The UMD Men’s hockey team faced Arizona State on Friday, Feb. 15 and 16 at Amsoil Arena. The two game series got off to a promising start after the Bulldogs won Friday’s game, but the momentum didn’t continue into Saturday.

Friday

Duluth hosted Arizona State on Friday at Amsoil Arena. This was the third time seeing the Sun Devils this season as Duluth took on ASU earlier in the year, dropping both games.

The first period didn't have much to offer until a penalty call just over six minutes in. It was on the Sun Devils but Duluth was not able to convert on the power play, not even getting a shot on goal.

The next couple minutes of the period followed suit to that of the first couple with both teams doing a good job of keeping the puck out of their zone. UMD had just three shots on goal halfway through the period.

Duluth got another opportunity at a power play on a tripping call and this time they didn't let the opportunity slip away. Just as the power play was expiring, captain Dominic James got the tally to open the scoring on a beautiful set up from Owen Gallatin and Aaron Pionk.

This goal by James marked his first in over a month — a drought he is not used to seeing but something he was happy to overcome.

“To finally see one go in, it was a pretty emotional celly (celebration) and it felt great. For the boys to have my back during that stretch meant a lot to me,” said James.

This lead didn't last long as Arizona State converted on a power play of their own at the 14:06 mark. The play was set up nicely and ASU’s Artem Shlaine was in the right spot to put it home.

No more goals or penalties throughout the first period led to a knotted up score of 1-1 headed into the second.

The second period was almost a rough start for the Bulldogs when Arizona State had a golden look at the net, similar to the one they scored on in the first. This time UMD caught a break as the Sun Devil skater totally whiffed the net, to the point where UMD’s goalie Klayton Knapp thought it went in for a split second and stopped playing because he figured he was beat.

At the 4:56 mark, Arizona State took advantage of sloppy play by the Bulldogs and took the lead off a dribbler through Knapps legs. Duluth had a couple skaters slow to get back on defense and left Knapp two on one.

Just under two minutes later, a scuffle in the corner broke out and Arizona State’s first goal scorer of the night, Shlaine, went to the penalty box for tripping.

The Bulldogs didn't take too much time to get back even on that power play as they scored just 35 seconds in, making the game tied again at 2-2. This time it was Callum Arnott for just his seventh point of the season on a rebound sent in by Ty Hanson.

This sparked a flame into the Bulldog roster as they were really settling in on defense, not allowing a shot on goal in the last 10 minutes of the period.

Max Plante had one of the better looks on the period for UMD, ringing the iron but he wasn't able to get it to the back of the net. Matching the first intermission, both teams will head into the next period tied while UMD was leading in shots on goal 19-13.

The start of the third period was all defense with UMD only allowing two shots on goal in the first five minutes. Arizona State did a great job at keeping the Bulldogs out of their zone as well.

Just under halfway through the period ASU started getting their step back offensively as they were able to put some pressure on Knapp, creating chaos in front of the net, but the young goaltender stood strong. At the 10 minute mark, UMD still led ASU in shots on goal 20-17.

UMD’s first good look of the period came with about seven minutes left when Arizona State goaltender Luke Pavivich played the puck and mishandled the original pass attempt to a teammate. Max Plante used his quick thinking and threw a pass in front of the net to Blake Bechen but it was just too hot for Bechen to corral.

UMD captain Dom James was giving all out effort late in the third, zipping up and down the ice to create any chance he could. Max Plante was very active as well, but they couldn't get anything to go and didn't see too many real chances.

Arizona State eclipsed the Bulldogs in shots on goal, 22-23 with just two minutes left. The Bulldogs were obviously not having as good of a period as the second from a defensive standpoint.

James and Max Plante continued to be the effective pair for the Bulldogs with one last chance as time was running out. They couldn't get it to go which sent the game to overtime, something these two teams are familiar with as game two of their previous series this season made it to overtime.

Duluth won possession of the puck on the opening faceoff and the Bulldogs’ Jayson Shaugabay rang a shot off the crossbar just seconds into the period but it didn't end up finding its way in the net.

UMD held possession for most of the period until ASU got control with about three minutes left and Knapp made a huge save when he was all alone.

Just seconds later, James picked up a loose puck after winning a faceoff, where he then passed to Pionk who made a nice move then went from one faceoff circle to the next and sniped one under the glove of the ASU goaltender.

Head coach Scott Sandelin was happy with the performance late in the game and thought some of the plays made early needed to be better.

“I thought we stuck with it and found something towards the end of the game, which maybe helped carry into overtime. We got to be better but it's a good win against another good team in our league,” said Sandellin.

Saturday

Freshman Adam Kleber skates down the ice with the puck on Friday, Feb. 15. Photo by Grant Jones

The first period of game two started quickly and in favor of the Bulldogs. On just their second shot of the game, Ty Hanson rifled one off the post and in to crack open the scoring in the contest at the 2:52 mark.

