On Tuesday evening, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith released a statement, stating that senior forward Kamil Sadlocha is returning home and will not practice or compete with the team for an unspecified period of time after Sadlocha directed racial slurs at Michigan State’s Jagger Joshua.

Here is Smith’s statement:

Overall, a strong statement from Ohio State; much better than the hastily thrown together word salad on Monday night. Though it seems as if some of the timing here can be called into question. While Smith states this process has gone on “over the past week”, that does not explain why Sadlocha dressed and participated in both of Ohio State’s games last weekend—something that seemed to be the tipping point for Joshua to share publicly what happened.

Ohio State’s approach to this has seemed much more reactive than proactive, but it at least says something that the public outcry about the incident was enough that they felt that they did have to react to it.

Michigan State senior Jagger Joshua posted a statement on Monday evening via his Twitter account that he had been the recipient of multiple racial slurs from a player in a November 11th game against Ohio State.

Joshua also stated that an official heard what was said and the player was given a game misconduct penalty. The Ohio State player was not named by Joshua, but here is the box score from that game.

Ohio State released the following statement on Monday evening:

Whatever “resolution” they claim was reached, it did not seem to involve a suspension for the player involved, as he played in both of Ohio State’s games last weekend, nor, most importantly, did their so-called resolution seem to involve the victim in the incident, as Joshua clearly seems far from satisfied with the response from Ohio State and the Big Ten.

The Big Ten also released a statement on Monday evening stating that they took no further action due to a lack of “indisputable evidence”.

The incident, and the complete lack of accountability and consequences to come from it, is sadly, not unfamiliar to the world of men’s college hockey. In 2019, Hockey East confirmed that a player from Boston College directed a racial slur at Providence forward Vimal Sukumaran, but chose to take no action because they could not determine the source of the slur.

It hopefully goes without saying that slurs directed at Joshua are completely unacceptable, and should have no place in hockey. But once again, the truly disappointing part of this the action, or lack thereof by those in positions of leadership. Their choices for who deserves protection and who doesn’t speak volumes louder than whatever empty buzzwords they can regurgitate into a press statement.

Goofy stuff happens in hockey games. Usually once or twice in a season, an unfortunate team will end up giving up a goal while possessing the puck during a delayed penalty, either thanks to a bad bounce or errant pass will find its’ way into a vacated goal.

That happened twice on Friday evening. But that’s not the strangest part. Adding to the already astronomical improbability is that in both instances, the player credited for the goal was the player that the delayed penalty had been called for.

In Kalamazoo last night, Western Michigan’s Cam Knuble was found guilty of a holding infraction. During the delayed penalty, Minnesota Duluth got possession of the puck behind their own net. They tried to force a pass up the middle that hit off the back of their own goalie and into the net.

Here’s the play:

I especially enjoy the official pulling Knuble out of the celebration handshake to take him to the box.

If that was something you’d never seen before, you’d only have to wait a few hours to see it again. Later that evening in Madison, Lindenwood forward Joe Prouty committed a slashing infraction. Wisconsin pulled their goalie during the delayed penalty, and trying to establish an attack, attempted to make a regroup pass back to their own defenseman. But the pass was errant and it ended up sliding into the vacant net.

Here’s the play:

As the last Lindenwood player to touch the puck, Prouty was given credit for the empty-net goal. The goal put Lindenwood ahead in the third period, but the Badgers mercifully rallied for a 4-3 victory, so the error wasn’t fatal.

The Big Ten has announced a one-game suspension for Minnesota’s Logan Cooley stemming from a hit in last night’s 5-2 Minnesota victory over Michigan.

Cooley was assessed a five-minute major for cross-checking at 6:35 of the second period last night for a hit on Michigan’s Eric Ciccolini. Cooley was initially escorted off the ice, but after video review, Cooley was brought back and just given a five-minute major penalty with no misconduct attached.

Here is the hit in question:

Michigan interim head coach Brandon Naurato expressed frustration with the call after the game, saying he thought it should have been a game disqualification. Cooley would go on to score a 5x3 power play goal in the third period that extended Minnesota’s lead to 4-2 and helped put the game out of reach.

Ciccolini headed to the locker room after the hit, but did eventually return to last night’s game.

After further review, the Big Ten decided to suspend Cooley for Friday night’s contest against Michigan.

The battle between #2 Minnesota and #3 Michigan was expected to be one of the marquee match-ups of the Big Ten season between two of the conferences preseason favorites, but illness running through both teams cast a pall over the series. Minnesota was without starting goalie Justin Close and forward Aaron Huglen, who did not travel to Ann Arbor due to illness, but that was nothing compared to Michigan, who was without six players, including the nation’s leading scorer Adam Fantilli, and defenseman Steven Holtz, who was reportedly hospitalized due to illness. Every available Wolverine dressed in Thursday night’s game, including third string goalie Tyler Shea, who dressed as a skater and was listed as a forward on the team’s line chart.

The shorthanded Michigan team put up a fight for nearly two periods, but ultimately ran out of gas, falling 5-2 to Minnesota.

The Golden Gophers struck first when Rhett Pitlick put a perfectly-placed shot into the upper corner of the net from the left circle to give Minnesota the early lead. But Michigan responded on the power play late in the first period when Dylan Duke jammed home a puck in front of the net.

The second period would follow a similar pattern with Pitlick scoring first to put the Gophers ahead and Dylan Duke responding afterwards with a power play goal. Jimmy Snuggerud would score his ninth goal of the season 1:20 after Duke scored to give Minnesota the lead after two periods.

All hopes of a Michigan third period comeback vanished when the Wolverines were given a protocol penalty for not taking the ice in time for the third period. The resulting penalty gave Minnesota a 5x3 advantage, which Logan Cooley converted on. Luke Mittlestadt tacked on another insurance goal and the thin Michigan bench didn’t really have the gas in the tank to mount a serious comeback.

