Lamoureux was the difference in the 4-2 Sioux victory. He kept the game scoreless through two periods, turning aside all 26 shots he faced through the first forty minutes.
Minnesota held a 26-12 advantage in shots on goal through two periods, and finished with a 39-30 edge.
North Dakota has now won 5 of the last 6 meetings between the teams, and has narrowed the gap in the all-time series. Minnesota now sports a record of 129-121-11 (.515) in Sioux/Gopher games, while UND leads the series in Grand Forks, 64-52-7 (.549).
The Fighting Sioux continued their exceptional 4 on 4 play. UND’s second goal (Rylan Kaip from Chris VandeVelde and Robbie Bina) came with each team a man short. North Dakota has the puck-moving defenseman necessary to create chances in this situation.
Rylan Kaip continues his solid two-way play. The senior forward has five goals this season after tallying eight in his first three seasons combined.
I’m not a fan of the Holy Cross references. I understand why fans continue to bring this up, but it shouldn’t come from the PA announcer at the arena. For the record, an announcement was made in the third period that “Holy Cross is off this weekend”.
Minnesota falls to 4-7-0 in WCHA play, equaling the number of conference losses from all of last season, when they finished 18-7-3 to claim the McNaughton Cup. UND is now 6-5-0 in the conference, and hope to pick up points Saturday night after splitting all five conference series to date.
The Gophers fall to 8-8-1 overall, while the Fighting Sioux improve to 8-5-1. The same two teams square off Saturday night at 7:07.
Thank you for reading. I welcome your comments and suggestions. For more on the matchup between the teams, click here. For background on this great college hockey rivalry, click here. Click here for analysis, commentary, and reaction to Saturday’s game.
I just watched the archive online. Minnesota is a bit of a mystery.
UM has a fast and talented offensive roster, but can’t seem to bury their chances. UND is more opportunistic, and did bury some chances.
If UND wants 4 points from the weekend, I’d say they better come out with more energy on both ends of the ice, and try to limit UM’s shots tonight. Go Sioux!