GRAND FORKS — No. 8 Minnesota Duluth is playing at No. 2 UND in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference semifinals in Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Time: 6:07 p.m.
Place: Ralph Engelstad Arena.
TV: Midco Sports (GF Ch. 27/622 HD), My9 in Duluth.
Stream:
NCHChockey.com/tv.
Radio:
The Fox (96.1 FM).
Minnesota Duluth 1, UND 0 — Callum Arnott 12 (Joey Pierce) 2:14. Pierce comes in the zone on a one-on-one rush with Jake Livanavage. He tries to shoot the puck, but Livanavage gets a piece of it. The puck trickles behind Livanavage and Pierce picks it back up and puts a shot on net. UND goalie Jan Špunar makes the initial save, but kicks the rebound out to Arnott, who finishes it for his 12th goal of the season.
Minnesota Duluth 2, UND 0 — Max Plante 23 (Ty Hanson) 7:16. Just after a UND power play expires, UND defenseman Keaton Verhoeff gets in a battle along the halfwall. Minnesota Duluth wins the battle and sends Plante on a two-on-two rush. He toe drags around Livanavage, who tries to deny a pass, then snipes it.
Minnesota Duluth 3, UND 0 — Jayson Shaugabay 11 (Callum Arnott, Luke Bibby) 1:26. Verhoeff jumps into the play in the offensive end, but it goes the other way on an odd-man rush. Bibby feeds Arnott cutting down the slot. Špunar makes the initial save, but Shaugabay follows it up and buries the rebound.
Minnesota Duluth 3, UND 1 — Dylan James 19 (Cole Reschny, E.J. Emery) 1:59. James gets the puck high in the zone, walks it to the middle to create a shooting lane, then snaps it through a Cody Croal screen for his 19th goal of the season. UND finally breaks through on Minnesota Duluth goaltender Adam Gajan on its 27th shot of the night.
Minnesota Duluth 4, UND 1 — Harper Bentz 5 (Adam Kleber, Zam Plante) 8:09. Verhoeff’s breakout pass gets intercepted in the neutral zone and Minnesota Duluth goes the other way on a rush. The Bulldogs don’t score initially, but they get the puck to Kleber at the point and his shot is redirected by Bentz in front.
Minnesota Duluth 5, UND 1 — Kyle Gaffney 4 (Luke Bibby, Riley Bodnarchuk) 12:49. Gaffney has the puck near the end line and launches a shot from an extreme angle that beats Špunar on the short side to ice the game.
Forwards
9 Will Zellers—29 Ellis Rickwood—21 Ben Strinden
7 Mac Swanson—17 Cole Reschny—24 Josh Zakreski
26 Dylan James—8 Ollie Josephson—19 Cody Croal
27 Anthony Menghini—20 Cade Littler—14 Tyler Young
Defensemen
4 Jake Livanavage—6 E.J. Emery
25 Abram Wiebe—18 Keaton Verhoeff
16 Andrew Strathmann—2 Bennett Zmolek
13 Sam Laurila
Goaltenders
35 Jan Špunar
31 Gibson Homer
1 Zach Sandy
Not in lineup: F Jack Kernan (illness), F David Klee, F Dalton Andrew, D Jayden Jubenvill, D Ian Engel
Forwards
10 Max Plante—27 Zam Plante—19 Harper Bentz
24 Scout Truman—23 Kyle Gaffney—11 Hunter Anderson
28 Luke Bibby—25 Callum Arnott—17 Jayson Shaugabay
13 Daniel Shlaine—38 Kyler Kovich—39 Trevor Stachowiak
Defensemen
2 Ty Hanson—6 Adam Kleber
8 Aaron Pionk—18 Joey Pierce
5 Brady Cleveland—37 Grayden Siepmann
20 Riley Bodnarchuk
Goaltenders
30 Adam Gajan
35 Ethan Dahlmeir
36 Cole Sheffield
Not in lineup: F Blake Bechen, F Braden Fischer, F Ryan Zaremba, D Jake Toll
Referees — Brian Hankes and Stephen Reneau
Linesmen — Kyle Stephens and Tyler Landman
Supervisors — Mike Schmitt and Thor Nelson
For the first time since Jan. 31, Minnesota Duluth is breaking up the big top line of Max Plante, Zam Plante and Jayson Shaugabay. The last time the Bulldogs did that, it only last about a period before coach Scott Sandelin put them back together. They’re keeping the Plante brothers together and putting them with Moorhead’s Harper Bentz. Shaugabay is playing with Luke Bibby and Callum Arnott. They’ll presumably be on the same power-play unit, though. . . UND also is flipping its lines, presumably to put Dylan James, Ollie Josephson and Cody Croal against the Plante line. . . UND has lost in the NCHC semifinals in four consecutive seasons. . . The teams split four games this season. The Bulldogs won a pair of overtime games. UND won a pair of regulation games.
By
Brad Elliott Schlossman
Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald’s circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at [email protected].