The two teams complete their series on Friday evening.

Notes and Thoughts:

-I guess credit/blame the specter of Mel Pearson, because this had the feel of a game that probably shouldn’t have been played last night, and probably wouldn’t have been if Michigan hadn’t been the subject of a scandal last season where they cancelled a game in which they would have had a full line-up.

(For the record, I don’t buy the argument that because it was a conference game, the sanctity of the standings were what caused this game to be played, especially in this conference.)

There’s not too much Michigan interim head coach Brandon Naurato can say due to medical privacy issues, but you can certainly read between the lines in his post-game press conference last night about the situation they were dealing with:

NAURATO: I’ll say one thing: Brian Brewster, Darryl Conway. The Michigan medical team, Michigan Hospital. I can’t imagine if this was a junior or minor pro team without the resources that we have at Michigan. That’s why they’re the leaders and best. Everyone’s pulled together and done an unbelievable job to take care of these kids. That’s not a plug. It’s real. They saved some guys. It’s a big deal.

On if he was scared for his players:

NAURATO: Yeah, big time. Yeah. Without getting into detail, the first phone call I got, I hope I never get again.

By all indications, it would not be a surprise if Naurato had his interim tag lifted at the end of this season.

-Minnesota took care of business on a night that was pretty much a must-win given the circumstances. They’ve got some guys that can really fire the puck, especially when given a little time and space, which the Michigan defense tends to allow, even under the best of circumstances.

It was also a good opportunity to get back-up Owen Bartoszkiewicz into net a start after two very shaky starts early in the season in which he gave up four goals in each game. Back in his home state, Bartoszkiewicz put up very solid numbers, stopping 29 or 31 and only allowing two power play goals on second-chance opportunities. He likely still has a long ways to go towards proving he’s capable of being a starter one day, but that was at least the first step.

After a shaky start to the Greg Brown Era for Boston College that included a loss to Holy Cross and a sweep at the hands of Merrimack, the Eagles continued to show steady improvement on Tuesday night, following up a four-point weekend against Northeastern last weekend with a victory over a ranked opponent, defeating UMass Lowell 3-2 at Conte Forum.

With the team’s leading scorer, junior Trevor Kuntar out of the line-up serving a one-game suspension for an incident that occurred at the end of BC’s Saturday night win, it was the Eagles’ youngsters that stepped up.

Star freshman forward Cutter Gauthier got the scoring started at 6:21 of the first period when he came down the left wing and wired a wrist shot past Lowell goalie Henry Welsch. The Eagles extended their lead late in the first period when sophomore Connor Joyce scored his first career goal by jamming home a rebound of a Mike Posma shot.

The River Hawks responded quickly in the second period, however, with a goal by Owen Cole 1:08 into the period. With momentum on their side, Lowell would tie the game at 12:50 of the second period on a goal by Zach Kaiser.

That set up a decisive third period, and it was BC that was able to make the extra play. On a power play early in the third period, freshman Oskar Jellvik picked up a loose puck near the left point and made a quick spin move to break free from a Lowell defender. Jellvik came down the left wing and in a play similar to Gauthier’s first period goal, Jellvik fired a low, hard wrist shot to the far side of the net that beat Welsch to give Boston College the lead.

Lowell’s offense was never able to mount a serious threat to tie the game and Boston College was able to ride Jellvik’s goal to a 3-2 victory.

The victory moves Boston College to 4-4-2 on the season, but heading in the right direction after a difficult start to the season. It also temporarily moves them into a tie with Lowell for fifth place in Hockey East, though both Lowell and seventh-place Boston University lead BC in terms of winning percentage. UMass Lowell, who came into the game having won five of their last six and ranked 14th in the nation, now falls to 7-4-0 on the season.

Game Notes

-This game looked like it might have been over early after Boston College took a quick lead on Gauthier’s goal and came out of the first period up 2-0. Credit UMass Lowell for showing some impressive push back to get a quick goal back in the second period and then eventually tie it up.

The River Hawks actually had a chance to take the lead late in the second period with about three minutes left when they got a loose puck to the net front that just rolled through an open crease rather than finding a way across the line. If UMass Lowell goes up 3-2 heading into the third period, it’s potentially a very different hockey game.

-Lowell came into tonight’s game ranked 7th in the still-very-early Pairwise Rankings—the loss dropped them to 11th—on the back of a strong road split at....*checks notes*...*twice*....Michigan State.

This was my second time watching UMass Lowell this season and it’s basically the same Lowell we’ve all known and loved in the Norm Bazin. Not very exciting offensively, but an incredibly honest and disciplined hockey team that is going to make the opposition work really hard for whatever they get.

That said, I do wonder if there is a ceiling to the way Lowell plays, and if that ceiling is starting to shrink. In 2016-2017, the River Hawks swept the Hockey East regular season and playoff titles and appeared in their fifth NCAA Tournament in six seasons under Norm Bazin. But since that point, the River Hawks have only made one NCAA Tournament, and that came last year, which was an absolutely dreadful year for Hockey East.(They were also 11th in the PWR in 2020 when the season got shut down, so likely but not firmly in)

They set a pretty high baseline for basic competence defensively, but it seems more teams are able to meet that level more consistently. The skill development revolution is starting to hit college hockey and it’s getting harder for teams to park the bus in front of their own net for 60 minutes and grind out low-scoring victories.

