UMD men's hockey off to best start since 2004

Goalie Aaron Crandall and left winger Dan DeLisle, roommates the past two years, earned milestone firsts Saturday night in leading No. 6-ranked Minnesota Duluth to a 6-0 victory over Alaska Anchorage for a Western Collegiate Hockey Association sweep at the DECC.

Crandall, a redshirt freshman from Lakeville, Minn., recorded his first collegiate shutout, while DeLisle, a sophomore from Arden Hills, Minn., scored his first two goals as a Bulldog.

Their efforts sparked unbeaten UMD to its best start since 2004-05, at 5-0-1, coming in front of the first home sellout of the season with 5,481 fans.

"No one was more excited than I was when (DeLisle) scored. That will skyrocket his confidence," said Crandall, 2-0 this season and on a scoreless streak of 119 minutes and 2 seconds. "I knew what to expect after playing my first (career) game last week, and it was easier because everyone was playing so hard in front of me."

UMD won 3-2 in overtime Friday, yet coach Scott Sandelin wasn't happy with the overall performance. He asked for more and got it, starting with a Travis Oleksuk goal 50 seconds into Saturday's game. Oleksuk, a second-line center, had two goals and an assist. DeLisle had two goals, Kyle Schmidt had a goal and an assist, and J.T. Brown and Keegan Flaherty each had two assists.

The Bulldogs killed all five Anchorage power plays and all eight in the series, and Oleksuk scored on a short-handed shift during a major penalty.

"We just competed more; we gave that little extra," said DeLisle, Chicago's third-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. "We knew we could do better, and it started with working to shut down Anchorage."

After falling behind in all but one of the season's first five games, the Bulldogs got on the board first, as Oleksuk drove a shot from the right circle to the short side past Anchorage freshman goalie Chris Kamal on the game's first shot on goal.

That stood after the first period, which still didn't sit well with Sandelin, who tossed a water bottle that exploded in a hallway.

In the second period, scoring leader Justin Fontaine finished off UMD's first power play at the left edge of the crease, knocking in a Jack Connolly pass at 3:43. DeLisle also scored right in front on a nice passing play with 2:44 left. In the third period, the Bulldogs scored on three of six shots on goal - Schmidt's bomb from the right circle, Oleksuk unassisted (with Mike Seidel off for contact to the head) and DeLisle's second with five seconds to play.

"The biggest difference between Friday and tonight is that their skill players made skill plays," said Anchorage coach Dave Shyiak. "We had chances, but we just weren't sharp around the net. They have upper-echelon players who are difference-makers."

The Bulldogs are tied for the WCHA lead with Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota at 2-0, and the Bulldogs and Michigan Tech (3-0-2) are the only remaining unbeatens in the league. UMD came into the game as the fourth-highest scoring team in Division I, averaging 4.80 goals a game. Fontaine ranked No. 2 in Division I, and Jack and Mike Connolly were in the top 10.

"Our last two periods were very good, very solid," said Sandelin. "We had good penalty killing, we got scoring from different players, our goalie was good. Our whole team was much better."

UMD faces its first WCHA road trip of the season this Friday and Saturday at first-year league member Bemidji State. The series is the second to be played in the new Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn.

Alaska Anchorage 0-0-0--0

Minnesota Duluth 1-2-3--6

First period -- 1. UMD, Travis Oleksuk 3 (Kyle Schmidt, J.T. Brown), :50. Penalties - Wade Bergman, UMD (interference), 3:57; Jack Connolly, UMD (holding), 16:24.

Second period -- 2. UMD, Justin Fontaine 4 (J. Connolly, Mike Connolly), 3:43 (pp); 3. UMD, Dan DeLisle 1 (Keegan Flaherty, Mike Seidel), 17:16. Penalties -- Alex Gellert, Anchorage (tripping), 2:46; DeLisle, UMD (boarding), 10:10; Chris Crowell, Anchorage (cross-checking), 14:23.

Third period -- 4. UMD, Schmidt 4 (Brown, Oleksuk), 5:44; 5. UMD, Oleksuk 4, 9:21 (sh); 6. UMD, DeLisle 2 (Keegan Flaherty), 19:55. Penalties - Brady Lamb, UMD (tripping), :53; Seidel, UMD (5-minute major contact to head and game misconduct, served by DeLisle), 7:32; J. Connolly, UMD (cross-checking), 13:50; Curtis Leinweber, Anchorage (cross-checking), 13;50.

Shots on goal -- Anchorage 11-6-9--26, UMD 8-13-6--27. Goalies -- Chris Kamal (0-2-1), Anchorage (27 shots-21 saves); Aaron Crandall (2-0), UMD (26 shots-26 saves). Power plays -- Anchorage 0-of-5, UMD 1-of-2. Referees - Marco Hunt, Derek Shepherd. Linesmen -- Sterling Egan, Brandon Polich. A -- 5,481.

Denver 2, Wisconsin 2

DENVER -- It took a while, but Denver's lineup change eventually paid dividends on Saturday.

Kyle Ostrow scored two third-period goals as Denver rallied to earn a 2-2 tie with Wisconsin in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game.

The Pioneers combined seniors Ostrow, Jesse Martin and Anthony Maiani on one line for the first time this season. Martin assisted on Ostrow's first goal and Maiani had one of the two assists on the tying goal. Ostrow's assist was the line's only point in Friday's 4-2 win.

Ostrow scored at 8:18 of the third period and again at 15:16 for the Pioneers (2-2-2, 1-0-1).

Wisconsin (3-2-1, 0-1-1) led early after a first-period goal by Mark Zengerle and a second-period goal by Sean Dolan. Zengerle also scored Friday in Denver's 4-2 win.

Colorado College 1, Minnesota State-Mankato 0

MANKATO -- Colorado College goalie Joe Howe made 35 saves and Stephen Schultz scored the game's only goal as Colorado College beat Minnesota State-Mankato 1-0 Saturday in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Howe set the tone with 16 saves in the scoreless first period. He had 12 more in the third while protecting a 1-0 lead by the Tigers (3-2-1, 1-1-0). Howe had 29 saves Friday in a 5-4 loss to the Mavericks (1-2-3, 1-2-1).

Mavericks goalie Phil Cook was equally impressive with 40 saves in 41 shots. He stopped 16 shots in the final period.

Maine 4, North Dakota 2

ORONO, Maine -- One night after becoming the 48th player in Maine hockey history to score 100 points, Gustav Nyquist added another goal and an assist Saturday as the Black Bears beat North Dakota 4-2 for a sweep of their weekend college hockey series.

Maine (2-1-2), which beat the Fighting Sioux 7-3 on Friday, scored four straight goals after North Dakota had taken an early lead. Nyquist, Joey Diamond, Brian Flynn and Spencer Abbott answered after Ben Blood had given second-ranked North Dakota a 1-0 lead midway through the second period.

Nyquist, a junior forward, had one of two Maine power-play goals. He assisted on Abbott's power-play tally early in the third period for a 4-1 lead. The Black Bears converted two of nine chances with a man advantage. North Dakota was 0-for-4.

Abbott also had an assist and Robby Dee assisted on two goals.

Matt Frattin, who also had an assist, scored his seventh goal of the season short-handed for North Dakota early in the third period. Evan Trupp assisted on both North Dakota goals.

Aaron Dell made 31 saves for the Fighting Sioux and Dan Sullivan stopped 23 for Maine.

North Dakota went into the series unbeaten at 3-0-1.