Three goal celebrations later, Minnesota’s penalty finally came to an end.
Christian Wolanin and North Dakota made the most of a five-minute major power play, putting the game out of reach before the second period was five minutes old, and handing the Gophers a 4-0 loss at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The result snaps a seven-game unbeaten streak for Minnesota (3-3-0, 1-1-0-0 Big Ten) against the Fighting Hawks.
“You come out, and this is a very difficult place to play, and we had an opportunity tonight to win two. It’s hard enough to win one in a weekend, but you are going to come out and have a parade to the penalty box through two periods,” Gopher head coach Don Lucia said. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance. That’s what disappointing, the parade to the penalty box.”
On the other bench, special teams were anything but, as the Gophers went 0-for-6 on the power play and finished the weekend 0-for-11.
Minnesota’s quest for a sweep Saturday ended in a split second. With 1:15 remaining in the first period, Jack Glover was given a five-minute major for checking from behind right near center ice and a game misconduct.
“That kind of took the game over,” said Gopher junior captain Tyler Sheehy. “It’s a frustrating call. It changed the game for us, but I don’t think it was too much of a momentum swing other than the three goals that put the game away.”
Already behind 1-0 after Nick Jones scored his first collegiate goal, UND (4-1-1, 0-0-0-0 NCHC) scored three times on the five-minute major. Two came from Wolanin, sandwiching his around a Colton Poolman goal through traffic.
“We started moving the puck a little quicker. We started to get momentum that way,” said North Dakota head coach Brad Berry. “Hopefully it’s a sign of the future as far as our puck-moving ability on the power play and getting [an early lead] in games.”
Wolanin’s first was a one-timer set up by defenseman Gabe Bast that put the Fighting Hawks ahead 2-0 with 40.7 seconds remaining. His second came with two seconds remaining in the Glover major. He celebrated as the pro-Fighting Hawks crowd cheered behind him, enjoying the four-goal cushion.
A night after stopping 34 shots, Eric Schierhorn gave up three goals on his first eight shots faced, and finished with 14 saves. North Dakota counterpart Cam Johnson finished with 22 saves for his 10th career shutout.
Minnesota was without top freshman Casey Mittelstadt, who missed the game as a precaution after taking a hard cross-check late in Friday’s 2-1 win. Lucia said after the game he was week-to-week, but was hopeful both Mittelstadt and fellow freshman Scott Reedy, who missed the last three games, would return next week against Clarkson.
Being without both top-six forwards didn’t help, as the power play dropped to 3-for-31 on the season. Minnesota did, however, hit two third period posts.
Still, the team continues to find an answer or combination that works. Sheehy said the Gophers didn’t test Johnson a whole lot Saturday or get in front of his eyes enough.
“That’s been a point of emphasis; that we’re not getting pucks on net. We’re not shooting off the pass and our puck possession is not there right now,” he said. “We’re losing too many draws on the power play. When they clear a puck that kills 7-to-10 seconds. Our entries aren’t good enough. That’s probably something we’re going to work on this week, because we had so many this weekend that could have won us games, or won us the game tonight.
“Specialty teams are very important. That’s something we’re struggling with, but obviously can get better.”
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