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Minnesota netminder backstops Wild’s 3-1 win against Arizona

ST. PAUL — The Wild’s goaltending angst has been alleviated, at least for the moment, by the large frame of Devan Dubnbyk.

Dubnyk, a 6-foot-6 journeyman intent on resurrecting a career that last spring appeared in jeopardy, posted his second consecutive win as the Wild defeated the Arizona Coyotes 3-1 in the finale of Hockey Day Minnesota in front of 19,111 Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild, intent on resurrecting a season that several days ago appeared headed for the trash bin, got their 20th victory in their 44th game and demonstrated that things have changed.

The Coyotes, outshot 28-15 through two periods, pushed back hard over the final 20 minutes, outshooting the home team 11-5, but Zach Parise’s empty-net goal in the last minute clinched Minnesota’s win.

Asked if the Wild would have won this game in the midst of their recent trudge through 12 losses in 14 games, coach Mike Yeo was able to smile.

“We don’t, for sure,” he said. “That’s a good sign.”

Back then, no one seemed to have an answer for what ailed this team.

Finally, general manager Chuck Fletcher sent a third-round 2015 draft pick to the Coyotes for Dubnyk, a 28-year-old from Regina, Saskatchewan, who found himself playing in the American Hockey League at the end of last season.

Dubnyk was untested in a 7-0 victory over the Sabres in Buffalo Thursday night, and for much of the first two periods Saturday he was well protected and in control as the Wild led 2-1 on goals by Jason Zucker and Charlie Coyle.

“Our first half of the game was fantastic,” Yeo said.

The second half?

Not so much.

But Dubnyk gobbled up loose pucks or guided them to his defenders with ease, a performance that was rewarded by a huge ovation from the overflow crowd after the final horn.

“It was a special moment for me that I won’t forget any time soon,” he said.

His play has snuffed out a stretch of ineffective Wild goaltending and it has been noticed.

Coyle, for example, said the guys are able to relax a bit because “we know we’ve got him behind us.”

“The two games he’s played,” Yeo said, “have instilled confidence in everybody. He plays with a lot of composure back there.”

Yeo said the subtle plays made by Dubnyk buy time for Minnesota’s defenders when there’s a flurry in the Wild zone.

“He’s playing great,” Wild defenseman Marco Scandella said. “He makes the first save; he’s a big guy with a big presence, and he moves the puck well for us, too. He’s been huge for us.”

Dubnyk, who is staying at the same St. Paul hotel that was housing his ex-teammates Saturday, used his experience of playing for Arizona against his former Edmonton team earlier this season to comfort him as he faced the Coyotes. He tried to ignore the uniform he wore only last week.

“Just concentrate on the game,” he explained.

Having played 19 games for Arizona this season, Dubnyk was unsurprised by the Coyotes’ third-period push. “But it’s how you handle those pushes,” he said, “and we did an incredible job.”

Dubnyk — he recorded an assist on Zucker’s goal — referred to Minnesota’s play since he joined the team as “120 minutes of pretty impressive hockey.”

Compared to the team’s play before his arrival, it was. Coyle got things started with a first-period goal, and Zucker outraced the Arizona defense to create a breakaway goal in the second.

Minnesota won for the sixth consecutive year on Hockey Day Minnesota and held on through some tense final moments to send its fans home content.

“A really good Hockey Day,” Yeo said, noting that this victory turned out to be not only a growing experience for the Wild, but a pleasurable one.

“It’s easier to learn lessons in wins than in losses,” he said, “and we need to learn a couple tonight for sure.”

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Minnesota-Duluth falls to Western Michigan 4-2

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Power play plagues the Bulldogs in 4-2 loss to Western Michigan

DULUTH — The University of Western Michigan spoiled Hockey Day Minnesota celebrations for the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, who surrendered two power play goals en route to a 4-2 loss.

In front of 6,873 fans at Amsoil Arena, UMD’s special teams struggles were exacerbated by a combined eleven penalties.

Without their top scorer, Dominic Toninato, who was suspended for a knee-on-knee hit in Friday’s 2-2 draw, the Bulldogs struggled to get pucks to the net on the power play, tallying only four shots on four opportunities.

“I thought there was some good in both nights, but not enough good for 60 minutes,” Justin Crandall said, assistant captain and Lakeville, MN native.

