Friday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Iafallo's Late Goal Pushes UMD to National Championship Game

CHICAGO -- This is old hat for UMD.

Over this 20-game stretch that has seen the Bulldogs go 16-1-3, this team has won five times in overtime, four other games by one goal, and three of those four one-goal wins have come with the winning goal inside the last 1:21 of regulation.

That's nine hair-raising wins among the last 16, and while the announcer's heart rate is in the 175 range during these games, I swear this team has a collective resting heart rate of around 22. Nothing seems to phase them.

That, by the way, is the ultimate compliment for a hockey team. I'm not sure I've ever been around one quite like this. And while I'm sure they could be rattled by something, I have no desire at this point to find out.

Alex Iafallo tipped a Willie Raskob pass through the legs of Harvard goalie Merrick Madsen with 26.6 seconds left, lifting UMD past the Crimson 2-1 and into the national championship game for the third time in program history. In the first-ever all-NCHC final, UMD will battle Denver for the title Saturday night at United Center.

"It was a good pass by Joey (Anderson, who passed the puck to Raskob)," Iafallo said. "We kept it in there at the blue line. And that was pretty much the key to the goal. And Raskob made a good play. We do it in practice all the time. So simple things like that, getting the puck to the net. Just had to shovel it in."

Iafallo did something UMD has done so many times this season. He got inside position on a defender and drove the net hard. And, yes, it's something they work on regularly in practice.

"It appeared we had a couple opportunities to get the puck out and we get trapped I think with three guys on the boards," Harvard coach Ted Donato said.

So how does UMD do this all the time?

"I just think that we're a really composed team," Anderson, who posted his fourth straight two-point game, said. "I think as the game wears on, we play a really good style that allows us to maintain our game, and we're able to finish chances when we get them. And that's been the way we've done it lately."

"We've got our experience," head coach Scott Sandelin said. "We've got our senior group. They've been through, they've won a lot of games, they've been in some big games. But I think just the way our year has gone, maybe getting some confidence, winning some of those games earlier in the year and throughout the year."

It's been a year where the Bulldogs' mettle has been tested multiple times. In 41 games, UMD has fallen behind at least 1-0 19 times, nearly half the games. Thursday's win after trailing 1-0 moved the Bulldogs to a record of 12-4-3 when allowing the game's first goal.

(For additional perspective, UMD's adversary Saturday, No. 1 Denver, is 8-7-3 when conceding the ice-breaker goal in a game.)

"I think pretty much every bit of ice was hard to get out there," Donato said. "I give Minnesota Duluth a lot of credit for that. I thought neither team really had a lot of zone time. I think both teams had some good chances."

Sandelin agreed that the two teams fought hard for every inch of ice.

"I thought our first period, I thought we had maybe the edge in that. I thought the second period they were really good. I thought they won a lot of puck battles. I thought they controlled a lot of the O zone time especially down low.

"They played their game well. The third period I thought they had more rush plays, where I thought we maybe had a little better O zone time than we did in the second period."

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The game wasn't over. There were still 26.6 seconds left after Iafallo scored. Donato took his timeout, pulled Madsen, and Harvard won a couple faceoffs to set up as dramatic a sequence as you'll see anywhere, in any sport.

The Crimson got a couple offensive zone looks after Anderson barely missed a bouncing puck near the UMD blue line for a potential clear. Two Harvard shots drew iron, with UMD freshman defenseman Nick Wolff getting a piece of one of them.

"It’s nerve-wracking but yeah, the puck was on the right side and they crossed it over to the middle," Wolff said. "Right when he shot it my first thought was go down, and it hit the top of my knee, and hit the cross bar and out. If it had been one inch lower it would've gone bar down. We were very fortunate it stayed out."

"We had opportunities to score there at the end, hit a couple of posts," Harvard co-captain Alexander Kerfoot said. "We took it to them. And just wasn't meant to be."

The second Harvard shot, taken by Luke Esposito, bounced back towards the high slot, where Anderson cleared it to center and touched off another UMD celebration.

"That was definitely the longest 30 seconds of my life," senior captain Dominic Toninato said. "I mean, they had some good chances and we were fortunate. So, we got one more game for a national championship."

UMD goalie Hunter Miska (39 saves) was asked if he got a piece of either great Harvard chance.

"I think Wolff said he got a piece with his knee. Yeah, it's all good tonight."

(That's Miska in a nutshell, in case you were wondering.)

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Per Nate Wells (@gopherstate) on Twitter, this is the first time since the NCAA Tournament went to a 16-team format that the No. 1 and No. 2 teams will meet for the national championship. Never has it been more fitting than it is this year.

Back in February, College Hockey News' Joe Meloni wrote:

So often in recent years, the field has given us an open tournament. Seeding suggested some favorites, of course, and any number of variables can change an outcome on a given night. However, both Denver and Minnesota-Duluth have proven they are capable of overcoming these variables and recovering quickly. Moreover, their play will assure them the least difficult paths through the NCAA tournament.

... Upsets may happen, of course, but whether it's a regular-season title, the NCHC playoffs or the NCAA tournament, Denver and UMD are about to begin a memorable race that ends on April 8 at the United Center in Chicago.

He wasn't the only one. ESPN play by play guy John Buccigross was pretty blunt from the outset of 2017 that UMD and Denver had separated themselves from the pack. It was a take that was out there, but these two teams had to get through what has been for years a meat-grinder of a tournament that gobbles top seeds like breakfast.

More to come later, with a UMD-Denver preview on the way. Should be a great game. 6:30 pregame Saturday on 92.1 The Fan or free around the world by clicking here.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Bulldogs Survive With Miska, Advance With Raskob Overtime Winner

FARGO, N.D. -- Survive and advance.

That's the basic mantra this time of year. It isn't always going to be pretty, a team isn't always going to have its A-level stuff. But the team that is able to survive and advance won't care it didn't have its A-level stuff.

Such was the case Friday night in Fargo. On an incredible night at the NCAA West Regional, UMD took the best punch Ohio State could possibly offer, survived thanks to an incredible performance from freshman goalie Hunter Miska, and got the last shot. Senior defenseman Willie Raskob's one-time blast from the right circle eluded OSU goalie Matt Tomkins and gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 overtime win over the Buckeyes.



This wasn't the best night UMD could have envisioned. Up 2-0 heading into the third, the Bulldogs squandered a power play and almost immediately started playing the game on their heels.

"I don’t know if anything really changed with us, I want to give them credit," UMD head coach Scott Sandelin said. "They came out and I thought they were making a pretty strong push even in the second period. They have a good team."

"We gave the momentum away there," Raskob said. "I think the talk was more making sure we have the coverage coming back, obviously, those two goals was just guys finding slots in open areas, we’ve got to get better at that tomorrow."

The Buckeyes have some strong forwards up front, led by Mason Jobst and David Gust, who can play for anyone, quite frankly. Gust was especially difficult to handle, especially at even-strength, for UMD in this game. He forced Miska to make a handful of spectacular saves, including a how-the-hell-did-he-do-that number with the paddle of his stick in overtime.

"I felt really good tonight," Miska said. "My team played really good in front of me allowing me to see the first puck and make the save and make my rebounds in the corners so they didn’t get another opportunity."

I'm not sure I'd concur that Miska's team played "really good", but I do see his point. The Bulldogs and Miska were victimized a few times this year by shots from distance that no one blocked and Miska couldn't see to stop. That didn't happen on Friday.

But ...

Sandelin: "I didn’t think our coverage was very good. Certainly, that was evident by some of the saves our goaltender had to make but I think you have to give credit where credit is due. They came hard and I think once they got the first one they took another step up and kept coming and we were kind of on our heels. But, that’s why you have great goaltending. It was kind of one of those games where we were just kind of really grinding out, nothing was really clicking. We had very few spurts here and there and they were making a very strong push but Hunter was the difference, no question."

That's on point.

To think, one week ago, there were legitimate questions about how Miska would play when the lights got brighter, both in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and here at the regional. He's emphatically answered those questions with two of his best games of the season.

"We were just trying to have net-front presence and try to get pucks to the net and as you can see from some of those replay, you can't ask for better chances than what we had," Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik said. "He (Miska) just flat out made some unbelievable saves."

UMD has some things to clean up, as Sandelin mentioned. They had some garish turnovers in the defensive zone, especially in the third period as Ohio State started feeling it, so to speak. I almost didn't recognize the team that finished the third period and started overtime. It was as if "weather the storm" became the game plan.

But the Bulldogs started to piece some better shifts together close to the midway mark of overtime. Specifically, Adam Johnson walked a couple Buckeye defenders for a scoring chance that Tomkins had to make a good save on. Then came the one-minute break so the ice crew could come out and scrape the playing surface. After another quality save by Miska on Gust, Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik requested a review to assure the puck didn't cross the goal line (it didn't). That short delay allowed UMD to come back with its top line for a defensive zone faceoff. As rough a night as it was for UMD on faceoffs, Dominic Toninato won the draw, and the once the puck got back in the OSU zone, it never left.

Nick Wolff created a high to low scoring chance for Joey Anderson that rang the iron. After that. Alex Iafallo circled around the back of the goal and found Raskob in the right circle for a one-timer that Tomkins didn't have a chance on. I'm not sure -- and this isn't a rip -- that I've seen Raskob shoot a puck that hard in four years. That thing was labeled.

When everything looked bleak, UMD found a way. That's what great teams do.

We'd all prefer a 4-1 win. They can't all be like that.

******

The win moves UMD into the regional final Saturday at 5pm against Boston University. The Terriers got by host North Dakota 4-3 on a Charlie McAvoy goal in the second overtime. At first glance, BU's young top-end talent -- highlighted by McAvoy and Clayton Keller -- really flashes. Those are difference-maker players, and David Quinn has done a great job coaching those types of players in his short career at Boston (see: "Eichel, Jack").

Gotta get packed for checkout at the hotel, so just a reminder. 4:30pm pregame on 92.1 The Fan. Listen live online here. Should be a great game, hopefully UMD ends a two-year run of losing in regional finals. Enjoy what should be a great day of college hockey around the country.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: UMD Rides Defensive Improvement, Opportunism to Second Straight NCHC Title Game

MINNEAPOLIS -- Not going to lie. UMD giving Western Michigan a five-on-three at the 2:24 mark of the first period seemed like a bad omen. Instead, it was a bit of a tone-setter.