-Boston Bruins 2021 fifth round pick Oskar Jellvik got his first career goal tonight on the game-winner, but already had six assists on the season, meaning he’s now up to seven points through his first nine collegiate games. That’s a pretty solid start for a freshman in his Draft+2 year. I really like Jellvik’s ability to think one-step ahead and anticipate offensive plays. He showed that on the goal, setting up his defender for a wicked spin move that created a quality chance for him. Definitely a player to keep an eye on in the future, because he looks like a nice value for a fifth round pick.

It was an important day for the Sacred Heart men’s and women’s hockey programs yesterday as work crews began putting in ice on the brand new Martire Family Arena, which is set to open up in two months.

The new 4000-seat on-campus arena will be a major upgrade for both Pioneers programs. The men currently play at Total Mortgage Arena, one of the doddering cavernous tombs that the NCAA keeps selecting for NCAA regionals, eight miles off campus, while the women have been playing 10 miles off campus at Sports Center of Connecticut.

The lead donor on the $75M project was Sacred Heart alum Frank Martire and his wife Marisa. Martire also owns an equity interest in the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.

The most unique feature of the new arena is the floor-to-ceiling smart glass that wraps around three sides of the arena, allowing natural light into the arena without affecting ice conditions. Other unique amenities for fans include a giant pizza oven on the main concourse concession stand as well as craft beer options on the club level from the school’s Brewing Science Certification Program.

But the most important changes will come for the programs themselves. The new arena will have all the modern amenities college programs need to compete in the modern day facilities arms race: new locker rooms, weight rooms, meeting rooms for recruiting visits, and suites to woo potential donors.

The Pioneers have been perpetual also-rans at the Division I level of hockey. Neither the men nor the women have ever made an NCAA Tournament, and the men have just one winning season in the past decade. But with a new facility as nice as nearly any arena in college hockey, it shows a serious commitment on their part to become a more competitive program.

USA Hockey has announced the roster for the 2023 IIHF Women’s World U18 Championship, which will take place January 8-15 in Ostersund, Sweden.

It’s a short turnaround from the 2022 tournament, which took place this past June in Madison, Wisconsin after being rescheduled due to Covid, giving the US a quick opportunity to avenge their loss to Canada in that tournament’s gold medal game.

Six skaters along with goalie Annelies Bergmann return from the 2022 roster for the United States. Holy Cross head coach Katie Lachapelle also returns as head coach of the team.

In the 14-year history of the tournament, the United States leads with eight gold medals to six for Canada, but retaking gold will be a difficult task for the Americans this year. The Canadians swept the US rather convincingly, winning all three games of their U18 Summer Series showcase event this past August.

Cornell came into their Saturday afternoon match-up against Harvard red hot offensively, averaging five goals per game on the season, and seven goals per game over their past three games. But the Big Red had no answer for Harvard goalie Alex Pellici and the Harvard defense as the Crimson prevailed with a 2-0 win.

After a scoreless first period, Harvard got on the board first at 7:42 of the second period when Kristin Della Rovere finished off a 2-on-1 pass from Gabi Davidson Adams to put Harvard up early.

Cornell’s best chance at tying up the game came midway through the third period when Harvard was whistled for back-to-back penalties, giving Cornell 35 seconds of 5-on-3 power play advantage. But Cornell was unable to convert, and after Cornell’s Grace Dwyer took a penalty to make it a 4-on-4 situation, Harvard’s Jade Arnone scored on a shot from the left point to give the Crimson a key insurance goal.

With the loss, Cornell remains in a four-way tie for first place in the ECAC with 12 points, but now having played one more game than Colgate and Quinnipiac and two more than Yale. Harvard, meanwhile, got off to a slow start in ECAC play, and needed these key league points to fight their way back into the conversation atop the league. They trail the group at the top by two league points, but are still giving up multiple games in hand to each.

Notes:

-The ECAC was expected to be a crazy close league this season. Harvard was picked seventh—though they did receive a first-place vote—but I think expectations were for them to be more competitive in that top pack than they have been to this point in the season. A loss today would have really put them in a deep hole. But with the win, I think it shows they can compete with the top of the league.

After losing Becca Gilmore to graduation and Dominique Petrie and Taze Thompson to the Portal, they’re probably a little too thin offensively to work their way to the top of that group. But I really liked the way they played defensively today. They were outstanding in the tough areas of the ice in front of their net, and were able to shut down a team that was scoring at an incredible pace over their past few games.

-Tough day offensively for Cornell after playing a couple wild games in a row. Gillis Frechette and Izzy Daniel have been leading the way for Cornell offensively, as the top scorers in the country on a per game basis. They combined for nine shots on goal, and Daniel rung a shot off the post in the first period that might have change the game if it had gone in. But for the most part, credit Harvard for keeping that duo quiet and off the scoresheet.

#7-ranked Northeastern took the ice at historic Matthews Arena for a Friday afternoon Veterans Day matinee against Boston College in a nationally-televised game on ESPNU. And with the bigger stage of a national TV audience, Northeastern’s star forward Alina Mueller shone brightest, scoring two goals and two assists to lead Northeastern to a 4-0 victory in the first game of their weekend series against the Eagles.

Boston College got off to a fast start, building an early lead in shots on goal in the opening half of the first period, but as the game progressed, Northeastern began to exert their obvious advantage in run of play.

The Eagles survived the first period to head to the first intermission tied 0-0. But Mueller and the Huskies broke through in the second period. Mueller scored 5:39 into the second period and would set up Katy Knoll for a goal at 14:02 of the second period. In all, Northeastern would outshoot BC 21-5 in a second period that they completely dominated.

Mueller would another assist on the power play and a second goal in the third period to bring the game to its’ final 4-0 score.

The win extends Northeastern’s lead atop the Hockey East standings, 11 points clear of second-place Providence, though the Friars have three games in hand on the Huskies. Boston College falls to .500 through 9 Hockey East games.

