GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND Athletics)– Sophomore forward Dylan James scored a pair of highlight goals in the third period to help No. 4/5 North Dakota defeat Minnesota Duluth, 4-2, and notch a weekend sweep on Saturday night from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
With the sweep, UND (22-8-2, 13-6-1 NCHC) remains in first place in the NCHC standings and holds a three-point lead over St. Cloud State with four regular season games (12 points) remaining. The Fighting Hawks are also just one point away from clinching home ice for the NCHC Quarterfinals, awarded to the top-4 teams in the league standings.
James broke a 2-2 deadlock in the third period with his second two-goal game of his career to help the Fighting Hawks complete a regular season sweep over Minnesota Duluth (10-17-4, 6-13-1 NCHC) for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Fellow sophomore forward Jackson Blake continued his torrid offensive weekend with a pair of assists to give the Eden Prairie, Minn., native seven points (1G, 5A) over the two games while Jayden Perron and Jackson Kunz each struck for a goal in the victory.
Ludvig Persson saw his shutout streak against Minnesota Duluth end in the second period at 152:45, but finished with 26 saves on 28 shots to improve to 19-8-2 this season between the pipes.
It was a slower start to the game offensively in the finale, with neither side generating too many quality scoring chances in the opening stanza. UND was able to finally get on the board with just under three minutes remaining in the period, as Perron pounced a loose puck in the slot and tucked home his second goal of the weekend and 10th of the season to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
NoDak doubled its advantage early in the second, as Blake beat his defender and feathered a perfect pass to Kunz streaking to the far post who finishes off his fifth goal of the season to extend the lead to 2-0. Minnesota Duluth was able to answer back, however, potting back-to-back goals in just over three minutes of play to knot the contest at 2-2 heading into the third.
James took over in the third period, giving UND the lead by racing past the defender, cutting to the slot and tucking the puck past the goaltender just over four minutes into the frame to put the Hawks in front, 3-2.
The sophomore added the fourth tuck of the night for the hosts as Owen McLaughlin flipped a puck from UND’s defensive zone into space for James to use his speed and bury his second of the game to seal the 4-2 victory and weekend sweep.
North Dakota will remain home for a weekend series with Western Michigan beginning on Friday night at 7:07 p.m. from the Ralph.
Postgame Notes
- UND improves to 157-89-11 all-time against Minnesota Duluth and 86-39-3 in Grand Forks
- The Hawks have won eight of the last nine meetings between the two teams, including four straight
- NoDak has won all four regular season meetings between the two teams for the first time since 2015-16
- Dylan James notched his second multi-goal game of his career and first of the season
- Jayden Perron has scored in back-to-back games for the fourth time this season
- The freshman also has a three-game point streak for the first time in his career
- Jake Livanavage moves into second for points by a rookie defenseman at UND since 1999-00 with 22
- Jackson Blake finished the weekend with seven points (1G, 6A)
- UND improves to 89-6-3 since 2018-19 and 17-1-0 this season when scoring at least four goals
- Jackson Kunz has points in five of his last seven games
- NoDak finished with 17 blocked shots, improving to 9-2-2 when blocking at least 15 shots
- Bennett Zmolek recorded four blocks to lead all UND players
- The Hawks were 1-for-4 on the power play while the Bulldogs were 0-for-1
- UND improved to 3-6-0 this season when the game is tied after 40 minutes
- Blake paces the NCHC in points in both conference games (32) and all contests (47) this season
- NoDak remains three points ahead of St. Cloud State in the race for the Penrose Cup
- The Hawks are 11-3-2 this season on Saturday night and have outscored opponents, 52-30
- Ludvig Persson finished with 26 saves on 28 shots to improve to 6-7-1 in his career against UMD
- UND held a 27-21 faceoff advantage, with Jake Schmaltz going 9-4 to lead all skaters
How It Happened
First Period
17:02 | UND – Jayden Perron finds a loose puck in the crease for a power play goal and a 1-0 UND lead
Second Period
05:20 | UND – Jackson Blake finds Jackson Kunz with a backdoor pass to make it 2-0 UND
07:29 | UMD – Aiden Dubinsky cuts the lead in half with a shot that pops over Persson and in
10:51 | UMD – Jack Smith ties the game at 2-2 with a deflection on a point shot
Third Period
04:14 | UND – Dylan James races past the defender and tucks it around the goaltender to give UND a 3-2 lead
17:43 | UND – James catches the alley-oop pass from Owen McLaughlin and buries the breakaway to make it 4-2
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 2/24/2024 10:59:00 PM | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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