The UMD penalty kill was spot-on Friday, and a stellar third period effort helped carry UMD to a 5-2 win over Western Michigan in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals at Target Center. UMD will play North Dakota, a 1-0 winner over Denver, in Saturday's 7:30pm championship game.

Western had a goal disallowed in the second period, but ended up getting one that counted 1:09 later to tie the game 2-2. The Broncos earned that tying goal, as they had been able to bottle up UMD on a couple of occasions and generate scoring chances with numbers down low. UMD didn't do a great job covering guys, and Colt Conrad buried a rebound by Hunter Miska to draw the game even on one of those occasions.

But the Bulldogs tightened up after that, as did Miska. Alex Iafallo scored a beauty of a goal late in the second period that eventually gave UMD the lead for good. After Parker Mackay capitalized on a great play by Adam Johnson to make it 4-2 in the third, Miska held his ground against a hard-charging Broncos team, which got a four-on-three power play in the final three minutes of regulation and turned it into a five-on-three by pulling goalie Ben Blacker. Miska stopped Western goal-scoring specialist Matheson Iacopelli twice, including once on a really well set up one timer.

"It wasn't probably the prettiest game for either team," UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. "We stayed with it. Hard-fought game, which was what we expected.

"I think their second goal work our bench up for sure. Thought we played better towards the end of the period. Gotta get better in second periods. Didn't think our start was very good."

(Give Western credit, by the way. Andy Murray held three-year captain Sheldon Dries and stud freshman Wade Allison out with injuries. I'm not sure how badly Allison was injured crashing into the end boards in Game 3 against Omaha Sunday, but he was stretchered off and briefly hospitalized before returning to the arena. Either way, the Broncos were short-handed Friday and gave UMD everything it could handle for two periods and then some. This is a really good team that is fixing to do some damage in the NCAA Tournament, possibly as a one-seed if it can win the third-place game Saturday afternoon against Denver.)

Sandelin compared this game to the Saturday game in Kalamazoo on March 4. In that game, UMD kicked away a 2-0 second-period lead, only to get a goal from Johnson with 4.4 seconds left off a mad scramble in front of the WMU net. The momentum carried over into the third, and UMD ended up winning convincingly.

In this game, Iafallo got his goal with 3:49 left in the second, but there's no question there was some residual into the third period.

I thought UMD's defensive effort in the third was as good as we've seen in a while. Miska, yes, had to make some saves, but he was sharper and there weren't any glaringly blown coverages in front of him. The Broncos were coming after UMD, but couldn't get any super chances. The Mackay goal and a Jared Thomas length-of-the-ice empty netter iced the win for the Bulldogs.

The third period was what Sandelin has been looking for. A composed, defense-first effort. UMD didn't generate many chances, but capitalized on the Mackay goal, which was a thing of beauty by Johnson to set up. He waited out a sliding defender, walked back toward the front, bided his time, and sent a cross-crease pass to Mackay for a tap in after Blacker committed to Johnson. Brilliant play and a great goal.

"Didn't really have much," Johnson said of the play. "Just tried to wait, and Parker got to the net."

******

It's cliche, but coaches talk about a team's best players being its best players in crunch time.

Let there be no doubt that UMD's top line -- Dominic Toninato, Iafallo, and Joey Anderson -- were good again, and Johnson, centering the second line, was brilliant with three assists, including the dazzler to Mackay.

Again, the six-man defensive corps managed without Carson Soucy, who will not play this weekend (week to week, so we don't know what the plan is beyond this week). Jarod Hilderman's blocked shot set up Kyle Osterberg's goal late in the first, Hilderman's first point in these colors. Neal Pionk was a freaking beast, with an assist, three blocked shots, and a plus-three.

Iafallo has points in ten straight (6-10-16), goals in four straight. Toninato has goals in three straight and is 8-5-13 in the last 11 games. Johnson now is 6-7-13 in the last ten games. Mackay had his first two-point game since the season opener and now has six points in the last six games.

Osterberg's goal snapped a ten-game drought, but he now has four points in the last two games.

Production is coming from all over the place, and there couldn't be a better time than this for it to happen. UMD's last five games: 5, 5, 5, 6, and 4 goals. Not going to lose a lot this time of year when you average five goals per game.

******

UMD will face North Dakota for a fifth time this season in Saturday's championship game. The Bulldogs dominated the regular season series, going 4-0 with two shutouts and outscoring North Dakota 17-5.

I will guaran-damn-tee you Saturday won't be nearly as easy as an average score of 4.25-1.25 might suggest. UND is grinding teams down right now, impressively shutting down a potent Denver team Friday night at Target Center. Cam Johnson is playing well in goal, though Denver had a hard time really getting to him on Friday. Remember, as good as UND looked defensively in the semifinal, this game gave up five to St. Cloud State just this past Saturday. It is not an impenetrable defensive group. No one is, for that matter.

This will be a meat-grinder of a game, though. Mark my words. UMD will need to bring the proverbial lunch pails, because North Dakota is going to make the Bulldogs earn every inch of ice throughout the rink if Friday is any indication. The Fighting Hawks -- yes, it's still weird, sorry -- have won five straight games to put themselves back in the NCAA Tournament. Now they're coming for their first NCHC playoff title. And so are the Bulldogs. Someone's hoisting that thing for the first time Saturday, and I know who I want to see do it.

******

The dream of an All-NCHC Frozen Four may have died Friday night. North Dakota's win makes it difficult (I couldn't do it) to get UND to a No. 4 regional seed, which I figured was the only way to guarantee the possibility of the four NCHC teams in the tourney being assigned different regionals.

Maybe the committee ends up making that happen, but I don't see it as likely. I believe an NCHC team -- either UMD or Denver -- will join North Dakota in Fargo.

I'll likely jump back on Saturday morning and update PairWise scenarios, but I'm too tired right now to wrap my head around any of that.

We hit the air Saturday at 7pm on 92.1 The Fan. Join us for what should be a fun championship game. Looking forward to it.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Resilient Bulldogs Battle Way to Overtime Win Over Miami

Just watched Grand Rapids pull off another epic upset, this time of AA No. 1 seed Eden Prairie 3-2, setting up an all-northern final against Moorhead Saturday night. This state tournament has been nothing short of incredible, such a treat to watch. Hats off to #218Hockey.

Strange bit of hockey played at Amsoil Arena Friday night. The opener of this best-of-three series had a little bit of everything. Weird goals, bad turnovers leading to goals, goofy bounces, plenty of shots ringing iron, and in the end, UMD did what it's done most of the 2016-17 season: It found a way to win.

Dominic Toninato scored his first career overtime winner off a rebound after Alex Iafallo's wraparound attempt was stopped, and UMD beat Miami 5-4 to take a 1-0 series lead. The Bulldogs can close it out at 7:30 Saturday night.

That Toninato scored was absolutely fitting. He hit the crossbar on a shorthanded breakaway, had another possible break stopped when Miami goalie Chase Munroe left his crease and barely beat him to a loose puck, and was generally a beast throughout this game. As we keep saying, Toninato is seemingly cursed in so many situations, but the fact he's constantly in position to score goals tells you something about how he's playing. Players aren't snakebit in these situations unless they're in a spot to score to start with, and no one seems to be in the right place on the ice more often than Dominic Toninato.

His linemates, Iafallo and Anderson, both had good nights. Iafallo had a goal before assisting on Toninato's winner, and he ran his point streak to eight in a row (4-8-12). Anderson was active and had four shots on the night. The line combined for 15 shots (Iafallo had six) and two goals.

After a bit of a struggle for a few weeks, freshman Riley Tufte had his best game in a while, scoring twice off great work in front of the net and finishing with five shots. Tufte scored his first collegiate goal Jan. 13, touching off a six-game run where he had five goals, seven points, and 21 shots on goal. But Tufte had gone goalless for eight games since Jan. 27, and in seven games since Jan. 28, he had just 15 shots on goal. Tufte broke back out Friday, though. He was a beast in the offensive zone and flat-out earned those two goals and a couple other good scoring chances.

Through two periods, UMD had just 14 shots and Miami 12 in a somewhat sleepy affair. UMD had 39 shot attempts (14 blocked) through two periods, then nearly doubled that number in the third, attempting 32 shots (12 off target, 18 on goal). After letting in a bit of a weird goal from Ryan Siroky that gave Miami a 4-3 lead, freshman Hunter Miska was strong, making two big saves in overtime before Toninato's winner.

UMD took 16 shots and got nine on goal in just over seven minutes of overtime hockey, giving the Bulldogs 48 shot attempts over the game's final 27 minutes and change.

There were some foibles in defensive coverage over the first two periods, but UMD really was able to do a better job later in the game. It really looked like Miami started to wear down, as UMD kept generating puck possession and getting waves of bodies to the net.

******

UMD made a move in its Friday lineup, shifting sophomore forward Adam Johnson to the blue line in place of the injured Carson Soucy (lower body). We don't know how long Soucy will be out, so I can't tell you if his Bulldog career is over. Certainly, the hope is that Soucy -- whose value to this team is unquestioned -- can return, but that's up to people a lot smarter than I am, and I don't know the prognosis. Asked on Twitter if he could be deemed week to week, I said that's probably accurate. He was ruled out for this weekend, but beyond that I have no idea.

Coach Scott Sandelin cited a couple reasons for the move. For starters, he's hoping Johnson's skating and puck skill can give UMD another dimension on the blue line. Honestly, I thought he looked a bit tentative Friday, but that's to be expected. Outside of some shifts at the ends of power plays, he hasn't played the position since high school.

Also, Soucy and freshman Nick Wolff are the only left-handed blue liners who were playing regular minutes. Johnson gives them another left-shot defenseman, and unless the tape shows him looking a lot worse than I thought he did, one has to assume he'll return to the blue line Saturday (he took shifts at forward late in regulation and in overtime).

