GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND Athletics)– Sophomore forward Jackson Blake struck for five points to help No. 4/5 North Dakota roll to a 6-0 win over Minnesota Duluth on Friday night from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
The sophomore had his fingerprints all over the victory for UND (21-8-2, 12-6-1 NCHC), scoring a goal and dishing out five assists to become the first NoDak player with five points in a game since Collin Adams did it on Mar. 12, 2021 against Miami in the NCHC Quarterfinals.
Blake wasn’t alone in recording a strong offensive night for the hosts, as Cameron Berg (2G, 1A), Riese Gaber (1G, 1A) and Jake Livanavage (2A) each also tallied multiple points in the largest victory over Minnesota Duluth (10-16-4, 6-12-1 NCHC) since an 8-2 win on Mar. 11, 2005.
Ludvig Persson was strong between the pipes as well, finishing with 17 saves to notch his fourth shutout of the season and improve to 18-8-2 this season.
NoDak jumped out to an early lead and never relinquished it with a trio of goals in the opening 20 minutes to grab a 3-0 advantage. Blake struck just 65 seconds into the contest with his 18th tally of the season and fifth on the power play through a great Jackson Kunz screen before Jayden Perron increased the advantage to 2-0 just three minutes later a breakaway.
With the period dwindling down, Gaber increased the lead to 3-0 with a rocket from the top of the circle in the final period of the stanza to send the hosts to the locker room with the three-goal advantage.
Berg took over in the middle stanza, striking for a pair of goals to build a 5-0 lead. The junior blasted home his team-leading eighth power play marker of the year to make it 4-0 before Blake’s great individual effort led to a perfect pass for a one-time goal by Berg to give the West Fargo, N.D., native his third game of the season with multiple tallies and a 5-0 lead after 40.
Owen McLaughlin added the finishing touches on the victory early in the third period, as Blake picked up the secondary assist to give him a five-point night while Kunz’s primary helper saw every forward in the top-6 record at least a point as UND polished off the 6-0 win.
North Dakota goes for the weekend and season sweep over Minnesota Duluth on Saturday night at 6:07 p.m. from the Ralph. Fans can catch the action on Midco Sports, NCHC.tv and the Home of Economy Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- Jackson Blake tallied a career-high five points, dishing out a career-best four assists and scoring a goal
- It marks the first five-point game by a UND player since Collin Adams on Mar. 12, 2021 vs. Miami
- UND improves to 156-89-11 all-time against Minnesota Duluth and 85-39-3 in Grand Forks
- The Hawks have won six of the last eight meetings between the two teams, including three straight
- Cameron Berg matched his career high with three points, last coming on Feb. 25, 2022 vs. Denver
- Berg also had a pair of goals for the fourth time in his career and third time this season
- Jake Livanavage dished out a pair of assists for the fourth time this season
- The freshman moves into a tie for second with Paul LaDue for points by a rookie defenseman at UND since 1999-00 with 21
- The 6-0 win is the largest over UMD since Mar. 11, 2005 (8-2)
- UND improves to 88-6-3 since 2018-19 and 16-1-0 this season when scoring at least four goals
- Jackson Kunz has points in four of his last six games
- NoDak finished with 16 blocked shots, improving to 8-2-2 when blocking at least 15 shots
- Bennett Zmolek recorded six blocks to lead all players
- The Hawks were 2-for-5 on the power play while the Bulldogs were 0-for-2
- Riese Gaber recorded his ninth multi-point game of the season with a goal and a helper
- Blake paces the NCHC in points in both conference games (30) and all contests (45) this season
- Berg is tied for the lead in goals during conference games with 13
- NoDak moves three points ahead of St. Cloud State in the race for the Penrose Cup
- UND finished with a 29-17 shot advantage
- Jayden Perron scored his first goal since Jan. 6 vs. Alaska and his ninth of the year
- UND held a 28-20 faceoff advantage, with Berg finishing at 10-5 and Jake Schmaltz going 7-2
How It Happened
First Period
01:05 | UND – Jackson Blake opens the scoring with a power play goal to give UND a 1-0 lead
04:04 | UND – Jayden Perron gets behind the defense and snaps home the breakaway tally to make it 2-0
19:21 | UND – Riese Gaber fires a shot from the top of the circle to increase the advantage to 3-0
Second Period
07:56 | UND – Cameron Berg snaps a power play goal past the goaltender to make it 4-0 UND
13:29 | UND – Berg gets his second of the night following a great individual play from Blake for a 5-0 lead
Third Period
04:33 | UND – Owen McLaughlin makes it 6-0 with his 10th goal of the season
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 2/23/2024 11:25:00 PM | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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