With the pace of a Red Bull Crashed Ice race or a short track speed skating sprint to the finish, fourth-ranked Minnesota Duluth sped ahead in the third period to beat seventh-ranked Denver 5-2 in NCHC play Friday before a crowd of 5,720 at Amsoil Arena.
Denver scored less than three minutes in, but the second-place Bulldogs responded with four straight goals to open up a nine-point lead on the Pioneers, who are tied with North Dakota for for the final home-ice playoff spot in the NCHC in fourth place.
“It was definitely a high-paced game. It was pretty back and forth,” UMD sophomore center Justin Richards said. “Denver and us are pretty similar teams. A lot of skill on both ends, a lot of speed on both ends. It definitely was very fun tonight. We were happy with the outcome. We’ll enjoy it tonight, but got to come back to work tomorrow.”
The Bulldogs (18-7-2 overall, 11-5-1 NCHC) used two goals from its leading point-getter, Richards, and one each from sophomore wing Nick Swaney (the leader in goals), freshman wing Tanner Laderoute and freshman wing Cole Koepke.
Junior goaltender Hunter Shepard finished with 20 saves for the Bulldogs, including an impressive outstretched glove save from his knees as he was falling forward to finish off a penalty kill late in the second period.
Freshman goalie Filip Larsson made 24 saves for the Pioneers (15-7-4, 7-7-2), who return to Amsoil Arena for a 7:07 p.m. rematch today.
“We always talk about that if they get the first one, we can’t get down. We got to stay up. That’s what we did,” Swaney said of Friday’s win. “I thought it was a good response from the whole lineup. Everyone was working. Once we got that first one, we didn’t look back from there. We got pucks and bodies to the net and we knew good things would happen when we did that.”
UMD took a 2-1 lead over Denver into the third period thanks to the team-leading 12th goal of the season by Swaney midway through the second. Flying in on the net, Swaney ended a three-game scoring drought by burying a puck that came via a behind-the-net pass by freshman wing Noah Cates.
The 12 goals Swaney has posted in 25 games this season doubles his total from the 35 games he appeared in a year ago as a freshman. Since returning from an injury after the holiday break, Swaney has eight goals.
“I had some space out in front, but you just have to be ready when Noah has the puck,” Swaney said of his goal. “He’s going to make good plays whenever he’s got it. I was fortunate enough to be in the right spot at the right time. I just finished off a good play by him.”
The Bulldogs and Pioneers were knotted at 1-1 after one as both were able to strike early.
Denver went up 1-0 just 2:50 in after sophomore center Jaakko Heikkinen forced a turnover behind the UMD goal. He fed the puck to senior defenseman Les Lancaster, who cleanly ripped a shot in from the blue line.
Two of the Bulldogs’ big guns responded 71 seconds later as Richards put away a rebound that was created by the shot of senior wing and captain Parker Mackay on a rush.
Richards later picked up his 10th goal of the season near the midway point of the third on a breakaway, smoothly moving the puck from his forehand to backhand to beat Larsson to put the Bulldogs ahead 3-1.
Sixty-six seconds later Laderoute - back from injury and illness - knocked in a shot that freshman center Jackson Cates originally put off the crossbar.
“We got better as the game went on,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. “I certainly liked the second half of the game for sure. They are a good hockey team. It was tight, we scored some nice goals, found a way to find the back of the net and had a good solid win.”
Faced with the dilemma of playing either Laderoute or sophomore wing Koby Bender on Friday, Sandelin played both with Bender being listed as the 19th skater. Laderoute, who has six goals on the year, had missed the previous three games due to injury and illness, but in his absence Bender stepped in to record his first three collegiate goals.
Laderoute was put back in his old spot on the third line alongside Jackson Cates, though now junior wing Riley Tufte was on the opposite wing. Koepke was reunited with his first-half linemates Richards and Mackay.
After being listed as day-to-day to start the week by coach David Carle, senior wing Jarid Lukosevicius and sophomore goaltender Devin Cooley both returned to the Pioneers’ lineup from injury. Cooley was the backup goalie.
Denver 1-0-1-2
Minn. Duluth 1-1-3-5
First period - 1. DU, Les Lancaster 4 (Jaakko Heikkinen), 2:50; 2. UMD, Justin Richards 9 (Parker Mackay), 4:01. Penalties - None.
Second period - 3. UMD, Nick Swaney 12 (Noah Cates, Mikey Anderson), 10:20. Penalties - Riley Tufte, UMD (cross checking), 6:48; Tyler Ward, DU (tripping), 13:07; Billy Exell, UMD (hooking), 17:44.
Third period - 4. UMD, Richards 10 (Cole Koepke, Matt Anderson), 9:40; 5. UMD, Tanner Laderoute 7 (Jackson Cates, Riley Tufte), 10:46; 6. DU, Ryan Barrow 5 (Griffin Mendel), 16:!4; 7. UMD, Cole Koepke 3 (Peter Krieger, Nick Wolff), 19:14 (en). Penalties - Jade Miller, UMD (roughing), 7:12; Jake Durflinger, DU (roughing), 7:12; Durflinger, DU (goaltender interference), 12:21; Durflinger, DU (roughing), 12:21; Nick Wolff, UMD (roughing), 12:21.
Shots on goal - DU 10-6-6-22; UMD 7-10-12-29. Goalies - Filip Larsson, DU (28 shots-24 saves); Hunter Shepard, UMD (22-20). Power plays - DU 0-of-2; UMD 0-of-3. Referees - Scott Bokal, Nick Krebsbach. Linesmen - Dana Penkivech, Jeff Schultz. Att. - 5,720.