UMD has some depth back there, even with Nick McCormack still unavailable (lower body). Jarod Hilderman hasn't played much, but he seems to have gotten better every game, and I thought last Saturday at Western Michigan was his best game yet. He doesn't give UMD a left-shot option, but he could be a possibility for playing time if Sandelin wants to keep Johnson up front.

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Couple more notes on the game:

Miami lost goalie Ryan Larkin to an apparent lower-body injury in the second period. UMD's Jared Thomas was taken off his feet and slid into Larkin. It didn't appear to be much contact, but it appeared to be awkward, and Larkin had to be helped off the ice. Freshman Chase Munroe, who played junior hockey for the Minnesota Wilderness, took over in goal and made 29 saves in his first action since Dec. 10.

UMD's power play goal streak was snapped at eight games. UMD had gone 11-for-39 over that stretch before coming up empty in four chances Friday. The power play looked somewhat stagnant, with a lot of work on the perimeter, but there were also a couple chances missed on plays that were there. Most notably, Anderson was handcuffed near the left post on a great lateral feed by Iafallo.

Miska had no chance on the first three Miami goals, the second of which came on a flubbed shot that went right to Carson Meyer in scoring position. He probably wants Siroky's back, but of more concern are the breakdowns that led to the other three RedHawk markers. UMD needs a more consistent and composed performance in its own zone going forward, with or without Carson Soucy.

******

Please don't forget about the UMD women, who play Minnesota in an NCAA quarterfinal Saturday afternoon at 2:30. Join us and make a doubleheader of the day. It should be a fantastic game.

Elsewhere in the NCHC, Omaha got a Justin Parizek goal to win 2-1 in overtime at Western Michigan. Outside of that, NCHC series openers went to home teams. Denver beat Colorado College 4-1 on a three-point night from Troy Terry, and North Dakota got by St. Cloud State 5-2.

In the PairWise, Denver and UMD remain one-two, with Western Michigan down to fifth, UND now in 11th, Omaha 19th, and St. Cloud State 20th. North Dakota probably still needs a series win over SCSU to keep its season alive, and obviously St. Cloud and Omaha need to get to Target Center, minimum. A UNO win Saturday, for example, gets the Mavs into range for an at-large bid, depending on other results.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Western Michigan Ends UMD's Unbeaten Streak, NCHC Title Hopes

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- After a 7-4 UMD loss to Western Michigan Friday night, thoughts -- naturally -- turned to Mike Yeo. And, no, not because son Kyler and Hill-Murray are heading back to the state tournament.

Back in 2015, the Minnesota Wild beat the St. Louis Blues in a first round Stanley Cup Playoff series. Leading the series 2-1, the Wild hosted Game 4 and were summarily waxed 6-1. So, naturally, Minnesota went into St. Louis and won Game 5 before clinching the series in Game 6.

After the series, then-head coach Mike Yeo appeared on KFAN with Paul Allen and was asked if that Game 4 loss might have been a blessing in disguise because it helped re-focus the team. Yeo didn't hesitate to agree.

"I think it's better to get your butt kicked in a game like that than to not be up to your game and just fall short," Yeo said. "It was a good, stiff reminder that's not good enough, that's not our level."

For a couple weeks now, UMD coaches have been imploring their players to be better, especially in the neutral and defensive zones. But as the team continued to rack up not-losses and ran its unbeaten streak to 11, was the message really getting through?

I'd like to think -- to be perfectly honest -- a veteran team like this wouldn't have any trouble understanding what's in front of it. However, if it can happen and be necessary in the NHL, why should a band of college kids be exempt?

With that in mind, was Friday the "stiff reminder" Yeo was talking about with his now-former team? Only time will tell, but there's little doubt that Friday wasn't good enough, and it can't be sugar-coated around a result that saw UMD get points. Instead, Western Michigan took it to the Bulldogs, putting five goals by UMD goaltenders, including four on just eight shots against freshman Hunter Miska before he was yanked. Classmate Hunter Shepard stopped 12 of 13, and the worthless empty net made no saves on two shots.

There was a lot not to like from UMD. Not the first game like this as of late, and now that the Penrose Cup has been won by Denver, we'll see some things change for UMD.

Poor coverage from the faceoff dots down helped stake the Broncos to a 2-0 lead after one. Sheldon Dries and Hugh McGing scored on different rebound plays. Dries got free for a quick slot shot that Miska made a good save on, but the rebound somehow bounced back to Dries, who was still open in the slot and this time made no mistake. On that play, UMD had defenders in the area, but Dries got in between Joey Anderson and Alex Iafallo, and the latter let Dries go after the first shot and wasn't ready for the puck to bounce back to him. Both Iafallo and Willie Raskob were in position to stop that shot from happening, but somehow Dries kept his stick free in a tight space and got a puck by Miska because the goalie had no chance to see it.

On the second, Hugh McGing drove the net from the goal line and threw in a rebound off a Griffen Molino shot for a power play goal. The killers did a good job, outside of McGing charging by Raskob to get to the puck, which can't happen.

The third goal featured a puck dumped to the right-wing side of the UMD zone. Instead of chasing the loose puck, Avery Peterson let Luke Bafia get there first. Watching the video, the only thing I can imagine is Peterson didn't see Bafia and was letting Riley Tufte get to it, but I don't know. It looks really bad on video, and while Miska should have stopped Bafia's shot, it's hard to be too mad at the freshman goalie when the shot never should have happened to start with.

I could do this all night. But I don't want to. You get the point. There were mistakes made on pretty much every Western Michigan goal that came with a goalie in the net, and even one of the empty-net goals featured a lost battle that just can't happen when a team has an extra skater on the ice. Maybe some messages will get through more effectively after a game like this that ends in a lopsided defeat than they were after wins and ties.

Miska wasn't great but had little help. The top line of Dominic Toninato, Iafallo, and Anderson was a combined minus-12 with one point and seven shots. I thought pretty much the entire defensive corps struggled, outside of Dan Molenaar and Nick Wolff, both of whom I thought were okay. Peterson and Adam Johnson won a combined eight of 27 faceoffs. The power play was a trainwreck.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

This isn't to take away from the Broncos. They played very well. Dries and Molino are as advertised, not that I expected anything different. Western deserved everything it got on this night.

So did UMD.

******

The third period was, well, interesting. Karson Kuhlman's power play goal cut the lead to 5-2 early. UMD had a couple power plays after that but couldn't cash in, but Sandelin pulled Shepard with 4:13 to go. Western, however, won a faceoff and scored quickly into the empty net to make it 6-2.

UMD then responded with goals by Brenden Kotyk and Adam Johnson 26 seconds apart to cut the lead to 6-4. And 11 seconds after Johnson's goal, UMD was back on the power play.

It didn't score, and Dries capped a hat trick with an empty-netter in the final minute.

The power play struggled against WMU's pressure. It's been a longstanding theme for UMD to have difficulty scoring against aggressive penalty kills. Effective, aggressive kills force the power play guys to make quick decisions, and make them under pressure. UMD just wasn't decisive enough on this night, leading to tie-ups and battles on the wall, and the Bulldogs weren't able to win them often enough.

There were opportunities for UMD to claw back in, but the Bulldogs never got there. Power play struggles were a large reason for it.

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If you'll indulge me, there was a topic that came up Friday that I thought merited a mention. Bemidji State hosted Northern Michigan to kick off the WCHA playoffs, and even though every BSU game this season was televised, this weekend's are not.

Read more from the Bemidji Pioneer.

(BSU athletic director Tracy) Dill cited attendance and revenue concerns as reasons for the playoff broadcast decision.
"We appreciate everything Lakeland does for BSU," Dill said. "The broadcast is really good. The difference for us is, for first-round games in the WCHA, if we are in a position where we host, you have to guarantee the league $25,000 for the first round. Semifinals is the same and I think the championship is $15,000 or something. So we have to be able to sell tickets."

Dill went down the road that televised games hurt attendance. In 2017.

And maybe he's right if you take the narrow view. Maybe Bemidji doesn't draw 2,904 paid for the series opener if it's on TV. But let's take a real-world look at this.

People go to games for an experience. That experience can't be fulfilled on television. Trust me. I rarely get to Wild games, but went to two during UMD's February bye. As much as I struggle with big crowds of people sometimes, how could any hockey fan not want to go to a Wild game in person? What a great experience, and with all due respect to Anthony LaPanta and Mike Greenlay and Michael Russo and Audra Martin and Wes Walz and whoever else, TV and social media can't touch what you get when you're in the building.

My point, and I promise I have one, is people who want that experience aren't going to give it up because the game is on television. If a particular team -- especially a successful one like Bemidji State -- isn't drawing enough fans compared to what it thinks it should, it should be looking in the mirror, not at a TV. If anything, television helps a team become more visible in its community, which should help attendance. Because, again, you can't get the stadium experience watching on television.

Ask the Chicago Blackhawks, who once blacked out home games from being televised, and in a shocking development, saw attendance -- which was already terrible -- get worse. The owner died, his son took over, put the games back on TV, and even before the team was relevant again, attendance was back on the rise.

Amazing, a team is visible and people want to attend its games. What a concept.

******

Denver beat Omaha 4-2 to clinch the NCHC title on the strength of two third period goals by Henrik Borgstrom and a three-point night from Troy Terry. North Dakota got a short-handed goal from Duluth native Trevor Olson late in the second and won at Miami 3-2. Finally, St. Cloud State scored the last four goals in a 5-2 home win over Colorado College.

On the last night of the regular season, spots four through six in the final standings are up for grabs. Right now, North Dakota has the last home ice spot with 32 points, St. Cloud State is one point back at 31, and Omaha is sixth with 29. Lots of scenarios in play, but UND is definitely in the driver's seat to be at home next weekend.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts on a Friday: Power Play Comes Through as UMD Wins Late

The rare Thursday night game worked out for UMD, as the Bulldogs got a late power play goal from Avery Peterson for a 4-3 victory over Miami.

The win runs UMD's unbeaten streak to ten games (8-0-2), the Bulldogs' longest since a school-record 17-game streak in the 2011-12 season. It was also UMD's 20th win of the season, marking the school's 18th 20-win season all-time. Scott Sandelin and Mike Sertich each led the way for eight of them.