Klayton Knapp got the start again in the second game, deservingly so, as he saved 23 of 25 shots he faced in Friday's game. He looked great to start the game again on Saturday.
Towards the halfway point of the period, Dom James got a beautiful pass from Max Plante where he was out in front all alone. He made a good move to his left but Arizona State goaltender Gibson Homer made an even better one, poke checking the puck away.

The Bulldogs lead held for just over seven minutes as ASU’s Artem Shlaine picked up his 2nd goal of the weekend to make the game tied again.

UMD had trouble getting anything going after the goal by Hanson. They missed a power play opportunity later in the period and committed a penalty of their own with just 49 seconds left. They were able to kill it to end the period but had 1:11 to kill off to start the period if they wanted to keep this game tied.

Duluth was able to kill off the remainder of the power play to start the period but put themselves right back in the penalty box just a minute later…Hanson for tripping. Knapp held strong again as he saved four shots in the power play. Adam Kleber had a pair of good looks shorthanded but couldn't put one home.

Third time’s the charm for Kleber as he put one home on a loose puck sitting in front of ASU’s net to give UMD the lead. This was Kleber’s second point of the game as he assisted Hanson on the first goal, matching his season total of two points coming into the game.

“It was good to get that redemption cause I hit the post and then completely missed the net wide so that felt good to get a nice tap in and get a lead,” said Kleber.

The lead was short-lived again as Hanson raced back and attempted to clear the puck but it went right into the body of Arizona State’s Kyle Smolen. Smolen then made a pass and got rewarded with a return pass and a wide open net in front of him. This made the game tied again, following a similar pattern as Friday’s game.

UMD’s Kyle Bettens committed a tripping call that fans and players didn't seem to agree with. Although the fans didn't like it, the refs called it and Arizona State ended up cashing in on the man advantage. The goal was an impressive set up from Lukas Sillinger and Shlaine, who picked up his second of the game.

Duluth was out-shot heavily in the second period and the scoreboard showed that. Arizona State was able to get 20 for a total of 29, while Duluth was able to get just 10 for a total of 19. The Bulldogs had a bad power play outing on a late penalty by ASU, only getting one shot on goal. Arizona State held the lead 3-2 going into the final period of play.

Duluth quickly got back into the game as they scored just 11 seconds into the period. This time it was Max Plante who got rewarded for his hard skating and pursuit of the puck right from the jump.

The third period was the period of penalties and unfortunately they were not going the way of UMD. Duluth had four penalties called on them to Arizona State's one.

Most notably, Blake Bechen and Max Plante both went to the penalty box at the 8:06 mark as Plante committed the tripping penalty on Bechens delayed penalty. The Bulldogs were able to kill the five on three and the other two penalties as well, something head coach Scott Sandelin was pleased with his squad about.

“Our penalty kill was good tonight when we needed it and that's not an easy thing to do,” said Sandelin

With five minutes left in the period, Duluth was still trailing pretty significantly in shots, 28-37, but Knapp was holding up his end of the bargain and not letting anything by.

With just under a minute, Knapp made a mistake playing a puck in the corner that he probably shouldn't have gone for, but was able to get back to the net in time to deflect the puck over and out of play.

No more goals put the teams into the overtime period for the third time this year and in back to back games. Duluth looked to repeat the night they had on Friday with a game winning goal.

Duluth got an important faceoff win to start overtime but couldn't get anything from it and Arizona State took control for about a minute. Another faceoff won by Duluth after a frozen puck and they took a turn with the puck, but no goals.

In a very similar fashion to Friday's overtime winner, Pionk got a pass from James and got a shot past the goalie except this time, the crossbar saved ASU’s goalie Homer.

With about 17 seconds left Hanson got slashed which gave UMD a chance at 4 on 3 to end overtime. Unfortunately they didn't win the faceoff cleanly and the game moved to a shootout.

Duluth went 0-3 in the shootout while Arizona State's second shooter cashed in. The game ended on the teams records as a tie but the shootout was played to decide who got the point for standings.

Arizona State ended up outshooting the Bulldogs 44-35, while they got 35 of them in the second two periods. Sandelin spoke on what the team can take out of the weekend.

“We can play with anybody. I thought Friday night we got better as the game went on and I thought that carried over to tonight… There is continued growth but this group still has to find ways to win. You have to play a certain way, I wont say 100% of the time, but most of that. Every play matters, everything gets more magnified too,” said Sandelin.

The Bulldogs will face another ranked team as they will head to North Dakota next week to take on the Fighting Hawks in a weekend series. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. on Friday and 6:07 p.m. on Saturday.

Men’s Hockey Settles for 1 Win, 1 Loss Against Arizona State This Weekend