GRAND FORKS, N.D.— (UND Athletics) Anyone who walked from the parking lot into Ralph Engelstad Arena Saturday night could feel the bone-chilling cold of sub-zero temperatures, no need for a weatherman to tell them it was bitter out there.
In contrast, anyone who has followed University of North Dakota hockey recently knows there no hotter duo on the Fighting Hawks roster of late than junior center Jasper Weatherby and sophomore center Shane Pinto, both of whom extended goal-scoring streaks Saturday.
Weatherby scored two goals and added one assist for his first career three-point game to lift the Fighting Hawks to a 5-2 National Collegiate Hockey Conference over visiting Denver University Saturday and a sweep of the two-game series.
Weatherby scored for the fourth game in a row with 5 goals in that span to push his season total to 8 and push UND a step closer to winning the Penrose Cup as NCHC champions. Pinto, meanwhile, scored in his sixth straight game, giving him nine goals in that stretch. The Fighting Hawks now lead second-place St. Cloud State by four points with four games to play, three of them at home. In addition, UND has a game in hand in the title chase.
Senior center Collin Adams banked a centering pass off the skate of Denver defenseman Griffin Mendel and past DU goalie Magnus Chrona ((16 saves) on the power play at 15:55 of the second period to snap a 2-all tie and put UND ahead to stay. The goal was his 7th of the season and first game-winner this year.
Weatherby’s second goal of the game at 11:28 of the third period came on a rebound and a open-net goal by Judd Caulfield with 63 seconds remaining wrapped up the sweep in which all players on UND’s top three lines either had a goal, an assist or both.
All that backed up senior goalie Peter Thome, making his first start in two months in replacing Adam Scheel, injured in Friday’s win. Thome stopped 18 of the 20 shots he faced, 12 of those saves coming in the sluggish opening period by UND.
“The guys wanted to play hard for him,” UND coach Brad Berry said of Thome. He hadn’t appeared in a game since coming in relief of Scheel in a 4-1 loss at Denver on Jan. 11.
Weatherby scored on UND’s first shot on goal of the game, coming at 4:58 of the first period, only to be matched by Jake Durflinger’s breakaway goal for DU at 7:42.
Shane Pinto and Adams sandwiched goals around a 2-on-1 snipe by DU rookie Carter Savoie (his 11th) for a 3-2 UND lead heading into the final period, when Weatherby and Caulfield put the game out of reach.
UND played the game without Scheel and senior wing Grant Mismash, who was also injured in Friday’s win. Berry did say there’s a good chance both will be available for next weekend’s home series against Nebraska-Omaha.
He said their absences will be “very short term” and on a day-by-day basis. He said if it was a playoff situation or NCAA tournament game, both players probably could have stepped in Saturday. “We’ve got healthy guys around who can play at our level,” Berry said.
Thome was certainly one of those. “Overall, I thought I did what I needed to do,” Thome said. “We got the win, that’s all that matters.”
The last two seasons, Thome has played big roles in the second half of the season when Scheel was injured two years ago and struggling a bit for a while last year. So being thrust into a big situation is not something new to Thome.
UND, now 4-0 at home this season and 22-1 over the last two seasons at REA, also ran its record to 14-0 this season when scoring the first goal of the game.
For the second night in a row, penalty killing was a key for North Dakota. For the weekend, the Fighting Hawks blanked Denver on all 10 of its power plays, including a 5-on-3 Denver power play for one minute, 21 seconds late in the third period with UND leading 4-2. The Pioneers managed just two shots on goal in that span.
Virg Foss reported on UND hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald, including 5 NCAA title teams, before his retirement. Since his retirement, he’s written about UND hockey games exclusively for FightingHawks.com. This marks his 51st season since he began covering UND hockey in 1969.
NOTES
*Jasper Weatherby extended his goal-scoring streak to four straight games with his goal early in the first period and he now has five goals in his last four games.
*Peter Thome made his third start of the season in goal.
*Adam Scheel (lower body) and Grant Mismash (upper body) were each scratched due to injuries sustained in Friday’s game.
*Shane Pinto scored a goal to stretch his goal scoring streak to six consecutive games (9G, 2A in those 6g).
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 2/13/2021 9:50:00 PM | Virg Foss, FightingHawks.com