It furthers the argument that UMD is a mortal lock for the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season, something that has only happened one other time (1983-85) in school history.

Ahead of Senior Night Friday, a few thoughts first on the series opener, and a quick look at the NCHC weekend ahead.

For starters, UMD lost 2-0 and 3-2 leads in this game, but recovered thanks to a key penalty kill in the final seven minutes, followed by Peterson's gigantic goal. Riley Tufte took an outlet pass from Neal Pionk and skated up the left wing. He got into the offensive zone and occupied two defenders before leaving the puck in the left circle for Peterson, who wired a shot by Miami goalie Ryan Larkin for his third game-winning goal out of six scored this season (14 games).

Pionk added a power-play goal earlier in the third off a great setup by Adam Johnson, who scored in the first period by banking a shot off the back of Larkin from behind the goal line. It's at least the third time Johnson has scored a goal in a similar situation this season.

Senior captain Dominic Toninato also scored for UMD, running his point streak to five games (4-3-7). In 21 NCHC games, Toninato has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists), second on team to Alex Iafallo (10-16-26 in league play).

The UMD power play has now scored in five straight games (7-for-23, 30.4 percent) after going 5-for-34 (14.7 percent) over eight games in January. Overall, the Bulldogs are scoring on 20 percent of man advantage opportunities after that number dipped to 17 percent and change in January.

The kill was solid again, only allowing a goal during a five-on-three Miami chance in the second period, where Grant Hutton's blast got by Hunter Miska with traffic in front. There were some key penalty kills, including late in the first period after Johnson had given UMD a 1-0 lead (no Miami shots), and two in the third (one shot on each) with the game still very much in doubt.

Ten power plays combined, but there was much more five on five flow for big stretches of the game, especially in the first and second periods. Miami's two even strength goals came off rushes, and UMD's coverage was especially poor on the third goal, as RedHawks forward Carson Meyer was left alone skating down the slot and deposited a loose puck by Miska.

******

Unfortunately, one of the stories of the game was officiating for a second straight game. The UMD bench was visibly frustrated with a couple calls that weren't made on Miami, most notably a potential boarding call involving a hit on Toninato during a UMD power play. That drew frustration because of a pretty soft boarding call on UMD's Brenden Kotyk that gave Miami the five-on-three it scored on in the second period.

There were also pretty blatant misses on a slash to Kyle Osterberg and a trip/interference play involving Willie Raskob in the third period.

On the bright side, 1) UMD won the game; and 2) the missed calls and obvious frustration woke up the crowd, even when some strong play by UMD earlier in the game really couldn't do that.

The situation was pretty similar to Saturday in Colorado Springs, where calls made against UMD were all legit, but similar plays by the adversary didn't lead to penalties the other way.

It's, frankly, frustrating to watch. I like a lot of the folks responsible for what we see every week. The NCHC does very good work with its officials. It's great to see Derek Shepherd, always a strong presence on the ice, still very much involved in the evaluation of the on-ice officials during and after games. Mike Schmidt, who works as a supervisor, cares an unbelievable amount about the product and is a great listener. Don Adam runs the show, so to speak, for the conference and also cares a great deal about what happens on the ice.

The league is fully committed to giving the officials as many tools as possible to improve, along with constant feedback from qualified supervisors.

But what we've seen these last two games isn't good enough for me. Maybe the influx of penalty minutes in the second half has changed UMD's rep a little bit, but the Bulldogs struggled to get calls in the first half of the year, when they weren't at all a big-PIM team. So I'm not sure I buy the idea that UMD's penalty minutes have ticked up in the second half and now officials are looking for its players to do something wrong.

Whatever the issue is, it's happened in two straight games now, and I don't remember the last time I thought UMD had some legit gripes about the officials for two straight games. They'll happen here and there, and everyone has calls they don't agree with. But it's amazing how many times slow-motion replay backs up what the official thought he saw live action.

Hopefully, it's just some bad luck for UMD and not the start of a trend. I still believe in what this conference stands for and all the work put into its officiating.

******

Thursday's win lifted UMD back into the top spot of the PairWise and the NCHC standings, the latter by one point over Denver. With only one game left this weekend compared to Denver's two, UMD still needs help to claim a Penrose Cup championship. Denver hosts St. Cloud State this weekend. A UMD win Friday and Denver split or worse against SCSU would guarantee the Bulldogs will carry the league lead into the final weekend of the regular season.

Elsewhere, Omaha visits North Dakota, with both teams trying desperately to stay alive for home ice. Also, Western Michigan tries to seal home ice with two games at Colorado College.

Finally, the UMD women beat St. Cloud State 5-0 Thursday in Game 1 of their best-of-three series. Lara Stalder -- hours after being named a top ten finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award -- scored twice and added an assist, while fellow senior Demi Crossman scored two goals. Game 2 is Friday at 3pm. UMD advances to the WCHA Final Faceoff and virtually seals an NCAA bid with a win.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Bulldogs Grind Out Win Over Colorado College to Run Unbeaten Streak to Eight

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Was it pretty? Not even close.

When you look at the standings, however, you'll see it doesn't matter if it was pretty or not. They all count the same, and Adam Johnson's late power-play goal gave UMD a 2-1 win over Colorado College Friday night.

The win run's UMD's unbeaten streak to eight. It also improves UMD to 11-1-2 away from Duluth this season, an .857 winning percentage that leads the country. The Bulldogs also stay within one point of Denver for the top spot in the NCHC, as the Pioneers won at Miami 5-2.

As I said at the top, this wasn't in any way a beautiful game. Under third-year coach Mike Haviland, Colorado College is playing a much more disciplined defensive style. Part of that is out of necessity, as Haviland found a pretty bare cupboard upon his arrival in this fair city and needed to do some quick recruiting just to fill his roster. The 2016-17 roster features 31 players, but only six seniors, and only three of the six play regularly.

Haviland is steadfast in his belief the program is making progress. Freshman goalie Alex Leclerc has benefitted from more consistent play in front of him and has put together a solid season. The Tigers struggle mightily to score goals, but Leclerc and Haviland's defensive system -- when played well -- keep this team in games.

"It's a tough thing to rebuild," Haviland told me Friday. "It doesn't happen overnight, especially when you have to play (No.) 2 and then (No.) 1 every other weekend. There's not a lot of letup in this conference. We're starting to get some guys down the road. It's not pro hockey. It takes three, four, five years to really start to see the (benefits) of the recruiting wars you have to get into."

Haviland also noted that CC's starting goalie has been a freshman in each of his three years on the job. Last year, it was Jacob Nehama, who has been injured most of this year. Before that, Chase Perry was tabbed as the guy before he lost the job to sophomore Tyler Marble, who hadn't played a college game before that season.

Do I expect the Tigers to be trying to grind down opponents five years from now? I don't know. But they are now, and it continues to be a good test for UMD, which finds it more difficult to play its preferred style of hockey against Colorado College.

There were a couple segments of Friday where it looked like UMD was getting a little frustrated. But give the visitors credit. Even when nothing was really going all that well, the Bulldogs didn't sacrifice defensive structure or posture while trying to create offense. UMD used stretch plays to try to open things up a bit. There were a couple times the Bulldogs eschewed a controlled breakout and flew a wing up the rink, and it worked for one Joey Anderson breakaway and should have worked a second time, but he couldn't control the outlet pass.

That was an issue a couple different times during the game. UMD missed out on good rush opportunities when players couldn't keep control of the puck or fanned on shots or passes. Scott Sandelin referenced it postgame with Matt Wellens, using the term "moxie", which works pretty well.

“I thought we could have done a little bit better job with a little more poise or moxie with the shots,” Sandelin said. “We fired some with our head down right into them, but they clawed and got up. They are good at blocking shots.
“We just have to do a little bit better job, but you know what? I don’t care. I don’t worry about how many shots you’re getting because I’d rather have the puck and make them defend. Hopefully we can do more of that and when you do that, maybe things will open up.”

By the way, CC's power play goal in the first period broke a couple long streaks. Freshman goalie Hunter Miska's scoreless run stopped at exactly 97 minutes. Also, UMD hadn't allowed a goal in the Broadmoor World Arena since the 2013-14 season, and its overall scoreless streak in that building ended at 156 minutes, 56 seconds. Three goalies -- Aaron Crandall, Kasimir Kaskisuo, and Miska -- contributed to that stretch for UMD.

******

The turning point of the game came at the 1:48 mark of the third period, when UMD junior Karson Kuhlman was given a five-minute major for boarding good friend and Tigers sophomore Westin Michaud. Live action, it looked like textbook boarding, though the major may have been an overreaction to Michaud being banged up and having to leave the game. The only replay I saw was basically live action from the main TV camera, and did nothing to change that opinion. However, based on the reaction I saw on Twitter, the slow-motion replays on CBS Sports Network -- which did the game Friday -- showed very little contact between the two at all.

I still have not seen these replays and can't comment further.

What I can comment on was it was one of UMD's better penalty kills of the season. CC had three shots over the five minutes, all from far away by defenseman Teemu Kivihalme, none of them a very serious threat to get by Miska, who was strong again when he had to be but didn't have to be spectacular, something Sandelin referenced before the game as he implored his team to play a stronger game defensively.

"Overall, we've been a little loose defensively," Sandelin said before Friday's tilt. "Structurally, we need to make sure we're doing the things we need to and helping each other out. We don't want Hunter to have to be great every game. I want him to be comfortable and just play his game and not feel like he's got to win games."

For at least one night, Sandelin got his wish, and that major penalty kill was a huge example of it. Senior Kyle Osterberg hustled to loose pucks and killed precious time. The kill structure was good, keeping things to the outside, and CC didn't have any way to get the puck to the middle of the rink, as UMD defended the slot wonderfully. The Tigers also couldn't get pucks through to Miska, and when they did, he was all over them.

From the point Kuhlman was released from the box to the end of the game, with 13:12 left in the third period, the Tigers had just two shots on goal, both of them in quick succession right after the penalty ended. CC had no shots for the last 12-plus minutes of the game. Better yet for UMD, the Tigers only attempted three shots, two wide and one blocked, both after UMD had taken the lead on Johnson's power-play goal.