Notes and Thoughts:

-I’m as dismissive of programs out east, especially in Hockey East, as anyone. But even with all three players from last year’s Patty Kazmaier hat trick returning this year, I think Mueller has to be the favorite for the Patty Kaz this year. So dangerous every shift she’s out on the ice, and a complete game-changer for Northeastern. She maybe wouldn’t be as dominant if she was facing WCHA-caliber competition regularly, but I do think she’s the best player in the country.

-For Boston College, on the other hand: woof. I can’t stress enough how underwhelming this team is, especially compared to some of the talent they have the roster. I get that Northeastern has the best player on the ice, but there’s really not an excuse for Northeastern to control play to the level that they did. Final shots were 43-15 Northeastern, and as the broadcast noted a few times, that was after BC led 5-2 in the early stages of the game. Once Northeastern got going, there was just no answer from BC.

And this is a team that still has an Olympian in Cayla Barnes, a national team player in Hannah Bilka, and a couple U18 national team veterans in Abby Newhook, Alexis Guay, and Kelly Browne. That should be more than enough to form the nucleus of a top-10 program. They’re really not getting anything else from anywhere else in their line-up though. That’s especially scary looking forward. What happens when those high-end players graduate? Because right now, the future does not look good.

Monday evening, St. Cloud State faced off against top-ranked and undefeated Minnesota in the US Hockey Hall of Fame Classic, played in front of a sold-out crowd at Andover Community Center in Andover, Minnesota. The Huskies were able to build an early lead with a pair of first period goals and carried that to a 4-1 victory over Minnesota, handing the Golden Gophers their first loss of the season.

The victory was a major upset for the Huskies, and also significant in a historical context. St. Cloud State’s last win against Minnesota prior to Monday came almost 13 years ago, on February 13, 2010. Since that last victory, the Huskies had gone 0-60-1 against their in-state foes.

Minnesota outshot St. Cloud State by a fairly significant margin of 35-19, but it wasn’t exactly a fluke win by a team that was completely out-played. After building an early lead, the Huskies played smart defensive hockey and were able to convert on chances when they got them, while Minnesota struggled to generate quality scoring chances at even strength.

Monday’s game was officially a non-conference affair, so the Huskies don’t gain any points in the WCHA league standings. But it gives first-year head coach Brian Idalski a marquee victory in his first season as he attempts to build St. Cloud State’s program back to competitiveness in the WCHA.

It also puts an exclamation point on what has been an upward trend for the Huskies so far this season. The Huskies went 0-6 in mid-October, running through the gauntlet of the league’s three Big Ten teams—arguably the three most talented teams in the nation—but otherwise, have won the rest of their games. And after a disastrous first period in their first match-up against Minnesota, they’ve since outscored the Gophers 7-3 over the last eight periods of hockey they’ve played.

That sets the Huskies up for a very intriguing series this weekend when they host Minnesota Duluth. The Huskies lead the Bulldogs by four points in the league standings, albeit having played two more conference games. It has been presumed since the beginning of the season that the WCHA was the big four of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Minnesota Duluth and then the other four. But with St. Cloud State now showing they are capable of skating with and beating anyone in the country, the race for the final home ice playoff spot could become a little more contested than most observers expected, especially if the Huskies are able to come away with some points this weekend.

MINNEAPOLIS – For Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko and his team, the home conference schedule couldn’t have started off any better.

Three different players scored goals, and Justen Close made 21 saves to earn a shutout as the #3 Minnesota Golden Gophers blanked the #12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 3-0 on Saturday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci, sweeping the Big Ten series and jumping to a 3-1 start in conference play.

It was all Gophers on both ends of the ice as Minnesota put 31 shots on goal and didn’t allow Notre Dame any quality chances. A complete game both nights this weekend, in other words.

“We knew it was gonna be a battle,” Motzko said. “You knew they were gonna have a push. I thought our defensemen did a terrific job tonight.”

For the third straight weekend, it was mostly a struggle for the Notre Dame offense. In their last six games, they’ve scored just nine goals, and five of those came in a 5-0 victory over Michigan State on October 28. They scored just once all weekend against the Gophers, and on Saturday night they had trouble in the neutral and offensive zones with passing and getting off quality shots. By the time they killed off a five-minute major penalty near the end of the second period, they trailed the Gophers 2-0 and had just seven shots on goal for the game.

“Any time you play against great players, it’s always a challenge,” said Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson. “You have to possess the puck and minimize the time you have to defend. We just need to get better at that.”

The first period was mostly quiet with Minnesota getting most of the limited open looks. But the tough Notre Dame defense snuffed them out, and Ryan Bischel, who was pounded on Friday with 45 shots faced, kept the Gophers off the scoreboard in the initial 20 minutes for the second straight night. He finished Saturday with 28 saves.

“He’s a good goaltender,” Jackson said. “We’re only gonna go as far as he takes us, so we just gotta get on track offensively.”

Jaxon Nelson got things started in the second period for Minnesota, scoring on a backhand shot. A major and a game misconduct were issued to Irish forward Jesse Lansdell, who hit Brock Faber, following a review after the Nelson goal, then the Gophers added to their lead on the ensuing major when a Jimmy Snuggerud shot was deflected to the crease right in front of Matthew Knies, who knocked it into a wide-open net.

Notre Dame didn’t find any offensive rhythm until under two minutes left in regulation when they finally started applying pressure, but they couldn’t get anything past Close and Logan Cooley capped the weekend’s scoring with an empty-net goal with 3.1 seconds left.

Overall, it was a very good series for Minnesota; a dominant sweep over a ranked conference foe. Is there a lesson to be learned from all this?

“A great growing game for our group. I like to have lessons like that when you win,” Motzko said.

