Minnesota Duluth improved a few trouble spots tonight in defeating Providence College of Hockey East 5-2 in a nonconference college men's hockey game before 2,012 fans at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I.
The No. 15-ranked Bulldogs (2-3) broke a three-game losing streak in its first road game of the season and defeated Providence (2-1) for a fourth straight time in the series.
After a pair of 5-4 home losses to Minnesota last weekend, UMD coach Scott Sandelin asked his team for improvements in special teams play, defense and goaltending.
The Bulldogs were 1-of-4 on power plays, defused all six Providence power plays and got 23 saves from senior goalie Kenny Reiter in his 31st career victory. Senior center Travis Oleksuk, who leads UMD's scoring, boosted his career goal total to 30 with a pair of goals.
"We were good defensively, we controlled the puck, Kenny did his job, and the second and third periods we were particularly good," said Sandelin. 'Once we had a two-goal lead we did a good job of shutting them down."
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UMD led 1-0 just 3:11 into the game as Keegan Flaherty drove to the net, took a Scott Kishel pass, and scored past goalie Alex Beaudry. Providence made it 1-1 before Oleksuk and Mike Seidel combined for goals two minutes apart early in the second period.
The Bulldogs led in shots 32-25 in their first trip to Providence since November 1998.
After former Cloquet-Esko-Carlton defenseman David Brown, a Providence senior center, cut the lead to 3-2 after two periods, UMD dominated the final 20 minutes.
Oleksuk scored just 57 seconds into the third period and freshman Caleb Herbert earned his third goal of the season on a power play with 5:14 to play.
Providence, picked to finish last in Hockey East, opened the season at home last weekend with wins over Boston University and Massachusetts, scoring 11 goals total. First-year Providence coach Nate Leaman was facing UMD for the first time since March when he was behind the Union College bench in a 2-0 loss in the NCAA East Regional semifinals.
Minnesota Duluth 1-2-2--5
Providence 1-1-0--2
First period -- 1. UMD, Keegan Flaherty 2 (Scott Kishel), 3:11; 2. Providence, Andy Balysky 1 (Kevin Hart), 11:31. Penalties -- Robert Maloney, Providence (tripping), 3:19; Justin Crandall, UMD (holding), 8:10; Flaherty, UMD (interference), 16:02; Wade Bergman, UMD (roughing), 18:11; Tim Schaller, Providence (roughing), 18:11; Caleb Herbert, UMD (slashing), 18:56.
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Second period -- 3. UMD, Travis Oleksuk 5 (Joe Basaraba, Max Tardy), 5:53; 4. UMD, Mike Seidel 4 (J.T. Brown, Brady Lamb), 7:52; 5. Providence, David Brown 1 (Barrett Kaib, Billy Simon), 10:16. Penalties -- Dan DeLisle, UMD (holding), 16:17; Steven Shamanski, Providence (slashing), 18:54.
Third period -- 6. UMD, Oleksuk 6 (Seidel, Lamb), :57; 7. UMD, Caleb Herbert 3 (Tardy, Chris Casto), 14:46 (pp). Penalties -- Casto, UMD (slashing), 7:07; Hart, Providence (hitting from behind), 13:22; Derik Johnson, UMD (roughing), 15:09; Lamb, UMD (hitting after whistle), 15:40; Derek Army, Providence (hitting after whistle), 15:40; Brown, Providence (charging), 18:01.
Shots on goal -- UMD 9-10-13--32, Providence 13-7-5--25. Goalies -- Kenny Reiter (2-2), UMD (25 shots-23 saves); Alex Beaudry (2-1), Providence (32 shots-27 saves). Power plays -- UMD 1-of-4, Providence 0-of-6. Referees -- Tim Benedetto, Tom Quinn. Linesmen -- Bob Bernard, Chris Millea. A -- 2,012.
