It wasn't pretty, but ugly wins are better than pretty losses.
After an uneven 40 minutes that featured a lot of St. Cloud State puck control, UMD was able to generate some chances and got unassisted goals from Noah Cates and Justin Richards to secure a 3-1 win over the No. 1 Huskies.
UMD junior goalie Hunter Shepard kept a potent SCSU attack off the board amid a flurry of early chances for the visitors. He made 14 saves in the first period, many of the “Whoa” variety. To the Bulldogs' credit, the number of Grade-A chances diminished as the game wore on, but the bad news for UMD was it was a serious struggle to generate those types of chances at the other end.
Nick Swaney put UMD on the board before the midpoint of the first period of a nice forecheck by Peter Krieger that forced a St. Cloud turnover. Krieger fed Swaney in the slot, and Swaney isn't going to miss from there very often.
The Huskies led in shots 14-6 after one, 26-10 after two, but it wasn't until a bad sequence in the defensive zone late in the second that St. Cloud drew even. Sam Hentges got the puck high to Jack Ahcan, who found Robby Jackson at the goalmouth with a nice shot pass that Jackson made no mistake on.
1-1 into the third, UMD had a poor sequence where a failed clear led to the Bulldogs chasing in the defensive zone for what felt like a minute. It ended with a Krieger holding penalty, but UMD got a huge kill, allowing no shots on goal on SCSU's fifth power play of the night. Right after that, UMD defenseman Nick Wolff laid out St. Cloud's Kevin Fitzgerald in the high slot of the UMD zone. Clean, shoulder-to-shoulder hit, that unfortunately caused an injury to Fitzgerald that ended his evening, but a big play in the game, because that penalty kill and that hit by Wolff gave UMD a little momentum.
Cates capitalized, stealing the puck from Jon Lizotte at the side of the SCSU net and beating David Hrenak for an unassisted goal that gave UMD the lead at 2-1. It was a tremendous individual effort by Cates, who was elevated to the top line as he returned from the World Juniors.
Later, Richards forced a turnover at the UMD blue line, turned on the jets, and skated in all alone to beat Hrenak high and double the lead. The Bulldogs were not seriously threatened with Hrenak pulled for most of the final 1:38, and UMD got a huge win in a game where it was not necessarily at its optimal best.
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UMD defended hard. As good as Shepard was, it felt like his job was easier than the scoresheet made it look once the first period ended.
And Mikey Anderson led that charge. The U.S. World Juniors captain blocked five shots and finished with a plus-three while anchoring the back end for most of the night. He's not the most fluid skater you'll ever see, but he's one of the smartest players I've ever seen when it comes to his angles and his stick position. There's not a lot of wasted movement with him, and because of that, he's able to defend one-on-one as well as anyone at this level. Before he left, I thought he was becoming one of UMD's best players, and he certainly did nothing to dissuade me from that take Friday.
Scott Sandelin made it a point to have Anderson and Dylan Samberg on the ice to shadow the line centered by St. Cloud State star Ryan Poehling, and it was an effective choice in holding that top line at bay throughout the night.
UMD blocked 22 shots, five by Anderson and five by Parker Mackay, and UMD took advantage of its chances in the third period. Sometimes, it comes down to that type of stuff, and the Bulldogs were fortunate things worked in their favor on this night.
Up front, Swaney was strong, as were Krieger and Cates. That line played together for the first time and showed a lot of potential. Riley Tufte had some opportunities and looked good with Richards and Mackay. Sandelin made some tweaks to the lines, which don't have to be permanent, but it appeared there were some good performances out of that.
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Elsewhere in the NCHC, in the first league games of 2019…
Western Michigan 4 Miami 3; WMU had four different goal scorers and held off a late charge to run its unbeaten streak to nine in a row.
North Dakota 4 Colorado College 3 OT; After CC scored three straight to erase a 2-0 deficit, Jordan Kawaguchi tied the game for UND with 5:46 left, and Ludvig Hoff scored the winner with 45 seconds to go in overtime.
Denver 1 Omaha 0; Jarid Lukosevicius scored late in the second period, and Filip Larsson made that lone goal stand up with 21 saves, including ten in the third period.
6:30 pregame for the Saturday rematch in Duluth. Join us on KDAL!