Jackson believes there’s something to be learned too.

“We played better, but obviously you gotta score to win,” he said.

Minnesota will host Penn State in a two-game series next weekend, while Notre Dame heads home to South Bend to host Michigan.

Scoring summary:

First period:

No scoring.

Second period:

MINN goal at 10:15: Jaxon Nelson (2). Assisted by Bryce Brodzinski (2) and Mason Nevers (3).

MINN power-play goal at Matthew Knies (7). Assisted by Jimmy Snuggerud (4) and Ryan Johnson (6).

Third period:

MINN empty-net goal at 19:57: Logan Cooley (3). Assisted by Ryan Johnson (6).

Power plays: ND 0-2, MINN 1-4.

Shots on goal: ND 21, MINN 31.

The NCHC has announced a two-game suspension for Minnesota Duluth freshman forward Isaac Howard stemming from a major penalty and game misconduct for cross checking he received in last Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Wisconsin.

The play occurred at the 7:23 mark of the second period. The TV broadcast of the game did not pick up the incident on camera. But after Wisconsin had cleared the puck to the other end of the ice on a UMD power play, a visibly frustrated Howard slammed his stick against the boards, and as he skated off the ice, delivered a cross check to Wisconsin’s Corson Ceulemans.

A multi-game suspension in college hockey is incredibly rare, but Howard’s hit, delivered to a player well behind the actual play at least sounds worthy of an exception. Ceulemans was thankfully able to return to the game, and assisted on Wisconsin’s third goal. Howard was the second Bulldog to be hit with a suspension last weekend after teammate Wyatt Kaiser was suspended for Saturday’s game.

Howard will have to miss both of Minnesota Duluth’s games next weekend when they host Cornell.

Minnesota State fought back from a 3-1 deficit to force a 3-3 tie in the third period, but St. Cloud State’s Grant Cruikshank scored the decisive goal, his second of the game, with 3:26 remaining in regulation to give St. Cloud State a 4-3 victory and a weekend sweep over the Mavericks.

Final Scoring

First Period

7:53 Grant Cruikshank from Micah Miller (short-handed) 1-0 St. Cloud State

Miller stole the puck along the left boards after a sloppy clearing attempt by Minnesota State and passed it in front of the net to Cruikshank for the goal.

9:46 David Silye from Brendan Furry 1-1 tie

After extended heavy pressure by Minnesota State, Furry fired a puck on goal and Silye crashed the net to put the rebound back in and tie the game.

Second Period

10:31 Micah Miller from Kyler Kupka 2-1 St. Cloud State

The Huskies forced a turnover off a failed clearing attempt. Miller got the puck at the top of the left circle and fired a hard wrist shot that hit off goalie Alex Tracy’s glove and bounced into the net.

12:08 Chase Brand from Ondrej Trejbal and Joe Molenaar 3-1 St. Cloud State

Trejbal took a knee-high wrist shot from the left point that Brand got a stick on out in front of the net, and his tip deflected the puck underneath Tracy for the goal.

16:00 Josh Groll from David Silye and Steven Bellini 3-2 St. Cloud State

Silye made a tremendous effort to win the puck in the corner and worked it out into the high slot. The puck was knocked away from him, but slid to Groll, who fired a quick low shot that beat Dominic Basse before he could react in time.

Third Period

6:39 Sam Morton from Josh Groll 3-3 tie

Morton made a strong individual effort to bring the puck out of the right corner, evade a defender, then wired a bar-down wrist shot over the shoulder of Basse.

16:34 Grant Cruikshank from Kyler Kupka 4-3 St. Cloud State

Kupka tripped a Minnesota State defender behind the net and won the puck, feeding it to Cruikshank out in front for the game-winning goal.

Game Notes

-It has taken four different teams(counting his original commitment to Wisconsin just shy of eight years ago)but Grant Cruikshank appears to have finally found a home at St. Cloud State. He is leading the way for the Huskies in their perfect 6-0 start to the season with a team-best 6-3-9 scoring line.

The key has been his linemates. Cruikshank played with Micah Miller and Kyler Kupka this weekend, two strong, fast veteran forwards that excel in doing the dirty work in the corners. They’re doing a great job of creating chaos and turnovers and then getting the puck to Cruikshank in great scoring areas.

-Minnesota State is one of the slowest, most deliberate teams in college hockey when it comes to breaking the puck out of their own zone. They don’t try to beat the other team’s forecheck, they use back support to keep playing the puck backwards until the other team gives up on the forecheck.

That works most of the time, especially since teams tend to play pretty conservatively against them. But St. Cloud State adjusted over the course of the weekend and began applying a little heavier forecheck pressure tonight, which ended up creating some more chances for the Huskies. Minnesota State had an opportunity to move the puck out of the zone, but instead tried to play the puck backwards to set something up. A turnover ensued and St. Cloud State ended up with a huge momentum-shifting goal.

-A bit of a tough break for Minnesota State on the game-winning goal. The turnover forced by St. Cloud State’s Kyler Kupka very easily could have been called a trip by the officials. That’s a really tough call to make to put a team on the power play with 3:30 left in a tie game on a play that is 200 feet from their own net. But at the same time, it created a great scoring chance by a play that wasn’t exactly legal.

-Minnesota State got huge games from centers David Silye and Sam Morton. Both ended up creating big goals in Minnesota State’s comeback to even up the score, and easily could have had more that might have tilted the game in Minnesota State’s favor. Minnesota State has been able to maintain such a consistent run of success thanks to their ability to develop lower line players into top line players. Silye and Morton were secondary scorers for Minnesota State last year, but both looked like they could play on any top line in the country this weekend.

MINNEAPOLIS – In one of college hockey’s most intense and storied rivalries, you have to expect the unexpected and be prepared for anything. Especially in front of an electric crowd that loves seeing games like those.

