ST. CLOUD - Minnesota Duluth freshman goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo’s night started off slow with just five saves in the first period.
Then things picked up.
Kaskisuo stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced in the second and third periods to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-1 win over St. Cloud State in NCHC play on Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
“They are a good team, a lot of offensive skill, good on the back end,” UMD freshman wing Karson Kuhlman said. “I think we played our systems well. Obviously they had a couple chances there and Kas came up big as well.”
Kaskisuo did make a number of big saves on Saturday to get the Bulldogs their first two-game sweep of the Huskies in St. Cloud since Nov. 12-13, 1999, but he’ll be the first to tell you that it was Kuhlman who made the biggest.
With less than six minutes to play in regulation and about nine skaters piled in front of the net, Kaskisuo got caught outside the crease to his left side in the scrum. The puck squirted out to an open Husky, but he couldn’t put the puck in the net thanks to a diving block by Kuhlman.
Plays like that are why Kaskisuo credited the guys in front of him for the victory Saturday.
“They played unreal. They basically won the game for us,” Kaskisuo said about the defensive. “We knew they were going to come hard and our defense kept them away.
“It was probably one of the easiest games this year, not too many quality opportunities for the Huskies.”
UMD sophomore center Dominic Toninato scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season 3:22 into the game to give UMD a 1-0 lead for the second night in a row. He was able to bank home the rebound from Justin Crandall’s initial shot.
Junior wing Austin Farley was credited with the Bulldogs second goal that put SCSU down 2-0 when the puck was popped up and over SCSU goaltender Charlie Lindgren - possibly by a Husky stick - during a traffic jam in front of the crease.
Sophomore wing Alex Iafallo later dished off to Crandall for the empty net goal that clinched the win.
“I like how we closed the game out,” UMD head coach Scott Sandelin said. “I think our guys buckled down and did a good job. We had some good opportunities to score by being in the right position at their end to build off the 2-1 lead, but their goalie made some big saves.”
St. Cloud State cut the margin to one 101 seconds into the second period on the power play when junior wing Joey Benik rushed through the UMD penalty kill and beat Kaskisuo with a wrister to the near side.
The Bulldogs were awarded a five-minute power play midway through the second period when SCSU first-line junior center Kalle Kossila was tossed from the game via a major and game misconduct for checking from behind after crushing Farley along the boards.
The Bulldogs were unable to build on their lead during the major penalty, however, partially because Toninato wiped out two minutes of it when he was called for slashing 2:44 into the extended advantage.
“Friday in the first period and this one (Saturday) is what you want on the road,” Sandelin said. “The second period kind of got disjointed with power plays and penalty kills, but I think we finally got back into a little bit more of a groove in the third period, similar to the first.”
Minnesota Duluth 2-0-0-0
St. Cloud State 0-1-0-0
First period - 1. UMD, Dominic Toninato 7 (Justin Crandall), 3:22; 2. UMD, Austin Farley 3 (Alex Iafallo, Andy Welinski), 19:23. Penalties - Jonny Brodzinski, SCSU (boarding), 16:54; Dominic Toninato, UMD (slashing), 19:56.
Second period - 3. SCSU, Joey Benik 4 (Mika Ilvonen, Andrew Prochno), 1:41 (pp). Penalties - Willie Raskob, UMD (interference), 3:17; Jarrod Rabey, SCSU (hooking), 8:26; Kalle Kossila, SCSU (major and game misconduct for checking from behind), 10:10; Dominic Toninato, UMD (slashing), 12:54.
Third period - 4. Justin Crandall 3 (Alex Iafallo), 18:59 (en). Penalties - Dominic Toninato, UMD (holding), 0:12.
Shots on goal - UMD 15-9-5-29; SCSU 5-13-10-28. Goalies - Kasimir Kaskisuo, UMD (28 shots-27 saves); Charlie Lindgren, SCSU (28-26). Power plays - UMD 0-of-3; SCSU 1-of-3. Referees - Ian Croft, Joe Sullivan. Linesmen - Brandon Polich, Jeff Schultz. A - 4,618.
