ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 6/7 North Dakota rallied from a pair of third period deficits and play to a 3-3 overtime tie against No. 13 St. Cloud State on Saturday night from the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.
While UND (16-6-2, 7-4-1 NCHC) runs its regulation unbeaten streak to 17 straight games, SCSU (11-7-4, 7-2-3 NCHC) earned the second point in the NCHC standings with a 2-1 shootout victory to bring both teams to a tie atop the league standings with 26 points.
North Dakota entered the third period trailing for only the fifth time all season, but once again overcame the pair of deficits on goals from Jake Livanavage and Cameron Berg to improve to 2-1-2 this season when trailing after 40 minutes.
Ludvig Persson was strong again between the pipes for NoDak, finishing with 32 saves on 35 shots against while SCSU goaltender Dominic Basse improved as the game went to tally 24 saves on 27 shots.
Jackson Blake stretched his point streak to six games with his 15th goal of the season while freshman Jayden Perron notched the first multi-point game of his career with a pair of assists on the two goals in the third period.
Unlike last night, North Dakota did not get off to a strong start and had to rely on its goaltender to keep the game close through the opening 20 minutes. Persson picked right up where he left last night, stopping 16-of-17 shots fired his way while the skaters blocked another six attempts to keep the game deadlocked after one.
St. Cloud State did finally breakthrough in the opening stanza, with Kyler Kupka finishing off a nice feed to give the hosts the 1-0 lead. It took only eight seconds for NoDak to respond, however, as Blake forced a turnover and fired one past the goaltender for his third goal of the weekend and a 1-1 tie.
UND was able to even the ice in the middle frame, but the Huskies grabbed a 2-1 lead late in the period when Grant Ahcan snuck a shot through the legs of Persson on a breakaway to send the hosts to the locker room with the lead after 40 minutes.
Trailing by a goal entering the third, UND quickly knotted the game at 2-2, as Jake Livanavage’s shot deflected off a SCSU stick and into the net just over two minutes into the stanza, but SCSU jumped back in front a little over a pair of minutes later off the rush to take a 3-2 lead.
NoDak rallied back again on a scramble in front of the net that found its way to Berg, who banked a shot off the goaltender and in to tie the game at 3-3 and send the contest into 3-on-3 overtime.
In the extra session, it was UND who dominated possession and generated multiple chances, but Basse was up to the task and stopped all six shot attempts thrown his way to finish the contest off as a 3-3 tie. The Huskies grabbed the extra point in the standings with a 2-1 shootout win, creating a tie for first between the two teams after the weekend.
North Dakota will return home to host nationally-ranked Denver in a series beginning Friday night from the Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Postgame Notes
- Hunter Johannes missed tonight’s game with a lower-body injury
- Ludvig Persson finished with 32 saves and improved to 13-6-2 this season
- SCSU recorded a 35-27 shot advantage, the first time UND has been outshot in both games in a series
- UND finishes the weekend with four points in the NCHC standings
- Jayden Perron dished out two assists for his first-career game with multiple points
- Jackson Blake extended his point streak to six games with a goal
- UND has now gone 17 straight games without a regulation loss
- NoDak is 2-1-2 this season when trailing after two
- UND won the faceoff battle, 26-25, with Cameron Berg finishing 10-7
- The Fighting Hawks improve to 2-4-2 in 3-on-3 overtime, snapping a streak of four straight losses
How It Happened
First Period
07:31 | SCSU – Kyler Kupka opens the scoring to give SCSU a 1-0 lead
07:39 | UND – Jackson Blake answers just eight seconds later on a breakaway to tie it at 1-1
Second Period
17:02 | SCSU – Grant Ahcan scores on a breakaway to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead
Third Period
02:03 | UND – Jake Livanavage has his shot deflect off a stick and into the net to tie the game at 2-2
04:47 | SCSU – Veeti Miettinen fires one home off the rush to restore the SCSU lead
13:02 | UND – Cameron Berg ties it at 3-3 on a scramble in front of the net
Overtime
No scoring
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 1/20/2024 9:15:00 PM | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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