******

Another example of the in-game improvement Friday:

After a good start in the faceoff circle, things went south for UMD in the second period. Colorado College won 16 of 21 second-period draws, including a couple key offensive-zone faceoffs that forced UMD to retreat when it should have been attacking.

But UMD turned the tables in the third, winning 12 of 17 faceoffs and forcing Colorado College to defend.

I don't care how good a team is on the defensive side of the game. When you're consistently forcing them to play defense, it's a good recipe to wear down the adversary, which is how mistakes happen. Then you can be in good position to take advantage of the lapses in coverage brought on by fatigue.

UMD did a much better job of attacking the Tigers Friday than it did in the previous series in Duluth. Players showed more willingness to go to the tough areas, even if they didn't make plays when there. The next step in this rematch Saturday is to make those quick plays that can lead to more offense. UMD left a few good scoring chances on the table Friday, chances that the Bulldogs have typically been pretty good at bearing down on. I'll take my chances with that kind of performance over the long haul.

******

I asked the Twitter people for questions. Here are a few.

Peter Sandelin (@sand0393): Why does college hockey/NCHC struggle with such inconsistency on the 5 minute major call? Ex: Kuhlman. Its such a game-changer.

Got a lot of tweets on the Kuhlman major. I can't comment on it, as mentioned above, because I didn't see the decisive replay angle.

But I can make a comparison to a play that happened in the NHL Thursday night. Wild forward Nino Niederreiter was assessed a major penalty for interference after what appeared at first glance to be a dirty hit on Dallas Stars forward and model Patrick Sharp. Just look at the animation in this article. Looks terrible, right?

But what that piece of animation doesn't show is that Niederreiter was clipped and knocked off balance by Dallas' Radek Faksa and had no time to avoid the contact on Sharp, who had no chance to avoid Niederreiter.

Until officials are allowed to look at video replay on a hit like this -- and possibly Kuhlman's as well -- you're going to continue to see these vast inconsistencies on calls. And let's call it like it is. Officials see a hit like this out of the corner of their eye because it's far enough away from the puck, and they are human beings who see a dangerous play and try to construct how it really happened. Sometimes, they aren't going to be right. All the more reason to allow video replay of the hit.

Look at the replay of that hit by Niederreiter, and it's a minor penalty (by the rule the NCAA uses in the postseason, a penalty must be called in order for it to be reviewed). It's unfathomable to me that officials are still not allowed to look at these plays. And it's not their fault. They don't make the rules.

Kendal (@KendalKillian): I hate this kind of logic normally, but are we sure we as UMD fans want the #1 seed and another date with this CC club?

Probably not. 😄

I get it. This isn't an easy style to play against, and it can be hard on the eyes for fans. But you're kidding yourselves if you think Colorado College is the only team out there that tries to lock teams down defensively.

I mean, Bemidji State, anyone? And if the season ended today, the Beavers would be UMD's first round opponent in the NCAA Tournament.

Cornell, UMass-Lowell, and Providence are other teams currently in the field that can make life a living hell for a team like UMD.

My point? The Bulldogs have to beat this style when it matters most. The more experience they get against it, the better.

(I admit it: I joked privately about this during the game Friday. But UMD isn't throwing the league title to avoid Colorado College in the first round. I can promise you that.)

Eric Burton (@goon48): still want to go to Fargo?

I'm happy to travel to whatever regional UMD is assigned to play in. Good luck sucking me into that trap.

Pat Micheletti (@patmick2626): Who is the best team in the country?

I believe both John Buccigross -- who calls the Frozen Four for ESPN -- and College Hockey News' Joe Meloni have both opined this, so it's not an original thought.

Having only seen Boston University and Harvard on TV makes this tough, but I think UMD and Denver have separated themselves a little bit from everyone else.

Who's better between UMD and Denver? Good luck getting me to answer that. I just hope the Bulldogs get to play DU two more times to find out (NCHC and NCAA tourneys).

Kjestine (@kjestine15): do you think a slower paced game with lots of whistles, like the 1st last night is better for our opponents or us?

Not sure it matters a ton, but it probably leans toward the adversary. This UMD team is pretty good at playing with patience and discipline and taking what is given to it. As long as that continues, I don't see it being a huge issue when teams try to slow the game down. Obviously, it does create some close games, which can be problematic in the NCAAs, which of course are a one-game out. But I'm willing to take my chances with this team.

Thanks to everyone for the questions.

******

Elsewhere in the NCHC, Denver got three late goals to get by Miami 5-2. Will Butcher started the rally with the winner after Miami scored twice early in the third to rally from 2-0 down for a tie. Dylan Gambrell scored twice for DU.

In Kalamazoo, Sheldon Dries broke a 2-2 tie with just under seven minutes to play, and Western Michigan went on to beat North Dakota 4-2. Ben Blacker made 32 saves for the Broncos, who opened up a four-point lead on idle St. Cloud State for third place in the conference.

The updated NCHC standings, followed by the max points for each team, are listed below.

CURRENT STANDINGS
Denver 44
UMD 43
Western Michigan 32
St. Cloud State 28
North Dakota 26
Omaha 26
Miami 21
Colorado College 11

MAX POINTS
Denver 59
UMD 58
Western Michigan 47
North Dakota 41
St. Cloud State 40
Omaha 38
Miami 36
Colorado College 26

Also Friday, the UMD women got goals from Katie McGovern and Sydney Brodt in a 2-1 win over St. Cloud State at Amsoil Arena. UMD honors its senior class after Saturday's 4pm game against the Huskies. UMD will more than likely finish third in the WCHA (needs to beat SCSU and have Wisconsin sweep Minnesota in Minneapolis to move to second), which means a home series against the sixth-place team starting Thursday. That sixth-place team will be either Bemidji State, Ohio State, or St. Cloud State, depending on how the rest of the weekend goes. Too many scenarios to try to lay everything out.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Bulldogs Settle for Series Opening Tie Against Omaha

Relatively quick blog, instead of the 1,500-word masterpiece (😏) you're used to reading from me.

Weird game Friday. UMD and Omaha combined for one whole shot on goal (by Omaha) in the first ten minutes. The first period ended with shots 5-3 UMD, and there was no real great flow to a game we expected to have a lot of pace and intensity to it.

That pace quickened in the second and stayed that way most of the game, and it was a goal by Ian Brady early in the third that gave Omaha a 2-2 tie with the Bulldogs at Amsoil Arena. UMD's Alex Iafallo scored in the shootout to give UMD an extra point in the NCHC standings.

Senior captain Dominic Toninato scored twice in the second period for UMD, his first two home goals of the season. He also missed on a late partial break that could have given UMD the win, but it was good to see Toninato take advantage of a couple great chances in the middle frame. By no means has he struggled this season -- he's probably been UMD's best center from the outset of the season -- but the offense hasn't come like most of us had probably expected.

Lots of good to solid performances on this night. Toninato had two goals and six shots. Iafallo had the shootout goal and four shots in the game. Freshman Joey Anderson had eight shots on goal. Hunter Miska made some spectactular saves among his 23 on the night. Jared Thomas won 11 of 15 faceoffs.

The power play got only the one Toninato goal late in the second on four chances, but it produced 11 shots on goal. UMD's penalty kill, victimized by six power play goals in Omaha, surrendered one in two chances Friday, but its successful kill included a minute of always-dangerous four-on-three time for the Mavericks.

UMD got things cranked up in the third period. Looked like UNO wore down a bit, and the Bulldogs were all over Omaha goalie Evan Weninger, who was rock-solid with 37 saves. UMD outshot the Mavs 14-10 in the third, then 5-0 in standard overtime. They stop counting the stats after that, but shots in the three on three overtime were 5-0, UMD.

The first period was a big box of strange. Never thought we'd get through ten minutes with just one shot for either team, and no one really remembered what that shot looked like. Both teams seemed to struggle handling the puck and advancing it in a way that anyone could make a play.

But once things cranked up in the second, it was just as enjoyable as expected. In the end, UMD was probably the better team, but Weninger and a little luck allowed Omaha to grab a point and tie North Dakota -- a 3-1 loser to St. Cloud State in the other NCHC game Friday -- for fourth place in the conference.

UMD is now two points up on Denver, but the three points available Saturday are absolutely essential. DU plays Colorado College home and home next week while the Bulldogs play against air.

That's about it for now. More before the game Saturday. Also, check out the UMD women as they go for a sweep against North Dakota Saturday afternoon. 3pm start, with $1 tickets available, or you can get in free by bringing a non-perishable food donation to the game. UMD won Friday 2-0 behind goals by Lara Stalder and Sidney Morin, along with 24 saves from sophomore goalie Maddie Rooney.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Miska, Bulldogs Survive Gopher Rally, Advance to North Star College Cup Final

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- All good things come to an end. UMD's winning streak over Minnesota, which dates back to a 4-3 loss in South Bend on Oct. 10, 2014, will eventually be broken.

But despite the best efforts of the Gophers, Friday wasn't the night.

Hunter Miska stood tall against a storm of third-period Minnesota shots, powered by four Gopher power plays in the frame, and UMD held on to beat Minnesota 3-2 in the semifinals of the North Star College Cup in St. Paul.

The reward? A fifth meeting with St. Cloud State Saturday night in the last NSCC championship game. That NON-TELEVISED game starts at 7pm, listen on 92.1 The Fan or via your desktop/mobile devices HERE.

Anyway, good game here Friday night. Minnesota pushed early, and got a power play goal from Brent Gates, Jr., for a 1-0 lead barely five minutes in. The Gophers then absorbed a pushback that started around the midway point of the period. UMD had some chances, but didn't bury anything until late in the first, when freshman Riley Tufte picked off a pass up the right-wing boards, walked to the middle, and sniped a sick wrist shot by Minnesota goalie Eric Schierhorn for a 1-1 tie.

From the outset of the second period, UMD was the better team. Minnesota took penalties :19 apart early for a long UMD five-on-three. It took 57 seconds, but UMD cashed in, as Joey Anderson's second effort at a cross-crease pass to Alex Iafallo worked, and Iafallo got the puck by Schierhorn for a 2-1 lead and his first goal in ten games. UMD dominated the period and outshot the Gophers 15-5, but Schierhorn stood tall the rest of the way and kept the margin one goal going into the third.