After dropping an overtime heartbreaker on Friday night, #7 North Dakota returned the favor Saturday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci with a 5-4 overtime victory over top-ranked Minnesota, splitting the nonconference series in front of a very loud sold-out crowd.

Mark Senden scored twice for the Fighting Hawks, who used a four-goal rally over a span of 3:54 in the second period to overcome a two-goal deficit and take control of the momentum after the Gophers jumped ahead in the first nine minutes of the middle frame.

“Just happened to stay mentally focused,” said Senden, who also scored the game-winning goal about halfway through overtime.

Four different players lit the lamp for Minnesota, but they were done in by some untimely second-period penalties in a game they otherwise dominated offensively.

“We absolutely dominated for 55 minutes,” said Gophers head coach Bob Motzko. “Then we took penalties after whistles. After whistles. And we let them back in the game.

“Outside of that little window, our guys battled tonight.”

The first period was an intense display of physical hockey, reminiscent of how these two successful programs and longtime archrivals have battled over the years. Minnesota outshot North Dakota 15-6 in the opening 20 minutes, but UND played with a tough backcheck and didn’t allow many quality chances in front of goaltender Drew DeRidder.

With just 16 seconds left in the first, Fighting Hawks defenseman Tyler Kleven was assessed a major and game misconduct after hitting Brody Lamb up high with his elbow in the neutral zone.

Matthew Knies, who had Friday’s overtime winner, scored the only Minnesota goal on the major penalty 48 seconds into the second period as a Jackson LaCombe shot from the right point rebounded to him on the doorstep. Rhett Pitlick doubled the lead exactly eight minutes later on a low wrister, but that’s when the real craziness began. In a moment of celebration, Pitlick tossed his hockey stick into the crowd after the goal, and the refs sent him to the penalty box for a ten-minute misconduct.

It was that moment that seemed to light a fire under the Fighting Hawks, who had been outshot 27-6 by the Gophers at that point and hadn’t had a shot on goal in about 20 minutes, and they went to work shortly after. Cal Thomas was called for boarding halfway through the second period, and 40 seconds later Jackson Blake beat Owen Bartoszkiewicz five-hole for a big goal, cutting the UND deficit to 2-1.Then after Ryan Chesley was called for hooking, it took 28 seconds to tie the game as Riese Gaber scored the equalizer.

“Let’s keep our foot on the gas,” Fighting Hawks head coach Brad Berry responded when he was asked about what he told his team after the game was tied.

Senden scored his first goal just 18 seconds after Gaber’s tally, and just like that, North Dakota was in the lead. Then the special teams nightmare continued for Minnesota as Logan Cooley was assessed a major and a misconduct for facemasking. The ensuing long power play saw Jackson Kunz join the scoring party, completing a scoring barrage of four goals in a span of three minutes and 54 seconds and making it a 4-2 Fighting Hawks lead. Bartoszkiewicz was relieved in favor of Justen Close after that.

“We kinda hung him out to dry there. I feel bad for him,” Motzko said. “We did some things in front of him you shouldn’t do.”

The Gophers weren’t done, however. Connor Kurth got one past DeRidder out front in the dying seconds of the second period to make it 4-3, and Jimmy Snuggerud tied it early in the third after a lengthy offensive zone shift of nearly two minutes. Momentum was back on the Minnesota side, but they couldn’t find a way to get another puck past DeRidder.

“He was composed,” Berry said of his senior goalie transfer from Michigan State. “Drew made some huge saves tonight.”

Senden finally ended what turned out to be a tremendous hockey game by scoring on a rebound of a Gaber shot, giving UND a gigantic series split against their archrivals in front of an announced crowd of 10,193.

“It’s really special,” Senden, a native of nearby Medina, said of his winning goal. “Being a Cities guy, it’s something I’ll definitely remember.”

What’s also special is how the Fighting Hawks were able to respond after a tough series at home against Quinnipiac a week ago.

“I felt that this weekend our group [had] grown exponentially over the course of these two games,” Berry said.

DeRidder made 37 saves for North Dakota, and Bartoszkiewicz had 10 for Minnesota. Close made five in relief of him.

North Dakota will take on Arizona State next Saturday night in Las Vegas in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game while Minnesota begins Big Ten play next weekend by visiting Ohio State.

Scoring summary:

First period:

No scoring.

Second period:

MINN power-play goal at :48: Matthew Knies (4). Assisted by Jackson LaCombe (5) and Jaxon Nelson (3).

MINN goal at 8:48: Rhett Pitlick (1). Assisted by LaCombe (6).

UND power-play goal at 10:57: Jackson Blake (4). Assisted by Chris Jandric (8).

UND power-play goal at 11:51: Riese Gaber (5). Assiseted by Jandric (9) and Blake (4).

UND goal at 12:09: Mark Senden (2). Assisted by Gavin Hain (1) and Cooper Moore (3).

UND power-play goal at 14:51: Jackson Kunz (1). Assisted by Moore (4) and Ethan Frisch (2).

MINN goal at 19:26: Connor Kurth (3). Assisted by Mike Koster (3) and Luke Mittelstadt (2).

Third period:

MINN goal at 6:30: Jimmy Snuggerud (5). Assisted by Brock Faber (4).

Overtime:

UND goal at 2:21: Senden (3). Assisted by Gaber (2) and Frisch (3).

Power plays: UND 3-5, MINN 1-3.

Shots on goal: UND 20, MINN 41.

The NCHC has announced a one-game suspension for Minnesota Duluth junior defenseman Wyatt Kaiser, stemming from a major penalty assessed against Kaiser in Friday night’s 5-2 loss to Wisconsin.