The senior earned an assist on Tony Cameransi’s gritty third period goal that tied the game at two, but Western Michigan quickly responded with Colton Hartgrove’s second goal of the game, which also served as the game winner.

“We need some more of that,” Crandall said. “Guys [going] to the net scoring some ugly ones.”

In the back and forth contest, physical play kept both teams from getting quality scoring chances.

“You’re not going to get great chances against this team, that’s just how they play,” head coach Scott Sandelin said. “But when you get them, you gotta bear down and we didn’t do that. You have to get your nose in there, and you have to get into the tough areas. We gotta get back to that.”

The Broncos size and physicality kept UMD’s deep lineup from sustaining offensive pressure for much of the game. And when they faltered, goaltender Lukas Hafner stepped up, stopping 25 of 27 shots.

“I thought their goalie was good tonight,” Sandelin said. “[With] this team you have to earn it, and get goals like [Cameranesi] did, where it barely goes over the goal line. We knew it was going to be difficult, they make it difficult on every team.”

Across the ice, UMD freshman goaltender Kazamir Kaskisuo stopped 23 shots, including 14 in the opening period — nine of which came on the power play.

The Bulldogs struggled to execute offensively against Western Michigan, failing to convert on the few opportunities they were given.

“That’s been our biggest downfall the last couple games, we’re getting quality chances but we’re not scoring,” said Crandall.

Helped by the newly formed NCHC, and several similarly physical games, there appears to be a blooming rivalry between the two teams.

“Every weekend with these guys is [a] battle,” said Crandall. “It kind of seems like we take it to them at their rink, and they kind of give it to us at our place, so we’re excited to get a little crack at them at the end of the year.”

Despite the conference loss, the Bulldogs maintain second place in the NCHC and travel to St. Paul, MN next week to face Bemidji State in the North Star College Cup at the Excel Energy Center.

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Border battle ends in split decision

Minneapolis, Minn. — Travis Boyd said he was embarrassed by the result on Friday night. The senior center took charge Saturday by potting two goals, an assist, and was a leader in Minnesota’s (11-7-2) 5-2 win over Wisconsin (2-13-3) in front of 10,834 at Mariucci Arena.

“I’m not a captain, but being a senior I think you have to step up and be a leader. I thought all together the senior class had a good game tonight,” said Boyd. “Christian Isackson had a goal, Sam [Warning] played well, Kyle [Rau] always brings it, [Seth] Ambroz was good, and [Ben] Marshall was good too. So overall as a senior class we all had good games tonight and I definitely think that’s part of the reason we had a good result.”

The Gophers in the middle of a 3-6-2 stretch came into this weekend with a reshuffled lineup. Don Lucia split longtime pairs Kyle Rau and Hudson Fasching, Travis Boyd and Seth Ambroz, and Justin Kloos and Taylor Cammarata. The decision produced 49 shots on goal and 91 shot attempts Friday night, but only two goals and a tie. The coach decided to hold his lines going into the rematch.

“You play with energy, you play hard, it really doesn’t matter who you play with,” said Lucia. “That’s really the bottom line. Tonight we played pretty intelligent. We didn’t make the big breakdowns like we did Friday night.”

Boyd in particular stood out on the big ice of Mariucci Arena. Lucia noted that the senior center knew he was one of the guys directly responsible for that line change goal last night.

“I think as a senior he took it to heart, and came out and had a great game tonight,” said Lucia. “I told the guys in our meeting we had 27 shots in the good scoring areas last night and they had seven. So just stay with it, stay with the process, every season is a journey and this journey has meandered a bit, but at some point you got to find your game.”

Minnesota outshot Wisconsin 50-26 in front of Mariucci’s biggest crowd of the season, but it wasn’t the quantity of shots that was the difference.

“We wanted to be really hungry around the blue paint. Like Coach Guentzel said this morning I want you guys to be like piranhas around the net, get to the net and bury ‘em hard,” said Connor Reilly. “We wanted to focus on taking away [Rumpel’s] eyes and when we were in the blue paint we had to find the rebounds, we can’t be getting our sticks lifted up by their defensemen.”

Minnesota’s top ranked power play took advantage of an early first period opportunity. The unit worked the puck up top from Mike Reilly to Connor Reilly for a one-timer. Badger goalie Joel Rumpel spilled the rebound to the left wing circle, and Boyd pounced on it for his eighth of the season at 4:30.

