North Dakota 6, Denver 1 | Box Score
GREEN BAY, Wis. — North Dakota is heading back to the Frozen Four.
For a second game in as many days, the Fighting Sioux thoroughly dominated their opponent, this time beating Denver, 6-1, in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional final at the Resch Center Sunday.
“We were able to come out on the right side of another tough battle,” said North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol. “The score ended up 6-1, but this game was a tough, hard-fought battle right from the drop of the puck. The bottom line is we were able to accomplish our goal that we came into the weekend with and move forward.”
North Dakota is the hottest team in the country with an 11-game winning streak and a 15-game (14-0-1) unbeaten streak. The loss was Denver’s third to the Sioux this year.
Forward Mario Lamoureux gave North Dakota a 1-0 lead, scoring a shorthanded goal with 5:23 left in the first period.
The turning point in the game came early in the second period. After WCHA Rookie of the Year Jason Zucker scored with two-tenths of a second left in the opening period for Denver to tie the score at 1, the Pioneers seemed to carry that momentum into the second period. But DU failed to convert on back-to-back power plays at the beginning of the second period and the Fighting Sioux took advantage when Evan Trupp scored shortly thereafter to put UND up 2-1. The Sioux poured it on from there.
“I thought it was a pretty even game until about five or six minutes into the second period,” Denver coach George Gwozdecky said. “I thought our failure to score on back-to-back power plays in the second period probably changed the game. Right after (we failed to score), they came down and scored that big second goal and we seemed to bog down.”
It’s hard to imagine that fatigue didn’t play a factor in Denver’s third-period collapse, when the Sioux scored three goals. The Pioneers played an extra 30 minutes of hockey Saturday, and North Dakota got an extra five hours of rest.
“I think you saw some tired legs in the second half of the game,” Gwozdecky said. “It was probably as much a mental tired as a physical tired. It’s tough to score in a game like this and generate chances. It was tough to get a lot of open ice.”
UND goalie Aaron Dell—who made 26 saves—got his 30th win of the season and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Midwest Regional. He stopped all 21 shots he saw in the semifinal victory over Rensselaer. With his 30th win, Dell passed former Sioux standount and NHL great Ed Belfour for most wins in a single season by a North Dakota goalie.
SEEN AND HEARD AT THE RESCH CENTER
North Dakota goaltender Aaron Dell was named NCAA Midwest Regional Most Outstanding Player, stopping all but one of the 48 shots he faced in wins against RPI and Denver.
• North Dakota’s defense was in shut-down mode at the Midwest Regional. They allowed only one goal on 48 shot attempts.
“We worked hard all week on our defensive coverage,” said defenseman Chay Genoway. “Denver throws a lot of pucks at the net, but it all starts with our goalie, Aaron Dell. He makes a lot of big saves and doesn’t give a lot of second looks.”
• Denver’s Kyle Ostrow reiterated Gwozdecky’s comment about fatigue being a factor in his team’s loss.
“I think the double overtime game we played against Western wore us down a bit, but we still had confidence as a team. North Dakota played really well and they wore us down. We thought we could come back, but North Dakota didn’t give us many opportunities.”
• Although the outcome of the game was not in doubt at this point, Denver goalie Sam Brittain made a great save on WCHA Player of the Year Matt Frattin on a breakaway attempt with about seven minutes remaining in regulation.
PLUSSES AND MINUSES
North Dakota’s defensemen were outstanding. Even though the shots in Sunday’s regional final were nearly even (32-27, UND), the Pioneers didn’t get many great scoring chances. The long reach of the NHL-style defensemen the Sioux employs made it difficult for DU to get good opportunities.
The timing of North Dakota’s goals on the night was impeccable. The Sioux scored a shorthanded goal (their second in as many days) and two power-play goals to take the wind out of Denver’s sails. It seemed just as the Pioneers had a chance to seize some momentum, UND put the clamps on defensively and scored.
To Michigan Tech for doing a terrific job in its role as host of the Midwest Regional and to the Resch Center for being so accommodating. These two will reprise their roles next year as the Midwest Regional returns to Green Bay for the second year in a row and the third time in NCAA Tournament history.
INCH’S THREE STARS OF THE NIGHT
3. Jason Zucker, Denver: The WCHA Rookie of the Year scored Denver’s lone goal with two-tenths of second left in the opening period.
2. Chay Genoway, North Dakota: Genoway had three assists on the night.
1. Aaron Dell, North Dakota: The star of the game and the regional for the Sioux, he stopped all 21 shots he saw against RPI in the semifinal game and 26 of the 27 shots he faced against Denver.
NCAA ALL-MIDWEST REGIONAL TEAM
F—Brad Malone, North Dakota
F—Evan Trupp, North Dakota
F—Jason Zucker, Denver
D—Chay Genoway, North Dakota
D—Matt Donovan, Denver
G—Aaron Dell, North Dakota
Most Outstanding Player—Dell
WHAT’S NEXT
The Fighting Sioux advance to face the Michigan Wolverines in the Frozen Four semifinals on Thursday, April 7 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. North Dakota has faced Michigan three times in the NCAA Tournament, winning twice (2006 and 2007) and losing once (1998).