Kaiser was initially assessed a two-minute high sticking penalty on the play, but Wisconsin used their coach’s challenge and after a three-minute video review, the penalty was upgraded to a five minute major penalty and game misconduct.

If anything, Kaiser is probably lucky that the play will only cost him one game.

Kaiser will miss Saturday night’s rematch against the Badgers and will be eligible to return to the ice next Friday when Minnesota Duluth hosts Cornell.

The home team prevailed in the opening game of a two-game set between two top ten teams on Friday night. An early third period power play goal by Kyler Kupka was enough to give #8 St. Cloud State a 3-2 win over #2 Minnesota State on Friday night.

Final Scoring

First Period

13:30 Zach Okabe from Spencer Meier and Veeti Mietinen 1-0 St. Cloud State

Okabe wheeled with the puck around the Minnesota State net into the high slot. A screened Keenan Rancier never saw Okabe’s shot as it zipped past him for the goal.

Second Period

2:56 Sam Morton from Akito Hirose and Lucas Sowder (power play) 1-1 tie

Hirose got the puck at the top of the point and slid a backdoor pass to Morton, who tipped the puck in off of his backhand.

9:28 Tony Malinowski from Steven Bellini and Brendan Furry (extra attacker) 2-1 Minnesota State

During an extended delayed penalty, Minnesota State worked the puck back to Malinowski at the left point and his slapper beat Jaxon Castor cleanly.

18:36 Grant Cruikshank from Zach Okabe and Kyler Kupka 2-2 tie

St. Cloud State forced a turnover behind the Minnesota State net. Okabe got the puck in the corner and swung a pass out to Cruikshank, who was all alone in front of the net for an easy goal.

Third Period

0:35 Kyler Kupka from Grant Cruikshank and Dylan Anhorn (power play) 3-2 St. Cloud State

After a prolonged scrum in front of the Minnesota State net, Kupka was able to dig out a loose puck and jam it into the net.

Game Notes:

-Overall, a fun, fast-paced, high-skill hockey game, as you’d expect from two teams of this caliber. In the end, it was St. Cloud State that made the plays in the third period and were able to come out with the win.

-As is usually the case, this was a game that was won in the hard areas of the ice in front of each teams net. Minnesota State probably had the better overall run of play throughout the game, but the Mavericks couldn’t do as much with their offensive zone time. Things were a little too perimeter-oriented for the Mavericks, whereas St. Cloud State scored their game-winning goal by winning a battle to dig out a loose puck in front of the net and make a play. That was the type of play Minnesota State was missing all night.

Credit a veteran group of St. Cloud State defensemen who bring a ton of experience and defend very well in their own zone. Also credit St. Cloud State goalie Jaxon Castor, who was rock solid tonight. He made a number of key saves to keep St. Cloud State in this game, especially in the second period when the game might have gotten away from them if they had fallen behind by two goals.

Minnesota came into Friday’s tilt against St. Cloud State rolling offensively, leading the nation with an average of 7.5 goals per game, and through the first 20 minutes of the game, it looked like that would continue. Minnesota would light the lamp four times in the first frame, and though they could not add to that total in the final two periods, that was enough for the Golden Gophers to skate away with a 4-2 victory over the Huskies.

Final Scoring

First Period

1:05 Abbey Murphy from Grace Zumwinkle and Emily Zumwinkle 1-0 Minnesota

Off an early 3-on-2 rush, Grace Zumwinkle fed Murphy in the high slot and her wrist shot by goalie Jojo Chobak for the goal.

4:50 Abby Boreen from Catie Skaja and Taylor Heise 2-0 Minnesota

Heise made a strong rush to the net that was stopped, but off the chaos in front of the net, Boreen jammed a rebound of Skaja’s attempt into the upper corner of the net. The play was initially waved off by officials, but replay affirmed that the puck had gone into the net.

9:18 Grace Zumwinkle from Emily Oden and Abbey Murphy 3-0 Minnesota

Zumwinkle skated the puck into the zone and was stopped on her initial attempt by Chobak. But Oden recovered the loose puck and fed it back out to Zumwinkle in the high slot. Zumwinkle unleashed a blistering slap shot that beat Chobak to the upper corner of the net.

14:14 Taylor Heise from Catie Skaja 4-0 Minnesota

Heise broke in on the right side of the ice and took a wicked snap shot that hit the back bar of the net for the goal.

Second Period

18:38 Klara Hymlarova from Taylor Lind 4-1 Minnesota

Taylor Lind forced a turnover as Minnesota attempted to break the puck out of their zone. Hymlarova picked up the loose puck in the corner and skated to the net front where she deked around Skylar Vetter to put St. Cloud State on the board

19:52 Olivia Cvar from Jenniina Nylund and Dayle Ross 4-2

After Minnesota failed to clear the zone, Cvar won a puck battle in a scrum in front of the Minnesota net to jam home the goal.

Third Period

No scoring

Game Notes

-This one felt like it could get out of hand early with Minnesota taking a commanding 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the game. Minnesota is so deep and so skilled offensively. The goals that they scored weren’t cheap ones.

When they came out of the first period up 4-0, it felt like it might be another 10+ performance like they did to Minnesota State last week. But that wasn’t to be.

Did the intensity drop for Minnesota after taking such a commanding early lead? Possibly. Though I felt like they got better in the second and third period at controlling the puck in the offensive zone for longer stretches. Ironically, that sometimes makes it harder to create offense when all ten skaters get packed into one zone, creating less space.

Also, credit to St. Cloud State goalie Jojo Chobak, who gave up four goals on the first eight shots that she saw(none of them were soft goals) and came back to stop the final 28 shots on goal that she faced. Stats-wise, she’ll come out of the game with so-so numbers, but did a decent job of at least giving her team a chance later in the game.