And when this Bulldog team needed a play, it was Tufte again.

UMD had to kill 3:46 of Minnesota power play time early in the third, including a 14-second five-on-three. The Gophers put up nine shots over that timeframe, but got nothing home. A little more than two minutes later, UMD had little going for itself before Tufte picked off a pass near the UMD blue line and sprung Avery Peterson for a breakaway. Peterson made no mistake, and UMD had a two-goal edge.

Minnesota kept pushing, but Miska kept the Gophers off the board until a late power play goal by Brent Gates that came after a dubious Peterson holding penalty in the neutral zone. The Gophers never got set up in the offensive zone in the final 39 seconds, and UMD had a seventh straight win over its longtime Interstate 35 rival.

It wasn't always pretty. The Bulldogs had to weather quite a storm in the third period. 36 of Minnesota's 69 shot attempts and 22 of the 39 shots on goal came in the third. To the credit of the UMD defense, only six of the 36 attempts came in the prime scoring area, but Minnesota had the puck a lot in the third, no doubt.

(Some of that was the 4-1 edge in power plays Minnesota enjoyed in the third. I'm not going to rag on the Big Ten officiating crew, but let's just say UMD fans should be happy to play in the NCHC, no matter how upset we may get with the officials in that league from time to time. The crews we had in both games Friday were inconsistent as all get out, and in the UMD game, instead of them calling a looser third, it was called much tighter than either of the first two periods. That was capped by the Peterson holding call, which was a hold but was eclipsed by three or four other plays -- both ways, to be fair -- earlier in the game. And for that matter, the contact UMD got on Schierhorn a couple times without a penalty far eclipsed the incidental contact made on Miska by Justin Kloos to draw a penalty in the first period. /rant)

It was one of Miska's strongest games. He saw the puck through screens, played it smartly, and made a couple athletic saves. Coming off the shutout of North Dakota Saturday, Miska showed no lag in his game and was the No. 1 star in our book.

******

What can be said about Tufte that hasn't already been said in the last couple weeks?

The sky's the limit at this point. Here's what Scott Sandelin said before Friday's game.

"It was nice and rewarding to see him finally get some goals. Who knows where he can go from here? He's a big body that's hard to contain around the net. Hopefully that will continue."

Before the season, we made it abundantly clear that Anderson was in a better position to make an immediate impact than Tufte. The draft is the draft. Teams are drafting based on pro potential, not potential college production or college readiness. Tufte, with that size and his hands, projects as a better pro than Anderson.

But what happened in the first half was not a shock. Maybe a bit surprising that Tufte was literally held without a point, especially over the last dozen or so games when he was doing a lot of things right and not getting rewarded for it. But Anderson out-producing Tufte shouldn't have made anyone do a double-take.

That said, what Tufte has done since the team returned from break is nothing short of remarkable. In the last five games, he has five goals and seven points. Two of those goals were unassisted, as he stole pucks and sniped shots by the respective goalies. The bottom line for Tufte is the development continues, the confidence grows, and he is going to continue to make quite the impact on this team.

With the emergence of Tufte and the addition of Peterson, UMD got a lot deeper. Once Parker Mackay returns from injury (this could happen as soon as the CC series if everything goes well, but worst case Mackay is back for the postseason), someone -- I'd think Mackay likely to start -- is dropping to the fourth line who hasn't been there really all year. Tough decisions are coming in that regard, but it's a good thing for a UMD team that keeps finding ways to win.

******

St. Cloud State advanced to the championship game by beating Bemidji State 2-1. Jacob Benson (power play) and Blake Winiecki (even strength) scored for SCSU, and Jeff Smith made 26 saves in goal for the Huskies. Zach Whitecloud scored the Beavers' only goal. Bemidji State plays Minnesota at 4pm in the third place game.

Should be a fun game. The Huskies are tough in the back, have horses up front, and could be vulnerable in goal. The series in Duluth two weekends ago was fun, and Saturday should be, too.

The other six NCHC teams battled it out for league points. In Oxford, Western Michigan got a second-period goal from Hugh McGing and held on to beat Miami 2-1. Cam Lee also scored for the Broncos, who got 20 saves from goalie Ben Blacker to stay in third place in the NCHC, nine points back of UMD now.

North Dakota rallied furiously from a 2-0 deficit to beat Colorado College 5-2. Duluth native Trevor Olson started the comeback with a second-period goal, then UND got goals in the third from Hayden Shaw, Dixon Bowen, Shane Gersich, and Joel Janatuinen to seal the deal. Matej Tomek started in goal for the injured Cam Johnson (lower body), but was pulled after the first period. Matt Hrynkiw got the win.

In Denver, the Pioneers ralled from a 2-0 hole of their own to win 5-3 over Omaha. Denver struck four times in the second, with Tyson McLellan, Henrik Borgstrom, Dylan Gambrell, and Will Butcher giving the Pioneers a 4-2 lead. Justin Parizek, Austin Ortega, and Mason Morelli had the UNO goals. Denver is within three points of UMD for first place in the conference, and will try to tie the Bulldogs in the standings Saturday.

******

If you can't get enough of me, I'm on the Sit Down & Cheer podcast, produced by the University of North Dakota. I joined UND sports information director Jayson Hajdu and longtime radio voice Tim Hennessy. It's over an hour long and was recorded after last Friday's UMD win in Grand Forks.

Also, I'll be on Beyond The Pond Saturday morning at 10:15 with Brandon Mileski and gang on KFAN in the Twin Cities. Hear it on 100.3 FM in the Cities, 92.1 FM in the Twin Ports, or online at kfan.com.

Going to effort getting SCSU coach Bob Motzko before the championship game Saturday. Also have a conversation from earlier this week with Tufte that I think you'll enjoy.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Bulldogs Shake Off More Adversity, Beat North Dakota

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- As if there hadn't been enough tests of UMD's resolve this season, here come two disallowed goals, including a literal buzzer-beater, in the first period. UMD sports information poobah Bob Nygaard couldn't think of the last time UMD had two goals disallowed in the same game, and he was certain it had never happened in the same period before.

So instead of being up 3-1 in Grand Forks after one period Friday night, UMD went to the room in a 1-1 game. A lesser team is rattled by this type of thing, wonders what it has to do to get a bounce.

Not this group.

Adam Johnson went coast to coast as a UMD power play came to an end early in the second to give the Bulldogs the lead for good at 2-1, UMD added two more in the second and went on to a 5-3 win over North Dakota in front of a packed Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Lots to digest from this game, and we'll get to Johnson's incredible goal and the second period surge it jump-started for UMD in a bit, along with the newly-formed UMD line that appears to be a beast for opponents to deal with, but first let's address the disallowed goals and get that out of the way.

On the first, with 4:41 left in the first period, Billy Exell appeared to score on a rebound. Jade Miller fired a puck to the front, across the UND goal crease. Sammy Spurrell collected and tried to jam it home, but UND goalie Cam Johnson came out and challenged. That caused Spurrell -- who was in the crease -- to roll over the top of the goalie. As that happened, Exell threw the puck home, a classic case of goalie interference, by the way it's written in the college hockey rulebook.

Argue it all you want, but Johnson has the first right to that space in the crease. If UND scores on Miska in similar fashion, you're all blowing up my Twitter and probably that of the league. You know this is true. It was a good call.

On the second, the puck legally crossed the goal line without a doubt, and it did so before the clock hit zeroes, except North Dakota challenged the Willie Raskob goal, saying UMD was offside on the zone entry. And UMD was offside. By a lot. Pretty easy call for the officials.

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That second disallowed goal came on a UMD power play that carried into the second period. At the tail end of it, Johnson took control of the puck deep in the UMD zone, went around the back of the net, and started up the rink. He didn't stop until he scored, giving UMD the advantage.

That play seemed to add even more jump to a UMD team that already had plenty of it. If there was any residual effect to the disallowed goals, it was gone. UMD had the lead it probably deserved at that point, and the Bulldogs didn't just try to defend it. They kept attacking.

Sammy Spurrell caught Cam Johnson napping at 5:58 and scored from the left corner to make it 3-1. That ended Johnson's night, as Matt Hrynkiw finished the game for UND. In seven previous appearances against UMD, Johnson had a 1.88 goals against and .943 save percentage. UMD touched him up for three goals on 15 shots in this game.

A Karson Kuhlman dump in bounced to the front of the net, where Avery Peterson beat Hrynkiw for a 4-1 lead late in the second. Hrynkiw had been sharp, but the puck bouncing back to the front appeared to make him freeze, instead of making an aggressive move that he seemed to have time to make.

UND got two in the third, but UMD was able to get a second Riley Tufte goal for big insurance.

The third period wasn't perfect from UMD, but the Bulldogs did enough to get their tenth NCHC win this season and move six points up on Denver for the top spot in the league (more on that in a bit). I wasn't a huge fan of how the Bulldogs finished this game, but the closer score was aided a bit by a Shane Gersich goal that shouldn't have counted. UND was offsides on the play, unquestionably, but UMD was unable to challenge the call because it had used its timeout in the second period.

All in all, UMD did a lot of things that have been difficult to do, most notably chase Cam Johnson from a game. Outside of some not-stellar moments in a pretty meaningless third period, it was as thorough a performance as I've ever seen from the Bulldogs in this building.

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It feels like UMD got two huge trade deadline acquisitions coming out of break. Peterson and Tufte have both been going, and the performance of that line with Kuhlman in this game was nothing short of prolific.

On this night: Three goals (two by Tufte), three assists (two by Kuhlman), six points (two from each player), 15 shots on goal (Kuhlman had six, Tufte five, and Peterson four), and each player was plus-three if you're into that sort of thing.