Missouri native Sam Warning had a hat trick last year on Hockey Day Minnesota, and came through again this year with some scoring. The senior patiently pulled the puck across the top of crease and tucked it past the goalie for his seventh of the season at 12:51 into the first period.

Boyd got his second goal of the game by jamming away at the puck after a Warning shot wasn’t handled cleanly by Rumpel. The play went to video review and was confirmed a good hockey goal for Boyd’s ninth of the season.

“[The referee] said it was very clear on the video what happened,” said Mike Eaves. “You have to trust them. This is what they’re hired to do and they’re honest guys. If they see it that way, they have to call it as they see it. “

Connor Reilly scored his team leading 11th goal of the season at 1:56 of the second period when he bombed a one-timer off a Kloos pass into the net making it 4-0.

Isackson tallied his first goal of the season 7:36 into the second period. He collected the puck off a Vinni Lettieri shot behind the net and converted on a wrap-around move for the Gophers fifth goal.

Grant Besse continued a good weekend of play by getting the Badgers on the board late in the period. The sophomore’s line had a strong shift coming off of an Eaves’ timeout and he shoveled home the puck loose in the crease at 15:27.

The third period contained the fireworks of two teams getting frustrated with each other after 110 minutes of hard hockey. The teams combined for 88 penalty minutes including five 10-minute misconducts and two contact to the head majors.

“I saw my brother Mike jumping in there—that’s surprising,” said Connor Reilly. “It’s good to see him get in there, and all the guys just sticking up for each other, it shows we care for each other.”

Coming out of the penalties Wisconsin took advantage of a long 5-on-3 stretch as Besse scored his second of the night and third of the weekend at 17:12 to make the score 5-2.

Minnesota heads into an important North Star College Cup next weekend. They’ll face top ranked Minnesota State at Xcel Energy Center and then either #5 Minnesota-Duluth or St. Cloud State. Wisconsin continues their schedule with a series against Michigan before both teams meet in Madison the following weekend.

“Now we can’t play North Dakota, this is kind of the number one rivalry,” said Boyd. “Especially with how it ended it’s kind of like a rivalry reborn. Last couple years we haven’t had any games like that, it makes the games more fun to play in.”

The post Gophers Beat Badgers 5-2 in Border Battle appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Balanced scoring leads Minnesota over Minnesota State

MANKATO – On Hockey Day Minnesota teams from all over the state face off against one another and help celebrate our roots as the state of hockey. While high school teams took to the ice at Holman Field in St. Paul, the Gopher men’s team at Mariucci Arena, and the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center, there was another game being played today a little further south.

The Gopher women’s team traveled to Mankato, Minn. to square off against Minnesota State in game two of a weekend series. While there were two WCHA points on the line in this contest, it was also a special afternoon as two in-state teams faced off against each other on Hockey Day Minnesota.

“Hockey Day Minnesota is always special,” said Minnesota State head coach Eric Means. “It’s the second year in a row on Hockey Day we’ve played Minnesota.”

Minnesota, the no. 2 team in the country, was looking for the series sweep and continue their winning ways as they were unbeaten in their last 14 games heading into today’s afternoon match up. MSU on the other hand, was looking to come steal some points from the Gophers this weekend and add another win to their record after picking up their first two victories of the season a week ago.

“Mankato was coming in after getting their first two wins so they were playing confidently,” said Minnesota coach Brad Frost. “We wanted to make sure that we started quickly in both games and I think we did a good job of that here.”

Start quickly is exactly what Minnesota did.

Just 1:26 into the game, Gopher leading scorer Hannah Brandt gave Minnesota a quick 1-0 lead. From there the two teams would trade chances until Minnesota seemed to break this game open just past the midpoint of the first period.

Gopher captain Rachel Bona tallied her 12th of the season shortly before Minnesota freshman Kelly Pannek netted a power play goal to give the maroon and gold a 3-0 lead to close out the first period. The Mavs had a chance to get back into this one, but had trouble finding the needed offense to get on the board.

Starting the second period on a 5-on-3 power play, the Mavericks couldn’t find the back of the net and Minnesota poured it on immediately after killing the two penalties.

