St. Cloud 6
UMD 5
ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Minnesota Duluth was looking for more than a road victory Saturday night at the National Hockey Center.
The Bulldogs sought to avoid slipping into a rut that defined their first half of the season.
An uninspired loss Friday to No. 3-rated St. Cloud State kept UMD tied for ninth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association men's race and left the Bulldogs with just one win in their last 15 regular-season league road games.
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And it caused coach Scott Sandelin to consider benching some of his players for Saturday's rematch as he did in Friday's third period.
UMD responded with a considerably better effort, yet was done in by a Matt Hartman goal with 52 seconds remaining as the Huskies won 6-5 in front of a sellout crowd of of 6,151. The Huskies (16-4-4 and 10-4-4 WCHA) are now 14-1-4 the past 19 games.
UMD (8-16-3 and 5-13-2) had two goals and two assists from senior center Bryan McGregor and his right winger Mason Raymond had five assists, one short of tying the school single-game record.
For the Huskies, Andreas Nodl, Andrew Gordon and Justin Fletcher each had a goal and two assists. Ryan Lasch shot from the slot on the winning play and Hartman deflected the puck down and it dribbled in.
Coming into Saturday, St. Cloud State All-American goalie Bobby Goepfert had recorded consecutive shutouts and a scoreless streak of 127 minutes, 52 seconds. However, Goepfert got a night off as coach Bob Motzko started undefeated freshman Jase Weslosky (4-0 with a .961 save percentage), while freshman Alex Stalock went for UMD.
Each team connected on its first power play early in the first period. St. Cloud State junior right winger Andrew Gordon, tied for the WCHA scoring lead, finished a 2-on-1 break at 5:03 for his 16th goal of the season.
The Huskies, the least-penalized WCHA team, lost center Nate Raduns at 6:26 when called for a checking-from-behind major on UMD's Mason Raymond. The Bulldogs needed just 38 seconds of that five-minute man advantage to tie it on MacGregor Sharp's tip from the crease. That broke a UMD scoreless streak of 103 minutes, including Friday's 5-0 loss.
Star freshman Andreas Nodl of Austria converted from the left edge of the crease in a 4-on-4 shift at 9:55 to put the Huskies ahead before UMD made it 2-2 with 5:47 left. Bryan McGregor made UMD put a power-play shot just inside the left pipe, with St. Cloud State's John Swanson off for holding Sharp.
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After getting zero shots on goal in Friday's first period, UMD had nine Saturday.
A furious second period left the teams tied 4-4. The Huskies scored twice in 25 seconds in the first two minutes for a 4-2 lead, as winger Ryan Lasch converted a power play and center Matt Hartman followed at 2:00.
UMD took at timeout and 21 seconds later got a Michael Gergen goal from the slot when the Huskies couldn't clear the puck. When Nodl went off for slashing UMD's Matt Niskanen, the Bulldogs pulled even with 9:59 left in the second period on Niskanen's drive from the left circle.
Three straight power plays, including 32 seconds of a 5-on-3, gave St. Cloud State a chance to regain the lead later in the period, but the Bulldogs closed the door.
Yet a fourth straight power play gave the Huskies a 5-4 lead at 2:23 of the third period on Justin Fletcher's goal. UMD counter-punched 3:44 later on a power play as Sharped pass across the crease, right to left, and McGregor scored at 6:07. That left the Bulldogs 4-of-6 with a man-advantage.
The Bulldogs had won just two of the last 12 games against St. Cloud State.
Before the game, Sandlein changed three of four forward lines and kept seniors Matt McKnight and Ryan Geris in street clothes.
UMD is home for its final nonconference game Wednesday against Northern Michigan and is off this weekend.
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Minnesota Duluth....2-2-1--5
St. Cloud State....2-2-2--6
First period - 1. St. Cloud State, Andrew Gordon 16 (Justin Fletcher, Matt Stephenson), 5:03 (pp); 2. UMD, MacGregor Sharp 9 (Mason Raymond, Bryan McGregor), 7:04 (pp); 3. St. Cloud State, Andreas Nodl 12 (Fletcher, Gordon), 9:55 (4x4); 4. UMD, McGregor 6 (Raymond, Sharp), 14:13 (pp). Penalties - Jay Cascalenda, UMD (interference), 1:46; Nate Raduns, St. Cloud State (5-minute checking from behind major, game disqualification), 6:26; Matt Greer, UMD (holding), 9:34; John Swanson, St. Cloud State (holding), 14:00; Casey Borer, St. Cloud State (high-sticking), 17:36.
Second period - 5. St. Cloud State, Ryan Lasch 11 (Nodl, Fletcher), 1:35 (pp); 6. St. Cloud State, Matt Hartman 3 (Ryan Peckskamp, Jon Ammerman), 2:00; 7. UMD, Michael Gergen 5 (McGregor, Raymond), 2:21; 8. UMD, Matt Niskanen 8 (Raymond, Meyers), 10:01 (pp). Penalties - Jeff McFarland, UMD (tripping), 1:01; Gergen, UMD (tripping), 4:42; Nodl, St. Cloud State (slashing), 9:30; Nick Kemp, UMD (hooking), 10:40; Niskanen, UMD (high-sticking), 12:23; Chase Ryan, UMD (interference), 13:52.
Third period - 9. St. Cloud State, Fletcher 3 (Nodl, Gordon), 2:23 (pp); 10. UMD, McGregor 7 (Sharp, Raymond), 6:07 (pp); 11. St. Cloud State, Hartman 4 (Lasch); 19:08. Penalties - Greer, UMD (interference), 1:43; Nodl, St. Cloud State (slashing), 5:34; Jordan Fulton, UMD (slashing), 12:28; Ryan, UMD (slashing), 17:19; Dan Kronick, St. Cloud State (roughing), 17:19.
Shots on goal - UMD 9-9-5-23, St. Cloud State 9-7-12-28. Goalies - Alex Stalock (5-13-3), UMD (28 shots-22 saves); Jase Weslosky (5-0), St. Cloud State (23 shots-18 saves). Power plays - UMD 4-of-6, St. Cloud State 3-of-9. Referee - Marco Hunt. Assistants - Tony Lancette, Craig Martin. A - 6,151.