It's funny when people ask how this team has evolved. I don't think UMD has gotten worse or anything like that, but it's hard to point to many individual players who are a lot better now than they were, say, before Thanksgiving. But a huge, huge difference in this team now versus November is the play of Tufte and the addition of Peterson. As Dave Starman of CBS Sports Network noted in our chat Friday, there's no question Peterson is having fun again. Whatever happened in Omaha, he wasn't having fun at the rink. From the moment he arrived in Duluth, there's been a different chemistry with the team and staff that has brought out a different Avery Peterson. This version is much more dangerous, and it's a huge get for a team that didn't necessarily need to add a player of his caliber to win.

It also shows the character of everyone involved. Peterson has said it many times. He grew up playing against the other 218 kids on this team, and they would sometimes play together on select teams in the summer and fall. He knew a lot of them. But this team went into break at 12-3-3. They didn't necessarily need to add a piece. If Peterson wasn't such a great fit, maybe it screws with the chemistry and things that were already working. Instead, Peterson couldn't be a better fit, and he's enhanced this team in just the six games he's been able to play in. He's only going to get more comfortable, and look out, NCHC.

The Bulldogs are a sum-of-the-parts group, and while they strive for balance out of all four lines, they'll take what they're getting at the moment. With Parker Mackay out (upper body) for probably a month or more, this line is going to have plenty more chances to show what it can do.

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Elsewhere in the NCHC, St. Cloud State did UMD a huge solid. The Huskies got a tying goal in the second period from Jack Poehling, then younger brother Ryan scored the winner in overtime as SCSU topped Denver 3-2. Denver starting goalie Tanner Jaillet was pulled after allowing two goals on 30 shots over 40 minutes. Evan Cowley finished the game. As of this writing, there is no word on if Jaillet is healthy or was injured and had to come out of the game. According to reporters on site, Jaillet stayed on the DU bench, but that doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't injured enough to come out.

Duluth East grad Jake Randolph scored on a power play with 6:16 left in the third period as Omaha tied Miami 3-3 in Omaha. The RedHawks got the extra standings point on a three-on-three goal by Scott Dornbrock.

In Kalamazoo, Colt Conrad scored early in the third and Aaron Hadley added insurance late as Western Michigan recovered from kicking away a 2-0 lead and beat Colorado College 4-2.

In the NCHC standings, UMD leads Denver by six points, while third-place North Dakota and Western Michigan are 12 points out. Omaha and St. Cloud State are tied for fifth, with Miami one point behind in seventh. Everyone in the league except SCSU has two games in hand on the Bulldogs.

Saturday is a gigantic opportunity for the Bulldogs to effectively eliminate the defending regular season champs from the race. A win over North Dakota opens up a 15-point gap that is going to be exceptionally tough for UND to make up, even with two games in hand. And, again, UMD is out of league two of the next three weekends (the North Star Cup, then Omaha, then a bye), so points are essential right now.

It'll be interesting to see what happens to the UND lineup. Freshman Tyson Jost was injured at some point in the game and wasn't on the bench in the third period (good eye, Bruce). Defenseman Christian Wolanin was ejected for a check to the head on Peterson, and probably should face a suspension. I'd think Brad Berry comes back with Johnson in goal, but he's been pulled in his last two Friday starts and Hrynkiw was pretty good in relief.

No matter what, boy does UMD have a chance to do something I didn't think it would be able to do this weekend. Hopefully the Bulldogs seize the moment.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Better Effort for UMD, Same Result in Series Opening Loss to St. Cloud

Apologies for the late blog. Had a difficult conversation for breakfast in order to assure you an ELITE blog as a means of making up for my tardiness.

We talked during the week about UMD's lack of intensity and/or emotion in last week's series against Colorado College. If it was going to be an issue Friday, St. Cloud State shocked the Bulldogs into the game early when sophomore defenseman Will Borgen decked UMD sophomore Adam Johnson near the SCSU blue line. It was a clean hit all the way, but Johnson seemed jarred initially by it. He stayed in the game.

Unquestionably, UMD's intensity was better, and the Bulldogs played late in the game with a sense of urgency that was somewhat lacking last weekend as well. If you take the long view, these are good things, but they didn't lead to a better result, as UMD fell 2-1 for the second straight game. It's UMD's fourth one-goal loss out of five losses this season. More on that in a bit.

World Juniors gold medalist Jack Ahcan scored both goals for the Huskies, who started the second half of the season 1-3 and were swept at Miami last weekend. Freshman goalie Jeff Smith made 41 saves and made many of them look easy. Maybe they were, and UMD absolutely needs to do a better job of getting to the net. The Bulldogs scored eight goals in St. Cloud that weren't empty-net tallies. Of those, the Bulldogs got half of them by going to the net and either creating traffic or finding rebounds. UMD's only goal Friday -- the first of Riley Tufte's Bulldog career -- came from doing the same darn thing.

Smith kept himself in good position and made himself big by playing at the top of his crease. UMD did a number of good things in this game, but did not do nearly well enough making the goalie move laterally or make him sag deeper into the crease. For much of the night, UMD shot like a team that doesn't have a lot of confidence, putting pucks right in Smith's midsection.

Part of this is SCSU's defensive corps, which will be elite if its key pieces -- Ahcan, Borgen, Jimmy Schuldt, and Dennis Cholowski -- stay together (Schuldt should be a big-time free agent target for NHL teams once the season ends, Borgen is drafted by Buffalo, and Cholowski is a first-round pick by Detroit). Any team that wants to get to the dirty areas against these guys will have a hell of a challenge. They're good positionally, skate well, and are good with the puck. UMD is a forecheck team, and that forecheck struggled to get going on Friday.

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One guy SCSU couldn't stop on Friday was Tufte. In his 17th college game, Tufte finally got his first goal. It won't be his last.

I've been a staunch defender of Tufte's from the start. Yes, you could argue he should have played a year in Fargo. He decided junior hockey wasn't for him, and I can't be mad at that. He showed up in Duluth ready to work and eager to learn.

I don't care that the scoreline shows 1-1-2 in 17 games, which no one should be impressed by. As head coach Scott Sandelin says, they look beyond production when evaluating the players, and when you look beyond Tufte's production, you see development. Look no further than how Tufte played Friday versus how Tufte played the first time the Bulldogs met St. Cloud.

The Friday game in St. Cloud was probably the worst game Tufte's had. He struggled on the wall, losing races and battles, and was guilty of a couple garish turnovers. He rebounded and played better in the Saturday game, and he's been progressing steadily ever since.

This time around, Tufte was winning those wall battles, getting to the net, and creating havoc. That's how he scored, and he had a couple near-goals before that happened. There's no doubt Tufte's earning more ice time, probably earning more power play time (the power play really struggled on Friday), and he's getting better day by day.

Ultimately, that's all you can ask of a player. Improve every day. Tufte is, and he's showed these last three games that he will be an X-factor for UMD in the second half. He has been bumped to the top six, and I'd expect him to stay there.

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After the game, Sandelin hinted at potential line changes. There were a couple centers -- Johnson and Jared Thomas -- who had difficult moments. While Johnson stayed in the game after the Borgen hit, it seemed to jar him a bit. Johnson needs to use his speed to be at his most effective, and he wasn't always doing that on Friday. I'd argue Johnson has every tool in the toolbox, outside of a little more size, to be an effective pro. He has speed, good puck skills, and he has an uncanny ability to make plays while at full speed, something you can't teach and something the pro coaches love in a skill player.

But Johnson has to be more consistent. He needs to want the puck on his stick and he needs to get his feet going when he has it. I'm not sure moving him back to wing is the answer, because I do like him playing in the middle where he can be more of a factor, but when he isn't going at his peak he struggles as a center.

Thomas hasn't scored since October 2015, a span of too many games to count. He's had some really good moments in there. As an example, I liked his game last Friday against Colorado College. He was good on draws, moved the puck well, was fine defensively, and was probably UMD's most consistent physical forward in that game.

Against St. Cloud State, he had a couple garish turnovers in the defensive zone that nearly led to Huskies goals, and he wasn't strong on a power play that was largely ineffective in five chances (four, really, since the officials saw fit to wipe out a UMD power play with a terrible goalie interference call on Neal Pionk).

Thomas had been UMD's most consistent faceoff man in the first part of the season. Over the first 14 games, he was only under 50 percent on draws three times. In the seven games since, it's happened five times. He's 39-for-84 in the circle since the first break, which came after the Omaha series ended Nov. 19.

Scoring goals can only get you so far as a player. I'd argue Thomas has been fairly effective this season, even though it's clear his confidence has been shaken a bit by this scoring slump. He's found goalposts and missed the net on golden opportunities this season, and I can't help but feel for someone who has shown themselves perfectly capable but appears to be absolutely snakebit in front of the net. But if he isn't going to score, he has to do other important things -- i.e. win faceoffs, get to the net, be effective defensively -- well. Hopefully he can get back to that and cement his spot in this lineup as a result.

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The sky is not falling. UMD has lost five of 21 games this season. Four of them (FOUR!) have been by one goal. Games only get tighter in the second half of the season, so the Bulldogs have to be more effective around the net to be successful.

After a "hot" start in one-goal games, UMD is now 4-4 in those situations this season. Yes, there have been some other games where UMD got empty-net goals to widen the final margin, but we've talked about this before. A great record in one-goal games indicates some fortune. UMD had it early, not so much as of late.

The power play has to get going. UMD has 17 power play goals on 158 power play shots, a 10.5 shooting percentage that is only one point higher than its overall shooting percentage of 9.5 this season. To contrast, UMD's opponents have a shooting percentage of 13.8 on the power play, 9.1 overall.

The power play had been okay, even when not scoring. The game-by-game stats I keep show that it was generating opportunities, and outside of consistently scoring goals the power play was passing the eye test. It was not effective on Friday.

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Elsewhere in the NCHC, Miami put up five third period goals to beat North Dakota 6-3 in Grand Forks. Anthony Louis, Carson Meyer, Karch Bachman, Ryan Siroky, and Louie Belpedio struck for the RedHawks, with Bachman's goal giving Miami a 4-3 lead and chasing UND starting goalie Cam Johnson. Matej Tomek took over and allowed two more goals on five shots. Ryan Larkin made 30 saves in goal for Miami, which has quietly won five in a row.