Minnesota junior Maryanne Menefee scored her fourth goal of the weekend 1:32 into the second period to spot her team a 4-0 lead with the assist going to Brandt. The Gophers would get two more second period goals on Cara Piazza’s seventh of the season before Dani Cameranesi tallied on the power play, her 17th goal of the season.

With a 6-0 lead heading into the third period, MSU was looking to get on the board before this game was all said and done, and they did that before the midpoint of the final period.

Maverick freshman Hannah Davidson scored her fifth of the season to put MSU on the board on a pretty passing play where she redirected a Nicole Schammel pass into the Minnesota net to bring the game to 6-1. That’s where it would end for the Mavericks, however, as Minnesota would add one more before the final buzzer when Gopher sophomore Lee Stecklein buried her first of the year during 4-on-4 play when she walked out of the corner and around MSU goaltender Brianna Quade for the score and a 7-1 Gopher victory.

While MSU had a handful of scoring chances, they just couldn’t seem to find a way to get their shots through, and like many teams around the nation, had a hard time containing this potent Gopher offense.

“We tried to match up with them today but you look at that top line and you’re talking almost 400 career points,” said Means. “We’re asking some freshmen who are in their 20th game of their career to go out there and handle those girls and that’s a tough task for anyone, let alone freshmen.”

Minnesota would leave Mankato with a 7-1 win and the series sweep. For one of these Minnesota teams, the day ended in sweet victory, while the other suffered their third straight loss. Though both teams can appreciate playing on this special day and celebrating our hockey heritage in this great state.

“Hockey Day in Minnesota, where else does it happen in the United States?” said Minnesota coach Brad Frost. “It’s such an honor and privilege to coach at the University of Minnesota and to be able to have two Minnesota teams square off here today was pretty fun.”

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Underdog nearly pulls off outdoor upset

On paper it was a mismatch. At 13-3-3 and undefeated in the Suburban East the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders’ girls’ hockey team looked like they should have no problem with their opponents from up north. The Duluth Northern Stars came into their Hockey Day Minnesota match up with a 7-9-3 record.

Just six seconds into the game at Holman Field it looked like mismatch was not just on paper. The Raiders’ Rosie Pitera forced a turnover at the Duluth blue line and beat the goalie on the short side to give the 11th ranked Raiders an early 1-0 lead.

The Raiders had the better of the play early and late, but Duluth made the most of their chances in between. The Northern Stars were able to get traffic in front of the net to score the next two goals. Ana Kunst tied the game at one when she banged in a rebound. Then Bri Stafne gave Duluth a short lead when she was able to tap in the puck during a scrum in front of the CDH net.

The Raiders’ speed was on display the rest of the period as a nice skating play by Anna Klein created a scoring chance on the door step for Paige Voight. The senior buried the puck to tie the game at two and Klien took matters into her own hands and just beat the buzzer when she scored with five seconds left in the period. The goal gave the Raiders a lead they would never relinquish.

The ice seemed to be tilted toward Duluth goalie Kalei Kleive for much of the second period as the CDH fore-check caused problems for the underdog Duluth squad. Kleive and her defense were able to hold off the barrage for most of the period until Klein finally beat the Northern Stars’ net minder by getting loose in front of the net to score an unassisted goal to make the score 4-2.

Just like in the first period, Duluth didn’t have many chances, but they made one of those chances pay off. Great skating and puck handling by Stafne set up teammate Ava Meyer on the doorstep and the junior forward did the rest – keeping her team within striking distance of the Raiders.

The now familiar pattern continued in the third period. The Raiders controlled much of the play. Mid-way through the period it looked like the Raiders had finally put the game away when Annie Boeckers grabbed a loose puck, had nothing but open ice in front of her and put the Raiders ahead 5-3.

Just when it looked like Raiders’ fans could relax Duluth struck again. Stafne got on the score sheet again with a great pass to Avery Ziegler. Ziegler made sure the nice passing play paid off and cut the lead to one with a minute to go.

With Kleive pulled, Duluth’s final rush up the ice nearly tied the game as a shot from the high slot just missed the net with under five seconds to play.

What looked like a mismatch was not a mismatch at all. Duluth played a great game as a big underdog, but in the end the Raiders had too much speed and talent for the Northern Stars and held on for a 5-4 win.

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