). The RedHawks took North Dakota to overtime in the series finale after putting three past Jan Špunar (Fr.) in the second period.
A Slow Start
The second edition of the Miami series was more even than the first, with UND taking fewer shots than its opponent and failing to find answers to a stout RedHawk defense.
“I didn’t think we were very sharp in the first,” said Head Coach Dane Jackson after the game. “[As for the] second, it kind of bled into that, and we weren’t hard at our net all weekend…It was hard for [our] guys to get tips or screens because [Miami] were boxing out well.”
Despite both teams coming out with a clear fire, Dillon Simpson’s power play went to work just once in the first period, struggling to beat Matteo Drobac in the Miami net. North Dakota — for the most part — kept its hands clean, not once giving the RedHawks a man advantage in the game.
The home side’s opening goal came through E.J. Emery (So.), who scored his third goal of the season. The defenseman scored his previous two career goals when the Minnesota visited Grand Forks.
Struggling in the Second
North Dakota gave up three goals in the second frame, allowing the RedHawks a commanding lead. Doug Grimes (Jr.) leveled for the visitors after rifling a rebounded puck into the roof of the net. Kocha Delic put one in just two minutes later, giving the visitors their first lead of the weekend.
Moments after a scuffle sent Jack Kernan (Fr.) and David Deputy (Fr.) to their respective boxes, Miami found its goal to pull ahead by two. Fresh off a play to keep the puck in the North Dakota defensive zone, Ryan Smith skated to the slot, sending a puck bar-down past Jan Špunar.
Finding the Formula
In every NCHC overtime game that the Hawks have played this season, they have been forced to level the game in the third period, one that they have dominated.
Going into the third, North Dakota made changes to its lineup, most notably bringing in goaltender Gibson Homer (Gr.) to freshen up talent between the sticks. The ASU transfer stopped three shots to close out the game.
“He’s been a great teammate,” said Jackson. “We had hoped that the guys would get a little bump playing hard for him, so that was not on Jan Špunar.”
The UND staff also shuffled lines in search of a winning solution.
“We had a few shifts in the second there, (where), with the penalties and stuff, we kind of had a jumbled-up line, and I think we had a good o-zone shift. I think they were trying to look for something, because obviously we weren’t doing too much in the first two periods.”
The Magic Frame
The goal to bring North Dakota came less than 30 seconds into the final period of the game. A revised line of Dylan James (Sr.), Ollie Josephson (Fr.), and Mac Swanson (So.) crossed over the blue line into the offensive zone, trailed by E.J. Emery and Abram Wiebe.
Wiebe sent the puck to the slot, and Mac Swanson put it in for his sixth goal of the season. A fracas ensued moments later, sending two players from each team to the box.
The time to level came after Bradley Walker was sent to the box for tripping. The Fighting Hawks, now on their second power play of the night, established possession and pulled Gibson Homer, scoring a second extra attacker goal in as many weeks.
Jake Livanavage (Jr.) sent the puck flying past Matteo Drobac after it dribbled out to him on the near side. The defenseman had not recorded a point since the series opener in Duluth.
Before Feb. 14, the Hawks had only won a single game in overtime, in non-conference play against Bemidji State. The winning goal from Abram Wiebe provided North Dakota its second overtime win of the season and its first in conference play.
Next Up:
In its final home series of the season, North Dakota takes on St. Cloud State in Grand Forks on Feb. 20-21. The Huskies (16-16-0, 9-13-0 NCHC) sit just outside of the top-half battle, having played two more games than Minnesota Duluth and Miami.
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 and be available for streaming on NCHC.tv. The series opener will also air on TSN2. As always, a stream will be 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].