Fredrik Tiffels scored the winning goal on a five-minute Western Michigan power play, and the Broncos went on to take down No. 1 Denver 3-0 in Kalamazoo. Ben Blacker got the shutout for WMU, while Chris Dienes and Sheldon Dries tallied empty-net goals.

In Colorado Springs, Tyler Vesel scored twice, Jake Randolph had two assists, and Omaha beat Colorado College 5-2. Vesel scored his power play goals after Brandon Makara gave CC a 1-0 lead in the first period. After tough weekend at home against North Dakota where the Fighting Hawks scored 16 goals, UNO got a sound night from goalie Kris Oldham, who made 26 saves.

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Before I go, a shoutout to the UMD women's hockey team, which beat Minnesota 3-2 Friday at Amsoil Arena. The Bulldogs got a third-period goal by Katherine McGovern to provide the winning margin, as each team struck twice in the third period. UMD got goals from Kateřina Mrázová in the first period and Lara Stalder -- who had assists on the other Bulldog goals -- in the second. Kelly Pannek and Sarah Potomak had the Minnesota goals, both on third-period power plays as the Gophers went two-for-two on the power play. Minnesota has scored six power play goals on 12 chances against UMD over three games, accounting for six of the nine goals the Gophers have over those three meetings.

Maddie Rooney, who has been a rock in goal for UMD, made 15 of her 28 saves in the third period. UMD led in shots 35-30, and picked up its first win over Minnesota in exactly five years (last one was Jan. 13, 2012). The teams play again at 3pm Saturday.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Bulldogs Get Late Pionk Goal for Tie

When the chips were down Friday night, UMD did what it's done for most of the 2016-17 season.

It found a way.

Friday's game was far from pretty, certainly leaving much to be desired on the Bulldogs' side, but UMD was able to grind out a 2-2 tie against last-place Colorado College at Amsoil Arena.

Sophomore defenseman Neal Pionk's rocket of a one-timer beat CC goalie Alex Leclerc with 41.7 seconds left in the third period to tie the game. After a scoreless overtime, the teams went to three-on-three overtime for an extra point in the NCHC standings. It was actually four-on-three, as a UMD power play carried over, and Pionk buried another blast from up high to end the game and get the Bulldogs that valuable point.

Lots to talk about here, and I'm going to try to be somewhat brief while covering as much as possible.

First, the Friday game. Not nearly good enough from UMD overall on this night, especially in the second period. The Bulldogs looked good at the start of the game, playing with some energy, but struggling to get a lot of quality scoring chances. The Tigers have played much better defensive hockey over a stretch that is now seven games, and they showed why in this game, frustrating the Bulldogs and limiting those grade-A opportunities.

Avery Peterson got his first in a Bulldog uniform with 6:04 left in the first, banking a shot in off a CC defenseman. Things were looking good less than 90 seconds later, when UMD was set to start its second power play of the game. That's where things started to turn the wrong direction. Luc Gerdes set up Sam Rothstein for a pretty short-handed goal to tie the game, and the Bulldogs fell a little flat for the better part of 20 minutes after that happened.

The second period might have been the worst of 57 20-minute periods UMD has played this season to this point. Just not much went right, from Peterson getting ejected for a hit from behind -- the first major called on UMD this season -- to Colorado College taking the lead 30 seconds into the power play, to the Bulldogs failing to execute much of anything in the offensive zone for a good chunk of the stanza.

Things did start to change in the third period. UMD looked sharper and started getting some pucks on Leclerc, who made a couple really good stops on in-close shots to keep it 2-1. Out of a UMD timeout with 48 seconds left, Dominic Toninato won a key faceoff, and Adam Johnson put the puck on a tee for Pionk on the left side. Tic-tac-toe-blast-twine-tie.

It appeared CC coach Mike Haviland wanted a pick called on the faceoff, but his efforts were in vain. It might be something to watch for in Saturday's rematch, as UMD didn't get the benefit of a couple potential faceoff interference calls, either.

Pionk's three-on-three goal was a missile from the high slot that Leclerc didn't really have a chance on.



Shot attempts in the third period and overtime were 38-6 in UMD's favor, and shots on goal were 24-3 for UMD. To get that kind of rebound performance after a rough second period -- again -- shows the kind of resolve in the group right now.

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UMD chose to sit freshman forward Joey Anderson for Friday's game. Anderson is optimistic about returning Saturday, but it isn't a guarantee. I do think he'll play, as long as he is able to get some rest. When I spoke to Anderson before Friday night's game, he said he hadn't slept since the USA-Canada World Junior game the night before.

Assuming Anderson plays, Sandelin will have to scratch two forwards for the first time this season. Nothing about this will be easy, and even tougher than figuring out who has to sit will be drawing up the lines.

So IF Anderson plays, here's a primer on what to watch for.

First off, I don't see any way the top line in this scenario isn't Toninato with Alex Iafallo and Anderson. Why mess with a line that was so good before Christmas?

That's where it gets complicated. Adam Johnson played well after being moved back to center Friday when Peterson got ejected. Kraig Karakas was right to recommend Johnson stay at center, and it makes sense to have him on the second line. That leaves three centers -- Peterson, Jared Thomas, and Sammy Spurrell -- to center two lines. I believe all five play, and I think Peterson is the most likely candidate to move to wing.

Spurrell and Billy Exell aren't coming out of the lineup when they're as good as they are at killing penalties. Riley Tufte continues to play well. He isn't going to eat popcorn during the games. Guys like Karson Kuhlman, Parker Mackay, Kyle Osterberg, etc., aren't getting scratched.

I believe Jade Miller -- who started well and has not really had any cover-your-eyes games -- is going to be the odd man out.

Taking a total stab at the potential lines:

Iafallo - Toninato - Anderson
Osterberg - Johnson - Kuhlman
Tufte - Thomas - Mackay
Peterson - Spurrell - Exell

This looks a lot like lines from earlier in the season, only with Peterson instead of Miller on the fourth line. If Tufte warrants more of a look, maybe swap him with Osterberg and give that third line a bit more speed.

Either way, UMD has plenty of options, and this is a nice problem to have.

That's all for now. Check Twitter @BruceCiskie for more. Chat with the actual lines before Saturday's game.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Big Second Period Lifts UMD to Seventh Straight Win

MINNEAPOLIS -- When North Dakota took a 1-0 lead just 49 seconds into Friday's NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal at Target Center, it set off quite the celebration for most of the 10,000-plus in attendance, the vast majority of whom were North Dakota supporters.

The Fighting Hawks, 4-0 against UMD on the season coming in, had the lead through a period and their adversary looked a tad tentative. UMD settled in defensively after the Nick Schmaltz goal, but never really found any footing in the offensive zone. UND blocked seven Bulldog shots and Cam Johnson managed seven saves on as many shots in the first.

But the second period -- statistically unkind to the Bulldogs all season -- was good to UMD on this day. The Bulldogs put up a three-spot in the second and went on to a 4-2 win over North Dakota, advancing to their first NCHC title game. UMD faces second-seeded St. Cloud State, a 4-2 winner over Denver, in the championship Saturday at 7:30.

As has been the case throughout what is now a seven-game winning streak, UMD's big guns were, well, big. Dominic Toninato scored the first and last goals, Alex Iafallo and Adam Johnson each had two points, and Willie Raskob picked up two assists.

Toninato's first goal came on a "How did he do that?" shot, top shelf from basically the extended goal line to the left of UND's goalie Cam Johnson. Raskob forced a turnover to hold the puck in the zone at the left point to set up Toninato's chance. Iafallo gave UMD the lead less than four minutes later off a great sequence of passes, Adam Johnson to Raskob to Iafallo at the goalcrease.

The UMD power play wasn't a big hit on Friday, going scoreless in four chances, including a 1:18 five on three in the second period shortly after the Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead. UMD had four shots in the two-man advantage, then hit a pipe after UND got a guy back on the ice.

Both teams traded quality offensive zone time, but UMD turned a good shift into a third goal at the 12:24 mark, when Austin Farley tipped a Willie Corrin shot and tucked it behind the crossbar. North Dakota grinded out a very good shift of its own a little while later, with Troy Stecher cutting the UMD lead to one with five minutes remaining in the period.

Defensively, UMD played a very strong third period, holding UND to 18 shot attempts (eight blocked) and five shots on goal. Kasimir Kaskisuo was up to the task, stopping all five and 22 of 24 on the afternoon/evening. Toninato got the UMD insurance goal with 5:58 left when he blasted home a shot from the slot after an errant centering pass became available and no one picked him up.

For UMD, it was a form of justice. After losing four times in four meetings and scoring only two goals on 139 shots on Cam Johnson, UMD made its 26 shots count on Friday, netting four goals and finally cracking one of the nation's best goaltenders. UMD played well enough to win probably three of the five meetings, but will settle for this very significant victory.

Some notes from the season-long Excel spreadsheet:

--> For the first time this season, UMD has been outshot at even strength in consecutive games (12-8 by Miami, 22-21 by UND). The Bulldogs are now 4-3 this year when outshot at even strength, including wins in three straight games where it's happened.

--> Tony Cameranesi (1-7-8) has points in a season-high seven straight games.

--> Going back to Jan. 30, Alex Iafallo is 5-8-13 in the last 13 games.

--> Would anyone be surprised if I said Karson Kuhlman was the only UMD player with at least one shot on goal in every game so far (four on Friday)?

--> Defenseman Willie Corrin is 1-3-4 in the last four games.

--> Friday the first two-point game in the career of freshman forward Adam Johnson. Won't be the last.

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What does it mean? Well, I waited to file this until all of Friday's game were over. And the results didn't go enough in UMD's favor.

Because of Northeastern's win over Boston College in the Hockey East semifinals Friday night, the Bulldogs should bank on winning the NCHC title to punch their ticket. If Northeastern and Minnesota win their respective conference titles, there will be no at-large bid available for the Bulldogs to grab should they not beat St. Cloud State.

If Michigan beats the Gophers or UMass-Lowell beats Northeastern, UMD is in, I believe, regardless of its result against St. Cloud State. But the Big Ten final starts at 7pm, so unless the Hockey East game (6pm start) goes UMD's way, we'll be deep into the SCSU game before we know anything meaningful.

#JustWinBaby