-If there is a concern for Minnesota in this game, it’s the back-to-back goals they gave up in the final two minutes of the second period. Both goals came off of plays where Minnesota had control of the puck in their own zone but failed to connect on their breakout and turned the puck over to St. Cloud State.

-Minnesota did an excellent job of shutting things down in the third period. They couldn’t add any insurance goals, but did a great job of minimizing chances for St. Cloud State to get back into the game. Through the first 18 minutes of the third period, St. Cloud State only registered one shot on goal—and even that was iffy. The Huskies got a few chances late, but couldn’t get any more on the board.

If there was a critique with St. Cloud State, it was that they were maybe a little too selective when they got opportunities to shoot. Chances against a team like Minnesota come so rarely that it’s difficult to get the puck in a good position and not come away with at least something on net. They’re not going to out-skill a team like Minnesota. Getting pucks to the net front and hoping for chaos is likely their best strategy.

Michigan has been without freshman forward Frank Nazar, a first round NHL draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks this past summer, through their first four games of the season with what was being described as a ‘lower-body injury’.

On Tuesday, Scott Powers of The Athletic reported that Nazar will need surgery to heal the injury, which will keep Nazar out of Michigan’s line-up for months, if not the entire season. The most optimistic timeline for recovery would see Nazar out until at least February with the possibility that he misses the entire season as he recovers.

Even with the loss of Nazar, the Wolverines still have 10 NHL Draft picks, including three first rounders, on their roster, so they’re not at a loss for talent. And Michigan has looked very good offensively through their first four games even without Nazar. But for a team that is likely going to have to rely on their talented, high-powered offense to outscore the competition, losing a player of Nazar’s talent and upside is definitely a blow.

Boston University traveled to Ann Arbor last weekend for a Friday-Sunday series against Michigan in an early-season battle between a pair of teams that ranked in the top ten nationally. It was also a fairly rare situation of two programs with brand new, young head coaches taking over what were considered fairly talented rosters. It was a good measuring stick series for where each team is at early in the season.

Friday’s game was over quickly. BU clearly came out of the gate on Friday night looking to impose their will physically to try and slow down the very skilled Michigan team and that strategy backfired in spectacular fashion. Case McCarthy was whistled for interference 3:40 into the game and Michigan scored to take a 1-0 lead just as that penalty expired. Then things went from bad to worse for the Terriers. Luke Tuch and Jay O’Brien each took no-doubter major penalties for contact to the head 56 seconds apart, leaving Michigan with 4:04 of 5x3 power play time. Michigan’s power play was able to convert three times during the extended 5x3, giving Michigan a comfortable 4-0 lead and turning the final 50 minutes of regulation into a formality. Michigan would end up winning by a final score of 9-2.

Given the extra day of rest with a football game sandwiched in between the series, BU regrouped for a better effort on Sunday afternoon. They still brought the same physical edge but without the stupid, unnecessary penalties and found a lot more success.

Despite falling behind 1-0 in the first period, it felt like the first time all weekend that BU had the edge in play. They would even the score early in the second period on a nice rush up the ice that Michigan didn’t defend well against, and after a Michigan power play goal, the Terriers would respond with a pair of power play goals of their own for a 3-2 lead.

In the third period, Michigan would press, and have some decent chances, but couldn’t find a way to get the tying goal past BU goalie Vinny Duplessis, and BU escaped with a 3-2 win.

Such is college hockey that, despite the fact that they were humiliated on Friday night, BU actually comes out of weekend with the better result of the two teams. They’ve got a marquee road win against a team that should be among the best in the country all season.

But results not withstanding, I came out of watching those two games liking Michigan’s long-term prospects much better than BU’s.

Offensively, I think Michigan might be even better than they were last season, despite losing the likes of Beniers, Johnson, Bordeleau, Brisson, etc. to the pros. Individually they maybe aren’t as good, but the puck support, vision, and passing feels much better, as does their ability to pursue pucks and capitalize on second chance opportunities. This is a big league goal that they scored on Sunday. You can pick any handful out of the nine they scored on Friday as well and there are some really nice plays in there.

The downside, as it has been in the past for Michigan, is on defense. They start with Luke Hughes, who is likely the best player in the country right now—although that’s still much more for his offensive prowess than his defensive zone play—but things drop off pretty quickly after that. Freshman Seamus Casey is promising, and Jacob Truscott has developed nicely into a reliable player—though again, I think both are much more developed offensively than defensively at this point—and everybody else is just kind of there.

There have been some bad turnovers and missed assignments that have led to goals. It’s almost comical how wide open Matt Brown was in front of the net on BU’s game-winning goal on Sunday.

Of course the most effective defensive system is possessing the puck in the other teams end of the ice, and Michigan is going to do that a lot. They may give up a few goals, but they’re going to score a lot more. That makes them vulnerable to the occasional night like Sunday where the puck just doesn’t want to go in for them, but I don’t see many teams being able to skate with them and make them defend for long periods of time. They’re going to be a very good hockey team.

It’s a little less clear if the Terriers are truly back—is BU college hockey’s version of University of Texas football?— under new head coach Jay Pandolfo. Not that there is anything particularly troubling in their results so far. I think the back-to-back major penalties that led to Friday’s embarrassing defeat are more likely to be a one-off anything, so I wouldn’t read much into that.

We’ll likely learn a lot about the Terriers fairly soon though. They go through a meat grinder between now and Thanksgiving, starting with the Michigan series, then facing top-half Hockey East teams in UConn, Lowell, UMass, and Northeastern, with a single game versus Notre Dame to close it out. If they come out of that stretch at or above .500, they could be a serious contender for the NCAA Tournament in the second half of the season.