If once is an accident, and twice is a trend, what’s 11 out of 13?
UMD opened a home-and-home series against longtime rival Minnesota with a resounding 5-3 win Friday night in Minneapolis. Quick blog here before I run some errands, I’ll return pregame with more fun and the lines.
A great start gave UMD a 2-0 lead in the opening eight minutes, and the Bulldogs held Minnesota without a shot on goal for the first half of the period, with the puck oftentimes in Minnesota territory, either with UMD in solid possession or Minnesota under duress trying to make a play.
When the Gophers tried on multiple occasions to claw back into the game, we saw the maturity of this Bulldog team, as UMD was seemingly unaffected by the rally, a rally that never got within a goal after UMD opened a 3-1 lead early in the second period.
In a shocking development to anyone who hasn’t been paying attention, Blake Biondi gave UMD a 1-0 lead less than two minutes in after Dominic James won a faceoff. Biondi’s initial shot was blocked, but the puck ended up back on his stick, and Biondi — showing the poise of a goal scorer — took what little time he had to load up and fire a ripper past Minnesota graduate goalie Jack LaFontaine. That line, with Quinn Olson, has arguably been UMD’s best line through five games, and it did it again Friday. It was Olson from the right circle near the eight minute mark of the first to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead, off another hard-working shift by that line.
But it was noticeable that the James line wasn’t walking alone in this one. All four lines contributed strong shifts in this game, helping UMD keep a talented Minnesota team at bay.
Noah Cates set up Owen Gallatin beautifully during a four-on-four in the second period to make it 3-1. It started a run of three straight UMD goals by players who got their first goals in UMD colors. Gallatin’s goal was followed by sophomore defenseman Wyatt Kaiser’s first career goal (his first 11 career points were all assists). Kaiser has been very good this season, but struggled a bit in the first period, so it was really cool to see him cash in on this solo rush.
The Gophers cut a 2-0 lead in half in the first on a Mike Koster power play goal, but couldn’t get anything going after that. They turned 4-1 into 4-2 late in the second period on a nice play by Matthew Knies in front, but again couldn’t capitalize on any momentum. Then when Casey Gilling cashed in on UMD’s first five-on-three this season, the Gophers got a four-on-five goal from Grant Cruikshank to make it 5-3, and again couldn’t do anything of note with it.
Again, that mature, been-there-done-that approach we’ve seen from the Bulldogs time after time. It’s four wins this season that featured a mature third period where UMD puts on a “playing with a lead” clinic.
Surely, Minnesota coach Bob Motzko isn’t thrilled by what he saw. He’s tried this week to play up the narrative that his team is way young and UMD is a bunch of greybeards, and while UMD certainly played like that on Friday, the truth of the matter is the average age of these teams is only separated by six months. Perhaps UMD plays like an older team and Minnesota plays like a younger one, but it’s unfair to say that the Bulldogs are a significantly older team.
Minnesota has veterans, and some dang talented ones. Guys like Sammy Walker, Blake McLaughlin, Bryce Brodzinski, Brock Faber, Jackson LaCombe, Ben Brinkman, and Ryan Johnson have logged minutes against UMD in the past, and they’re all very good players who will try their damndest to generate a bounce-back as this series heads up Interstate 35 for a rematch Saturday at a sold-out Amsoil Arena.
The place will be hopping, and we’re all excited to bring it to you. Pregame 6:30pm on KDAL. Enjoy the day.
