Fighting Hawks will open NCHC quarterfinals at home
OMAHA, Neb. (UND Athletics)– For the first time since Jan. 22, No. 4 North Dakota felt the sting of a regulation loss as the 20th-ranked Mavericks skated away with a 4-1 victory on Saturday night from Baxter Arena.
UND (22-12-1, 17-6-1-1-1-1 NCHC) will most likely enter the postseason portion of the NCHC slate as the No. 2 seed and against Colorado College in the quarterfinals, as Denver holds a lead over the Tigers in their finale. A regulation win by the Pioneers would give them the top seed due to holding more regulation wins than the Fighting Hawks, since the two teams did not play four times.
Jakob Hellsten, making his first start since Jan. 29 against St. Cloud State, stopped 19-of-23 thrown his way, but Isaiah Saville made 30 saves for the Mavericks (21-15-0, 11-13-0-2-1-0 NCHC) to help them avoid their first sweep at home since Dec. 2019.
It was a fairly uneventful first period for about 17 minutes, but Omaha took advantage of a mistake to take the lead. Following a diving save from Hellsten, Chayse Primeau potted the rebound to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Primeau struck again just four minutes into the second period, squeezing a shot between the post and Hellsten’s pads after a ricochet off the boards to extend the Omaha lead to 2-0. The Mavericks pushed the advantage to 3-0 on the power play with just six minutes to play in the stanza off a scramble in front of the net.
North Dakota jumped on board on a power play of its own late in the second, when Judd Caulfield buried his own rebound just eight seconds into the advantage to cut the lead to 3-1. The goal was the 10th on the season for the junior and his sixth over the last 10 games.
UND had a pair of glorious chances to cut the deficit to just one in the final minute of the second, but Saville made back-to-back stops on Ashton Calder and Jake Schmaltz to keep the hosts in the lead by two, 3-1, after two periods.
After a failed power play from both teams, Omaha extended the lead to 4-1 near the midway point of the third period when a loose puck came to Nate Knoepke who wired his first goal of the year to push the advantage back to three.
UND could not get any closer, as Omaha picked up the 4-1 win.
North Dakota will return home to host the NCHC quarterfinals on Mar. 11 at 7:07 p.m. from Ralph Engelstad Arena.
NOTES: Jakob Hellsten made his first start in net for UND since Jan. 29 vs. St. Cloud State … Judd Caulfield now has 10 goals on the season … His five power play goals are good for second on the team … The loss is the first in regulation for North Dakota since Jan. 22 at Western Michigan, a string of 11 straight games … Omaha still has not been swept at home since Dec. 2019 … UND finished with a 31-23 shot advantage … Omaha went 1-for-5 on the power play while UND went 1-for-4 … UND finished with a 34-20 advantage in the circle … Connor Ford led UND with 16 wins on 24 draws.
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 3/5/2022 9:45:00 PM | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com