GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND Athletics)– No. 2/4 North Dakota exploded for six goals to notch its fourth straight win and improve to 3-0-0 in NCHC play with a 6-4 victory over Miami on Friday night from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
UND (8-2-1, 3-0-0 NCHC) received points from eight different forwards, including five with multiple points, to match the best start for the program through 11 games since the 2020-21 season.
Forward Jackson Blake led the way once again, potting a goal and adding two assists for his fourth game this season with three points while fellow sophomore Owen McLaughlin extended his career-long point streak to five games with a goal and an assist.
Lindenwood transfer Hunter Johannes opened the scoring in the first period with a power play goal to give UND a 1-0 lead at the 11:59 mark of the opening stanza with his sixth goal of the season before setting up Jayden Perron less than three minutes later for his sixth goal of the year to make it 2-0 for the Fighting Hawks after 20 minutes.
McLaughlin and the top line took over in the middle stanza, with the Spring City, Pa., native increasing the advantage to 3-0 on a perfect passing play with Blake, but Miami (4-6-1, 0-5-0 NCHC) scored two goals in 51 seconds to quickly trim the lead back to one at 3-2 near the midway point of the contest.
Blake added a goal of his own a few minutes later, collecting a loose puck off a defender’s stick and swatting it into the net for his team-leading seventh strike of the campaign before McLaughlin made a great move around his defender and slid a pass over to Carson Albrecht on a 2-on-1 rush to push the lead back to three after 40 minutes at 5-2.
It took just seven seconds into the final frame for NoDak to grab its largest lead of the contest, with Dylan James potting his first goal of the season on a great individual rush. Miami cut the deficit back to two with a pair of goals in the final two-plus minutes, but UND held on for the 6-4 victory in the series opener.
North Dakota will go for its second straight sweep on Saturday night at 6:07 p.m. from the Ralph. Fans can catch the game on Midco Sports, NCHC.tv or the Home of Economy Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- UND improves to 26-8-1 all-time against Miami and 12-3-2 in Grand Forks
- The Hawks have scored at least five goals in six of the last nine meetings with MU
- Riese Gaber now has 17 points in 10 career games against Miami
- Jackson Blake also has 11 points in five games vs. MU
- Blake recorded his fourth game this season with three points and his 17th multi-point game of his career
- Carson Albrecht notched his first-career game with multiple points
- Cameron Berg dished out two assists
- Blake, McLaughlin and Johannes were named the game’s three stars, in that order
- UND finished with a 42-13 shot advantage
- Both teams went 1-for-1 on the power play
- NoDak scored first for the 10th time this season, improving to 8-1-1 when doing so
- UND is also 6-0-0 this season when taking a 2-0 lead
- Bennett Zmolek blocked three shots to lead all skaters
- Johannes has scored in five of the seven home games this season
- UND is 77-5-3 when scoring at least four goals since 2018-19 and 5-0-0 this season
- NoDak improved to 90-6-3 when leading after two periods since 2018-19 and 7-0-0 in 2023-24
- North Dakota finished with a 31-20 faceoff advantage, with Cameron Berg leading UND at 11-7
How It Happened
First Period
11:59 | UND – Hunter Johannes rifles home a one-time pass from Cameron Berg on the power play
14:32 | UND – Jayden Perron follows his own shot to increase the lead to 2-0
Second Period
07:52 | UND – Owen McLaughlin finishes off a pretty play from Jackson Blake to make it 3-0 UND
09:19 | MU – PJ Fletcher gets Miami on the board with his fourth goal of the season
10:10 | MU – Matthew Barbolini fires it in off the rush to cut the deficit to 3-2 just 51 seconds later
12:42 | UND – Jackson Blake extends the lead to 4-2 by sneaking one through the 5-hole
16:21 | UND – Carson Albrecht taps home his first of the season on a 2-on-1 rush with McLaughlin
Third Period
00:07 | UND – Dylan James pots his first of the year off a rush just seconds into the third to make it 6-2 UND
17:32 | MU – Spencer Cox fires a shot through traffic on a 4-on-3 power play
19:57 | MU – Blake Mesenburg scores off a deflection in the dying seconds to cut the lead to 6-4
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 11/17/2023 11:01:00 PM | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com